Democracy for Development institute (D4D) has organized a discussion between the mayor of the Municipality of Gilan, Mr. Lutfi Haziri, and the youth of Gilan to discuss about youth policies of the Municipality, plans and programmes of the Municipality for youth, as well as the actions taken by the Municipality to address the needs and issues of the youth of Gilan.

The establishment of the scholarship programme by the Municipality, financial support of youth that partake in international knowledge competitions, building of sport fields, as well as the building of the House of Youth were the focus of the discussion with the mayor of Gilan.

During the discussion, Mr. Haziri emphasized the importance of establishing the scholarship programme that the Municipality of Gilan is implementing for a while now, by offering scholarships for education and participation in international knowledge competitions. Special focus of the scholarships are young girls from rural areas, who because of their financial and infrastructural conditions cannot continue their studies through high school, therefore through these scholarships the Municipality is trying to cover the commuting and daily expenses for them with the aim to stimulate the continuance of their education.

Main problems for the Municipality of Gilan are the management of this program because of the lack of human resources, and as a solution to this issue the Municipality of Gilan is thinking of outsourcing the full management of this program to an non-governmental organization, whose sole duty would be to manage the scholarships given by the Municipality of Gilan.

Also, the Municipality of Gilan, according to Mr. Haziri, is placing importance in the development of the field of agriculture and business, therefore the Municipal investments are oriented in the development of professional schools and faculties that offer these fields of study. At the same time, the Municipality is trying through the creation of study conditions to stimulate the youth to orient themselves more into these professions, because according to Mr. Haziri agroculture and business are the future of the Municipality of Gilan.

To help the youth be read for the labor market, Mr. Haziri emphasized that the Municipality of Gilan is financially supporting up to 100 young individuals to do internships, in the private sector as well as in the public one. This program is open for all the young people of Gilan that want to do internships. At the same time, Mr. Haziri underlined the lack of funds to offer working contracts to those individuals that show exceptional skills during the internship, therefore they are looking for ways to find funding to cover this aspect in the future.

In conclusion, Mr. Hazir stated that he will continue to work closely with the youth of Gilan to address their needs and demands to develop the Municipality of Gilan furthermore.

This discussion was organized within the framework of “Increased participation for good governance” project, implemented by the Democracy for Development institute (D4D) in partnership with Center for De-politization of Kosovar Society (CDKD), with financial support from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kosovo.