FES Youth Studies: Policy Workshop Skopje

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Regional Dialogue SOE, together with the Centre for Social Research Analitika, reviewed the FES Youth Studies that were conducted throughout Southeast Europe from 2009 to 2015. A new regional comparative report was produced that analyses research data from all countries which conducted youth studies, with the aim to deepen the understanding of trends and complexities of the issue and give them a regional dimension.  

The workshop was organized together with youth policy experts, representatives of national youth councils and academia to look at the major research findings and further streamline the policy recommendations that can be derived from the research.

Discussions followed the chapters of the study, accordingly putting focus on education, employment, migration, political and civic participation. The debate gravitated mainly towards the relationship between educational policy and the labor market. Participants criticized what they perceived as an outdated educational approach that is present in the region, which does not equip young people with the necessary skills for employment. Particularly the absence of structured internship programs was identified as a serious deficit for youth development in the region.

Widespread anxiety about employment opportunities amongst youth in the region is intertwined with general political disillusionment. Participants’ ideas addressing the wanting level of civic participation in the countries ranged from advocating the adjustment of educational curricula towards more emphasis on socio-political awareness and inclusion to very concrete steps such as enabling time-bound internships and work placements filling job markets abroad, which would eventually benefit the host country.

The participants emphasized that in order to shape future paths, the state’s role in developing the private sector should be challenged and examined. Although there was some controversy around the specific ways in which the state should regulate and intervene in terms of establishing quotas or direct employment of marginalized groups, the participants agreed that unions need to gain strength to strategically increase social dialogue and leverage in this process.

Quality and transparency of state monitoring of census data was lamented, which in several countries of the region - particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia – is obscured because of structural and political reasons. However, the monitoring of particularly youth migration dynamics is vital if valuable profiles are to be established, which can in turn inform more specific policy suggestions.

The youth study “Youth in Southeast Europe: The Excluded Generation” will be further consolidated with the inputs from the workshop and published in the coming weeks. You will be able to follow the updates on this website.