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SERBIA
2000 ... 2002

In December 2000, Triangle Génération Humanitaire carried-out its first survey mission in Serbia, in Belgrade, Presevo, and Vrnjacka-Banja, in order to collect information concerning the problems and expectations of the youth, and meet the largest number of actors of civil society. The mission came to the conclusion that the associative network was of good quality, and the competence of local associations and their commitment to support the needs of the youth were real.

The Yugoslav wars of the last decades have brought their share of refugees. Serbs from Croatia, Bosnia or Kosovo, 52, 000 new city dwellers came to fill Zemun, a town of 250, 000 inhabitants located in the outskirts of Belgrade. However, according to Vladan Janicjevic, the president of the municipality, «only 10% of the refugees have found their place in Zemun. It is not surprising; there is no job […]. We face a lot of social distress. Many children are left to themselves. They hang out in town. The local population shows discontent against the newcomers, yet they are our fellow citizens».

The NGO therefore thought of a project to set up community resource centers dedicated to the youth, in close partnership with local associations. For Vlada Janicjevic, the opening of such a center was essential: « It is in my interest that the youth have activities to occupy themselves in their spare time, so they can learn useful new things: computer science, English, painting, arts, so they have possibilities, a future, and they learn how to live together».

In March 2002, TGH opened two youth centers in Zemun near Belgrade and in Vrnjcka Banja in the south of Serbia. The objective of these centers was to promote the development and integration of young people in the local society and in the world through the establishment of a «resource place». Not only through the activities carried-out there (educational, cultural, sports, etc.), but also through the importance of the initiatives and responsibilities that young people had to take in order to run the place.