Young Ambassadors

In an effort to strengthen and reignite youth activism, FIQ has developed a project that aims to works directly and exclusively with youth informal groups in 4 pilot Municipalities in Kosovo, one which utilize a combination of FIQ’s successful efforts in working with youngsters, paired with a new methodology that will seek to empower youngsters to further their civic activism efforts by giving them ownership in decision-making. The Young Ambassadors project will identify, mobilize, and train young activists, and guide them towards the establishment and implementation of a grant-giving mechanism, which they will lead, with the purpose of identifying and supporting innovative and interesting community actions from youth informal groups in their respective municipalities. Moreover, with the objective of ensuring the implementation of community actions that are truly of benefit to the targeted communities, the youth informal groups will have to fundraise 25% of the envisaged cost of the community actions, from the local community (individuals, businesses, institutions), which will serve as a direct indicator that the idea has merit and the local community is willing to support it. In this regard, FIQ has also secured matching-grants from the 4 selected Municipalities, hence enabling our Young Ambassadors and the youth informal groups involved in the project to have a direct not only through practical actions in the community, but also the ability to shape youth policies in their respective municipalities.

 The project came as a result of lacking innovative approaches toward youth civic empowerment as government institutions continue to hold a rigid stance with regard to youth, especially in terms of their engagement in policy and decision-making process that impact them directly. Local governments in Kosovo have been inefficient in making use of their available resources to engage young people and/or youth CSOs in their policy and decision-making efforts. Having in mind that Kosovo has the youngest populations in the region based on EU Standards, it is vitally important to engage youngsters in the process of fostering a sustainable socio-economic development for their respective communities. The Kosovo youth unemployment rate stands at an alarming 55.9%, which is a highly worrying fact. A survey conducted by the KAS, indicates that the highest incidence of unemployment occurs among young people (Age 15-24), where 50.4% of males and 68.4% of females in the labor force are unemployed.

Utilizing community philanthropy as the overarching strategy, FIQ will seek to empower young civic activists and youth informal groups, by strengthening their capacities through innovative trainings, tailored mentorship, and grant giving for community actions, thereby enabling them to become effective contributors in the sustainable socio-economic development of their communities through civic activism. One of the key differentiators of the Young Ambassadors Platform is that it represents the first platform of its kind where youth have full ownership, the “For Youth, By Youth” approach will enable the participating youngsters not only to be a part of a large network of fellow volunteers, but to actually lead the decision-making process and be the agents of change in their respective communities, through innovative problem-solving actions, in a transparent and accountable manner.

16 young ambassadors from four different municipalities in Kosovo have supported their peers to carry out concrete projects to improve life in the communities they come from. The projects were presented during the closing event of the "Young Ambassadors" project, which received great interest from young people from all over Kosovo who aspire to lead similar projects in the future.

 The project in 2016 was supported by National Endowment for Democracy. In 2017, young ambassadors project is supported by Global Found for Community Development.