Young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina know what kind of future they want to see

Bosnia and Herzegovina has all the natural and human resources to be a prosperous, fast-growing, leading ‘green’ country by 2045, for the benefit of everyone living in it. This was the underlining vision shared by the young people participating in the “Next 25 years in BiH” arts competition, whose winners were awarded in Sarajevo on 17th September.

The competition was organized by the United Nations’ Dialogue for the Future initiative and the OSCE Mission to BiH in June this year, building upon the “25 Years of Peace” competition for youth organized in December 2020.

Guided by the call for a Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, young people across BiH were asked to reflect on what a peaceful and prosperous future means to them and what should the next 25 years look like in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Winners were announced in three categories, with Ms. Nizama Husetic awarded for the best written piece, Ms. Azra Imamovic for an illustration and Ms. Ajla Berber for a video-presentation.

A conversation with young people participating in the competition followed, with dr. Ingrid Macdonald, the UN Resident Coordinator in BiH, Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Mr. Sukhrob Khoshmukhamedov, the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Mr. Siniša Šešum, Head of UNESCO Antenna Office in Sarajevo, and Ms. Sanja Kabil, UNICEF Head of Education Section.

“We know that many people are leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina every year. It is a serious problem: the country is rapidly losing its most valuable capital – its people. Yet, traveling across the country, meeting the young people today, reading their words, viewing their art – it gives us hope. It energizes us to redouble efforts to make their vision of a more prosperous, inclusive and fairer future a reality.”, said dr. Ingrid Macdonald, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in BiH.

 “It is crucial that young people engage to help move BiH forward, to ensure change based on democratic values, and foster political and social stability. Such voices need to be amplified: this is just one reason why the OSCE Mission to BiH has supported this essay competition, together with our United Nations colleagues.” said Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH.   

The overall competition winner, Ms. Nizama Husetic, outlined in her winning piece the potential that BiH holds in its industry, tourism, tradition and – people, which could enable its growth and implementation of Sustainable Development Goals: “Fortune favors the brave, and we have never been anything less than that. Society in which everyone is working in the sphere in which they are the best, to which they are dedicated, will never be a doomed society”.

The art works submitted for the two cycles of the competition show without doubt that young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina know what kind of future they want to see – one guided by the values of peace, mutual understanding, dignity and inclusion.