How can we recognize stereotypes in everyday messages and create stories that challenge them? These are the questions being explored by young women and men taking part in the Youth Creative Leadership Lab “Create Equality”, which opened today in Sarajevo. Through learning, exchanging experiences and practical work, participants will develop communication and advocacy ideas to help advance gender equality and build a more inclusive society.

The event marks the beginning of a broader youth creative leadership programme within the Women’s Forum for Development (WF4D), launched in 2022 by UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees. The Forum, which now brings together more than 2,200 women leaders, experts, activists and practitioners from different sectors, is using this programme to create more opportunities for a new generation, including young men as active partners in advancing equality.

“No movement for social change can be sustainable if knowledge remains within a single generation. Knowledge must be passed on. Experience must be shared. Younger generations need space to ask questions, challenge assumptions and try different approaches. Older generations must be willing to listen, rather than simply teach,” emphasized Samra Filipović-Hadžiabdić, Director of the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The programme combines knowledge of gender equality with practical skills in communication, creative expression and advocacy. Participants will explore how social norms shape relationships, expectations and opportunities for women and men, and how these norms can be changed through stories, images, language and digital content.

“Social norms do not change through policies alone. They also change through the stories people hear, the images they see, the language they use and the voices they trust. That is why gender equality and communication go hand in hand,” said Renaud Meyer, UNDP Resident Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ahead of the opening.

This approach draws on findings from the SCORE survey, which highlight differences in young women's and men's attitudes towards gender equality and the need for continued efforts to address social norms. Particular emphasis is placed on engaging young men, challenging expectations around masculinity and developing positive models of behaviour that contribute to more equal relationships.

Throughout the programme, young participants will work with experts and mentors to select a specific social challenge, identify the audiences they want to reach and develop messages and creative formats that can inspire change. Attention will also be given to understanding multiple forms of discrimination, including the experiences of LGBTIQ+ people, in line with the principle of leaving no one behind.

Following the initial phase, up to 25 participants will continue with more intensive mentoring, creative development and production activities. Their ideas will be transformed into audiovisual, written and digital content designed to reach wider audiences during this year's 16 Days of Activism campaign. In this way, the programme connects learning with concrete action, giving young people an opportunity to use their skills to advocate for equality in their communities and professional environments.

This activity is part of the Joint Programme Gender Equality Accelerator, implemented by United Nations agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina - UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF - with financial support from the European Union and the Governments of Denmark and Sweden, in cooperation with the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Gender Centre of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Centre for Equality of Women and Men of Republika Srpska.