Skopje, 8 August 2022 (MIA) – The Youth and Sport Agency (YSA), supported by the OSCE Mission to Skopje, UNDP and UNFPA, on the occasion of Youth Week (August 8-12), announced the drafting of a new National Youth Strategy that will focus on the real needs of the youth and respond to their demands. Agency director Naumche Mojsoski said the draft version of the Strategy is expected to be complete towards the end of the year, and it will be followed by an action plan for 2023. “In the upcoming period, the YSA in cooperation with the Government, relevant youth institutions, youth organizations and the Youth Council, will work on drafting a new Youth Strategy which will focus on the real needs of the youth and respond to their demands. We have already created the methodology for the drafting of the Strategy, we created the foundations and I expect that we will have a draft-version of the Strategy by the year-end, followed by an action plan for 2023, the process is entirely inclusive and transparent,” Mojsoski told a press-conference on Monday. He said the events marking Youth Week aim to hear the voice of the youth, to recognize their commitments, to encourage them to be active in the creation of processes important to them, and to be the creators of their own present and future. “Together we can create better conditions for action, our goal is for young people to see security in the institutions and to work together for even greater success,” said Mojsoski. UNDP Resident Representative Armen Grigoriyan said the Strategy will focus on various aspects of the life of young people. “We are here today to announce the beginning phase of the drafting of the National Youth Strategy for the next five years. UNDP supports this very important process aiming to create a strategic document which will encompass various policies in the interest of the youth. The strategy will focus on various aspects of life of young people, such as youth employment, health, education, culture, quality of life etc,” said Grigoriyan. He said the COVID-19 pandemic had a major effect on people’s lives, especially the youth. The educational system, he said, faced many challenges, the accelerated digitization widened the social gap, while social isolation left a mark on the physical and mental health of young people. “Because of this, UNDP together with OSCE and UNFPA, will support the Agency in securing an open and transparent consultative process which will be carried out through workshops, conferences, online forums and other tools allowing greater youth participation. Our clear goal is to prepare this strategic document by informing, consulting and involving youth people in all steps of the policy making,” said the UNDP representative. Head of the OSCE Mission in the country, Jeffrey Goldstein, pointed out that according to the 2021 census, there are now 230.000 less people aged under 25 in the country, than there were two decades ago. “Before the pandemic, when I had more chances to meet young people, I usually asked them where they thought they would live in 10 years. Unfortunately, most of them usually answered ‘abroad’. There are various reasons for this, but the consequences are the same: less human capital of North Macedonia, today and in the future,” said Goldstein. He added that this strategy will provide opportunities to improve the quality of life of young people, to build dialogue and to increase the youth’s trust in the institutions. On the occasion of Youth Week, an international conference on youth will be held in Skopje on August 11 themed “Youth in Open Balkan – Chances and Perspectives for Reliable Progress in the Region”. The Agency announced that the conference will be attended by Government officials, as well as Minister of Youth and Sport of Serbia, Minister of Youth and Sport of Montenegro, as well as representatives of youth organizations from these countries and from Albania. ad/ik/