In the period from 24-26. August 2021, in Tuzla, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, in the premises of the Međunarodno udruženje “Interaktivne otvorene škole” (MIOS) Tuzla was held an international meeting of partner organizations of the project “Action for Roma Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Employment and Empowerment – ACT4ROM”.
The meeting was attended by representatives of partner organizations from Serbia, Pomoć deci, Slovakia, Wide Open School – Škola Dokoran, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Međunarodno udruženje “Interaktivne otvorene škole” (MIOS) Tuzla and from Albania, Partnere per Femijet.
During the two-day meeting, project activities and project dissemination strategies were discussed.
Youth unemployment rates in the Western Balkans are over 50% (twice the total unemployment rate, or 5 times the EU youth unemployment rate). Given that the partner countries involved in this project (Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Albania) are among the most economically vulnerable parts of Europe, there is the largest number of young people at risk of poverty and social exclusion (according to Eurostat).
All partners involved agreed that one of the best strategies to combat the above problems is to involve young people in the experiential learning process, which has so far shown greater interest among young people, offering them the opportunity to make their own discoveries, initiating a critical review process.
Partners from Serbia and Slovakia are very successful in implementing the unique concept of integrated social and financial education in various forms. As it has proven to be a successful methodology, it is also used to develop youth programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania.
So far, youth workers from 4 partner countries of the project have had the opportunity to attend a six-day training held in Vranje, Serbia, and who are empowered to implement the concept of experiential learning in the field of financial education and social skills with young people at the local level.
The activity that follows the international meeting of partners is the youth exchange from 4 partner countries in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be realized in the period from 26-30. August 2021, followed by trainings at the local level in the field of financial education and social skills .
The next international meeting of project partners is planned for January 2022, in Tuzla, BiH.
The project is implemented under the Erasmus + program and is funded by the Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual and Culture, which operates under the authority delegated by the European Commission.