Kosovo CSR Network: Fostering a Mentorship Culture to Empower Youth to Become Agents of Social Change
At the European SDG Summit 2020, our National Partner Organization, Kosovo CSR Network, organized a National SDG Roundtable on ‘Shaping the Future with Volunteer Mentors’, exploring the challenges and opportunities of empowering youth to improve their skills and abilities, and kick-start their journey in the labour market.
The session brought together Kosovar stakeholders from the private sector (Agon Gashi, Executive Director at Meridian Express), public sector (Vlora Dumoshi, Minister of Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports) and civil society (Murat Sahin, Head of UNICEF Kosovo Programme and Linda Tahiri, Executive Director at Kosovo CSR Network) to discuss innovative strategies to support youth empowerment initiatives, employment opportunities and explore the power of collaboration.
Cross-sectoral cooperation, including partnerships between governmental agencies, educational institutions, the private sector, and civil society, are essential to empowering the Kosovar youth, said Ms. Dumoshi. An example of this is the “Kosovo Generation Unlimited” project, a youth-empowerment initiative supported by the UNICEF Kosovo Programme, SIDA and the private sector. According to Mr. Sahin, Head of the UNICEF Kosovo Programme, this project can offer tangible solutions for young people in Kosovo, by providing them with paid internships and mentorship in various companies and organizations.
All companies can contribute to the SDGs, and can play a positive role, no matter how large or small they are and regardless of their industry, said Ms. Tahiri. This was reiterated by Mr. Gashi, who strongly believes in Corporate Social Responsibility. The private sector must continue to push itself to do more and to nurture youth through social and economic challenges – both personal and professional – and support their efforts to join and contribute successfully to the future workforce.
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