The Youth Initiative for Human Rights will hold the 5th Youth Summit in Skopje, North Macedonia, from December 3 to 5! ?

he region’s keystone youth event will promote democratic unity and strengthen pro-democracy discourse and convictions among youth in the Western Balkans region and beyond, allowing them to connect and reconnect, learn from one another and gain greater understanding of political movements and civil society around the world.

Who is SKYS for?

Skopje Youth Summit is for young people who are unafraid to challenge the status quo, who are passionate about building peaceful, democratic societies across the world and who are curious to learn and exchange knowledge with others.

The Summit will gather 200 people from the Western Balkans region and beyond, including political and NGO activists, media practitioners, artists, and academics.

Main topics within SKYS

The Summit will explore various aspects of activism and different creative ways to mobilize communities in order to enable democratic processes. In an engaging and interactive way, it will teach participants about the democratic changes that took place in North Macedonia, and offer parallels to similar processes across the globe.

The topic of the status of Western Balkans countries within EU integration processes will be one of the central issues explored at the Summit, and how the various positives and negatives on the EU accession path affect societies in the region.

Within the overarching theme of the capacity of youth to overcome great challenges and build bridges in divided communities, one of the central panels will explore how young people who were affected by the wars in ex-Yugoslavia managed to rebuild their lives and ignite dialogue and reconciliation with their life stories and work.

Apply for SKYS
? summit.yihr.org/skys2019

The Youth Initiative will cover for travel, accomodation and meal costs for the duration of the Youth Summit. The application deadline is November 20th.