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Snapshot on the situation of youth, challenges to social inclusion and youth policies in South East Europe: information paper for the Seminar' Beyond Barriers'.

19 systematic solution to the problem of youth status and... [supporting] young people in different spheres of social life , followed by t he Law on Youth (2011). The strategy is supported by the Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Youth Strategy 2009 - 2014 and by the guidelines for implementation at the local level (2012 ). The Government of the Republic of Serbia has established the Social Inclusion and Pov erty Reduction Unit in 2009. The Serbian Youth Umbrella Organisation (KOMS) is, [...] the highest representative body of the young people in Serbia whose mission is to represent the interests of young people by developing a partnership with the state, inter - agency and international cooperation, encouraging the active participation of young people and organizational development of its members. 5. C onclusions When it comes to financial (in)stability and political consolidation , c ountries of South East Europe belong to one of the most vulnerable areas covered by the Council of Europe policy . Young citizens of these countries, faced with unstable prospects more and more often make a decision to leave the country in a search of better education and employment opportunities. It leaves the countries without valuable human resources and potential for recovery. While youth unemployment remains a clear emergency in the EU, evidence shows that many young Europeans are expose d to social exclusion much more broadly: in terms of access to education, access to housing, social and political participation. Therefore we can say that more attention is needed to the s ocial exclusion of young people beyond the labour market. All national and supranational institutions have to en sure that all young people are considered as full members of society regardless of their age, class, cultural background, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation, lifestyle, religious and political a ffiliations, residence and ethnicity, particularly Roma young people and their families. Stakeholders at the national level have to be aware of a profound impact that social exclusion can leave on a young person. It can provoke a long - term harm to self - con fidence, skills and knowledge acquisition and retaining, participation in decision making, financial stability and can marginalise a young person reducing their social networks. With an aim of assuring every young person’s social inclusion, stakeholders on the governmental and non - governmental level have to encourage youth work, innovative methods, peer learning and outreach activities. These measures also have to be conceived in a way to include young person on a local level, in communities they belong to, as well as in a more global society. Local initiatives and social cohesion plans have to be developed in order to target young people in a vulnerable situation and to (re)integrate them in the local communities. Especial attention should be paid to the yo ung persons not in employment, education or training, as stated in the Council conclusions on enhancing the social inclusion of young people not in employment , education or training (2013: 3 ), which call for wide action in providing safety nets to the young NEETs: “ Prevention should be a priority in order to avoid increasing the number of young people getting into a NEET situation and to break the inter - generational cycle of social exclusion. A proactive approach involving family, early child educators, schools, especially secondary and vocational education, training and non - formal learning providers, non - governmental organisations (NGOs), especiall y youth organisations, youth workers, parents and other stakeholders is needed to ensure early intervention to avoid young people getting into a NEET situation ” . Furthermore, the Council conclusions reminds of a need to conceive personalised and flexible m easures addressing young people in a NEET situation, with an aim to achieve sustainable positive outcomes in the long term in the labour market, as well as (re)integration into education or training and civic or social life. A report on the Enter! project (2013: 49) emphasize s importance of monitoring and evaluation of the y outh policy initiatives at the local, regional and national level. It also assumes that “ p artnerships with educational institutes, chambers of commerce, trade unions, health organisations and local authorities should allow youth workers and youth organisations to provide more holistic responses 20 to the problems faced by young people from disadva ntaged neighbourhoods ” . One more element crucial for efficient implementation of the youth policy actions should not be forgotten – financing. Youth policy initiatives very often come to an unhappy end due to cuts in public financing and last - minute change s of budgetary priorities. In this light, sustainability and continuity should be priorities in youth policy planning, as well as closer horizontal and vertical cooperation of governmental and non - governmental stakeholders in the youth field.

Youth; south east Europe; social inclusion

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