Youth Initiative of Human Rights

Who is YIHR?
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) is a non-governmental organisation with programs, activities and offices in the territories of Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
YIHR was founded in 2003 by young activists from these countries, with a desire to encourage the involvement of young generations in the democratisation process and to strengthen law, justice and human rights by establishing new links among post war generations in the region of the former Yugoslavia. It is also questions of dealing with the past through young generations and including the youth in the various processes of transitional justice through the promotion of truth-telling mechanisms and the protection of victims of human rights violations.
YIHR is committed to the promotion of its basic values – truth, justice, peace, peaceful coexistence and equality.
Their actions mainly aim to establish connections and reconciliation in the post-conflict region of the Former Yugoslavia, and to enhance the participation of youth in building the society.

Meeting with YIHR board in Prishtinë/Pristina:
In the YIHR’s Kosovo office, a young and dynamic team implements different programs. During my visit, they were all available and opened to explain me what their aims and their wishes are, as young generation.
Through Human Rights programs, they implement advocacy and research program about preventing discrimination against minorities and languages. They encourage public participation by organising trainings and debates with young people about those topics. The question of Human Rights research skills is how to deal with people who their rights have been violated, because there is lack of researches about that topic.
“Dealing with the past to build the present and the future” is one important goal of their activities.
They encourage reconciliation and cooperation between Serbia and Kosovo through different ways, for instance through Visiting programs. That is to say they organise meetings and visits in Serbia and Kosovo: Young people from Serbia come in Kosovo, and vice versa. This great initiative aims to break the isolation of both Youth. Those visiting programs are implemented on personal issues, it means that they prepare their visit and they speak to each other before their meeting… I’ve had the opportunity to be there during one of those visits of young Serbs in Kosovo. They were welcomed in YIHR’s Office, and during 3 days, they visited different places and they take part in debates with young kosovars.
And for most of them (young people from Serbia and from Kosovo) it’s the first time that they travel abroad this “border” since the end of the war. Such program brings many opportunities and can concretely change mentalities and prevent prejudices.
Media programs aims are also to encourage cross border cooperation, between journalists from Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro, and to emphasize true information in Media. Indeed, most of time, medias relate information that does not represent the real everyday life and mentalities of the population.

The main target of YIHR is thus young people. Through their Youth Programs, they focus on capacity building, regional volunteer’s networks, advocacy empowerment and youth participation. Their main goals and wishes are:
 To create chances and opportunities for Youth. And to canalise their big potential;
 To fight against apathy;
 To encourage exchanges between youth of Former Yugoslavia.
Bardhi Bakija, the young men in charge of YIHR Youth Programs, thinks that young people need to be involved “to build a better society”. He thus explains me that “Youth is the present and not the future as so many people says. Because if you says “the future” you exclude them, from the present, of what is going on right now.
So our wish is to encourage and to reinforce youth participation in local decisions, in local level, because they are important decision-makers.”

They currently implement street actions and art exhibitions. It is what they have done to launch their new campaign “Stop Discrimination and Youth involvement in civil society” which allow them to create a youth network through this campaign. Those kinds of events bring dynamics and give more visibility to their actions.
“Too many Medias and political spread this idea that time has stopped and that with the status of independence, life will start… But it’s not true. And we don’t want to wait any longer. We want to change this way of thinking.
We have only one life. Which kind of society do you want? You have to raise your voice. To feel as a citizen. We try also to raise also the awareness to vote. So much young people are disinterested by voting.”

They also propose internships to young people in YIHR Office. As Bardhi did during few months, now he is employed full time in YIHR Office in Prishtinë/Pristina. Thus YIHR gives opportunities to have concrete responsibilities and to be involved in the civil society.

And Milot Berisha, working also in YIHR in Prishtinë/Pristina, confirms why it is important to involve the Youth in their society regarding to the main challenges young people have to face with:
“The main problems for Youth are Education system, Self Improvement and Strengthening capacity and potential.
It’s a paradox situation because there is 60% of youth but political have no idea about what to do with them.
So we don’t want to wait, we don’t want to put our future in their hands. We want to be active, and to be actor of our life and of our society.”

Such engagement and such initiatives need to be underlined and to be supported, because YIHR takes in consideration the potential of Youth in this region which is indeed important and which is one of the main key of Kosovo.


The text of the new campaign launched by the Youth Program of YIHR, “Stop discrimination” illustrated their impressive involvement and their convictions:
“We are the generation that has an opportunity to change the society because we want to live better. We want each day to be different, each day to be a new chance that we get to use.
We want Kosovo to be a place of its citizens, who control their lives, where the richness does not mean only money but the freedom to love who you want, to travel without fear, to help others, and to speak your languages. We want a society where not the prejudices but the values and knowledge speak for us. To live better for us means to know more. The truth is more valuable than the myths, and people more valuable than their ethnicity, colour, race, gender, age or sexual orientation.

We want a society where the one who steals goes to prison, and does not become a Minister. We want a society where one becomes the best with knowledge, because one can, and not because one is the strongest. Went an accountable society that behaves responsibly and not according to whims. We want a society where the rule of law is not questioned. Our goal is to have a modern and civic Kosovo. We do not want to wait any longer. Our energies, wishes, and visions, lead us to action. “


If you want more information, do not hesitate to contact the NGO:
Website: www.yihr.org

Regional Office:
Address: Kondina 26/3 , 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Tel/fax: +381 11 33 70 757, +381 11 33 70 747
Mail: office@yihr.org

YIHR in Prishtinë/Pristina :
Address: Tringe Ismaili 34 a, 10000 Prishtinë/Pristina, Kosovo/UNMIK
Tel/fax: +381 38 248 509
Mail: ksoffice@yihr.org




Clara GUIILLAUD,
EVS in Local Democracy Agency of Kosovo, Gjilan/Gnjilane