4 MILLION DINARS FOR PROJECTS FOCUSED ON THE YOUNG

 This year the City of Nis through the Office for Youth supported the implementation of 18 projects of non-governmental organizations aimed at improving the position of youth in Nis, and for this purpose, 3 million dinars were allocated from the budget. In addition, another million dinars were allocated for helping informal associations through the formation of the Resource Center with the organization Young Ambassadors. On the occasion of the City of Nis Youth Day the contracts were awarded at Nis City Hall by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic who said that Nis was the city of young people and that the city adminsitration would continue to help the young in every way. He pointed out that the biggest problem was the lack of jobs in Nis and stressed that, in only two years in Nis, the number of unemployed decreased from over 37,000 to around 26,000, while at the same time the number of employed citizens increased from 61 000 to around 77 000, and that most of those newly employed were young educated people. The coordinator of the Youth Office, Stevan Zivkovic, pointed out that at the time of the establishment of the Office in 2012, the City allocated RSD 500,000 from the budget for projects for youth, and this year this amount was eight times higher. Zivkovic pointed out that a total of 18 projects were accepted by the same number of non-governmental organizations and citizens’ associations, and that the approved funds ranged from 100,000 to 200,000 dinars per project. This year the competition did not specify the theme of the projects, and the largest number of received ideas was, according to Živković, related to the improvement of youth safety, raising the awareness of youth about ecology, media and information, EU integration and employment of young people.