43858 Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized May 21-24, 2007-Rome May 21-24, to Action From Policy and CentralAsia: inEasternEurope People Young CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS YOUNG PEOPLE IN EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA: FROM POLICY TO ACTION Rome May 21-25, 2007 "Young people have been major agents of positive social and political change in the ECA region.There is a need for integrated youth policies that address their employment and citizenship opportunities and most importantly a need totranslate these into action." ADAPTED FROM THE ECA YOUTH CONFERENCE STATEMENT V The global challenges of our time – fighting poverty, climate change, combating terrorism and pandemics – need a far broader dimension than our narrow national confines. Alone, we are doomed to irrelevance. Together, we can address and overcome the challenges ahead... The message I would like to send out to the young people of the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia is a message of concern and solidarity. The Italian government wishes to stand by their side as we build up a more just and participatory Europe, underpinned by the shared common values of democracy and freedom, with young people leading the way. H.E. ROMANO PRODI PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, ITALY As a region, Europe and Central Asia is well placed to invest in its youth. Overall education levels are higher in the region than in many parts of the world, young people are coming of age at a time when the range of economic opportunities is widening, and economic revival is following the adjustments of transition. The youth agenda is developing to meet emerging needs and conditions in this diverse region, and young people’s participation in the definition of that agenda will be a cornerstone of the World Bank’s efforts in supporting social and economic development in these countries. SHIGEO KATSU VICE-PRESIDENT, EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA REGION THE WORLD BANK VI FOREWORD Today 1.5 billion people worldwide – 1.3 billion in developing and transition countries – are aged 12-24, the most ever. Addressing issues important to youth will affect economic development, growth and social development in these countries well into the future. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, whatever the relative size of youth populations, young people are a valuable resource that needs to be tapped. ECA missed opportunities could be extremely costly to remedy. Young people’s participation in the labor force has fallen following transition. And although enrollment in secondary education is on the increase, secondary school completion is still far from the norm. Too many young people are out of school and out of work. The region faces the very real risk that this could act as a brake on growth leading to increasing poverty at home, migration or even local conflict. Despite often having helped to trigger social and political change in the transition countries, young people for the most part have subsequently been excluded from decision making and the political priorities of the new order, and are increasingly disillusioned with the citizenship opportunities offered in their countries. The World Bank has learned from young stakeholders in the region and elsewhere the importance of listening to youth to ensure the relevance and sustainability of projects and programs. This conference – a joint initiative of the World Bank and the Cooperation and Development Department of Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – was an important opportunity to improve dialogue between young people and policy makers in ECA and to discover joint solutions to common problems. SHIGEO KATSU VICE-PRESIDENT, EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA REGION THE WORLD BANK VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This conference brought together over 230 representatives of youth organizations, government officials, NGOs, the private sector and international organizations. Participants included youth delegations from all 29 countries of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region and Kosovo. Without the participation of the many dedicated youth representatives who came to share their insights, recommendations and vision for the region over three days of discussion, the conference – and these proceedings - would have been unable to serve as a true platform for dialogue. The conference was co-sponsored by the World Bank and the Development Cooperation Office of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a fruitful partnership that is part of a larger combined effort to direct investments towards youth development, particularly in South Eastern Europe. The International Labour Organization was also a key partner in the planning and realization of the conference. The participation of high-level representatives of international organizations such as the European Commission, the European Youth Forum, the Council of Europe, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Open Society Institute (OSI), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) ensured that the discussions that are reported in these proceedings were indeed a dialogue between policy makers, youth advocates and stakeholders. The telecommunications company Nokia was also apartner in the conference, providing the financing for the 2007 Innovation Grants Competition “Connecting Youth to Work and Citizenship Opportunities.” The World Bank is also grateful for the generous hospitality of the Municipality of Rome, and for the sponsorship of certain events at the conference by corporations such as UNICREDIT Group and Microsoft. A special thank you is owed to the team of Walueurope, led by Marina di Pietro, for their support to the organization, communication and coordination of the whole event. Many other organizations and dedicated individuals have contributed to the realization of this conference. Though too numerous to mention individually, their contribution to the success of the event is gratefully acknowledged. This report was prepared by Zeynep Ozbil and Alexandra Habershon under the supervision of Gloria La Cava. VIII ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ALMP Active Labor Market Program BiH Bosnia and Herzegovina CoE Council of Europe CIS Commonwealth of Independent States CIS-CCA Caucasus and Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) CIS-Eur European states of the former Soviet Union (Belarus, Moldova, Russia and the Ukraine) CSO Civil Society Organizations CSR Corporate Social Responsibility CYBF Canadian Youth Business Foundation DCECI Development Cooperation and Economic Cooperation Instrument, EU EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EAC Education for active citizenship ECA Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank ENP European Neighborhood Policy ENPI European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument, EU EPL employment protection legislation ESI European Stability Initiative EU European Union EU-NMS European Union New Member States (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) FSU Former Soviet Union FYRM Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia GDP gross domestic product HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ICG International Crisis Group ICT Information and Communication Technology IADB Inter-American Development Bank IDP Internally Displaced Persons IFI International Finance Institution ILO International Labour Organization IMF International Monetary Fund IOM International Organization for Migration KILM Key Indicators of the Labor Market MFI Microfinance Institution MONEE Monitoring the human impact of socio-economic change in CEE/CIS and the Baltics (UNICEF) NGO non-governmental organization OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OSI Open Society Institute OSI-NDP Open Society Institute - Network Debate Program PT peace and tolerance (programs) IX R&D research and development RF Russian Federation SAP Stabilization and Association Process SEE South Eastern Europe (for the purposes of this report, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey) TTY Telephone Typewriter / Teletype UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund VTE vocational and technical education WDR World Development Report WHO World Health Organization WOSM World Organization of the Scout Movement YBI Youth Business International YEN Youth Employment Network YMCA Young Men Christian Association X CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES The conference “Young People in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: From Policy to Action,” held in Rome from May 21-24, 2007, provided the first ECA-wide forum to discuss the implications of the 2007 World Development Report Development and the Next Generation for the ECA Region. The World Bank dedicated its 2007 WDR to youth to bring to the attention of global policy makers the existing evidence of the urgent need to invest in young people. This conference focused on two policy domains articulated in the WDR, young people’s transition to employment and transition to active citizenship. The objective of the Conference was to identify concrete lines of action in the policy areas that affect these transitions, which are today especially problematic for young people in ECA. Rationale Young people’s transition to work and the exercise of active