OSCE Mission to Montenegro supported project writing training course with Regional Youth Co-operation Office for potential applicants
In preparation for the third Regional Youth Co-operation Office (RYCO) Call for Proposals, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the RYCO Local Branch Office organized a training course for potential applicants in Podgorica from 27 to 29 September 2019.
Around 20 high school teachers from across Montenegro were selected to participate in the course. The schools were selected in co-operation with the Ministry of Education.
OSCE’s Mission Democratization National Programme Officer, Ivana Vujović said: “For those of you whose projects will be accepted – well done and good luck. Equally important to those whose projects will not be accepted – keep working with your students and apply again. Don’t be discouraged. Keep working with students to develop ways and ideas to connect young people within the schools, municipalities in Montenegro and, of course, within South-Eastern Europe.”
The Head of the RYCO Local Branch Office in Montenegro, Edin Koljenović, explained that RYCO has three strategic directions. “Firstly, we are focused on awarding grants to NGOs and secondary schools to connect youth within the region. Secondly, we are committed to building capacity of our grantees and potential grantees, which is today’s activity; and thirdly, we deal with policies to foster a socio-politically favourable environment for youth co-operation and their mobility.”
Nenad Koprivica, General Director for Youth in the Ministry of Sports and Youth, said that one of the key goals and missions of RYCO is to overcome prejudices. “Young people across the region must realize that they are equal and face the same challenges: from access to the labour market, to quality education, health care, and access to quality cultural content. RYCO’s aim is to articulate the challenges and problems of young people in the region.”
Veljko Tomić, General Director at the Ministry of Education stated that the mutual interest of the Ministry and RYCO, to support young people, enhance the capacity of professors and promote youth policies, was formalized by signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and RYCO this month. “I’m convinced that this training course will encourage professors to bring their students together around the reconciliation and fostering good relations in the region. I am convinced that the skills you acquire here will greatly facilitate the preparation and implementation of projects within the RYCO open call.”
RYCO was founded in 2016 at the Western Balkans Sixth Summit in Paris as an independent institutional mechanism to promote the spirit of reconciliation and co-operation among youth in the region through exchange programmes.