In the European Year of Youth, 2022, from May 12 to 14, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) organized its 6th regional Youth Summit, which was held in Podgorica, Montenegro.
The Podgorica Youth Summit (PGYS) was envisioned as a regional gathering of young people and experts, aimed at examining the challenges faced by countries in the region on their EU path, the health of democracy, and lessons learned from the past, while rethinking dominant practices for building just and inclusive societies.
The idea behind the PGYS was to enhance intergenerational dialogue by bringing together youth, academia, politicians, practitioners, artists, and civil society representatives, creating a space where knowledge would be shared and solutions to both old and new problems would be proposed.
For over 18 years, YIHR’s regional network has been reminding regional actors that the future belongs to young people, by equipping them with fact-based knowledge and empowering active citizenship. With the rise of autocratic political leaders, populism, and far-right ideas strengthening harmful nationalistic perspectives across the region, the need to empower and support young voices of change had to be treated as a priority. Therefore, this year’s motto of the PGYS was “Don’t Stay Silent.”
Acknowledging the ongoing threats to peace, carefully tailored panels and engaging idea labs provided space for young professionals and aspiring activists to exchange views and tackle some of the most important topics for the future of Europe and the region.
The Summit encouraged professionals and decision-makers to make commitments in support of the European future of the Western Balkan countries, while promoting human rights, democratic values, and societal, especially youth, participation in pluralistic democracies.
Since the first Youth Summit, organized in Belgrade in 2009, with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), YIHR has organized Youth Summits in Prishtina (2012), Sarajevo (2015), Zagreb (2017), and Skopje (2019).
