The Ministry of Sports and Youth has started working on developing a new Youth Strategy for 2022-2026, which will result in a framework for developing the full potential of youth, as well as for their contribution to the development of society.

State Secretary in the Ministry of Sports and Youth, Amina Cikotic, attended and spoke at the first meeting of the Working Group for the development of the Youth Strategy 2022-2026, with the accompanying Action Plan 2022-2023, which was held in Podgorica. The Working group members discussed the legal framework for the preparation of strategic documents, the presentation of the basic principles, steps and structure of strategies/reports, domestic and international legal and strategic frameworks in the field of youth policy, as well as the definition of the structure, i.e. the thematic areas to be covered by the Youth Strategy 2022-2026, with the accompanying Action Plan 2022-2023. "This time, we want to change the approach to the drafting of the Strategy itself, both in terms of the areas it will cover and the openness to different actors to get involved in the drafting process. I would like to use this opportunity to underscore the desire of the Ministry to include as many young people as possible this time, in order to produce a high-quality document that will genuinely solve the key problems of young people in the country," Cikotic pointed out.

"Young people are one of the key resources of our society and it is necessary to provide an effective response to their needs and potential. There are more than 130,000 young people in Montenegro, with whom we need to create conditions, services and opportunities so that they could develop into satisfied, productive, responsible and socially active citizens", Jelena Miljanic, programme manager at UNDP, added.

It was pointed out, at the meeting, that interdepartmental coordination and communication should remain one of the key priorities, both during the development and implementation of the Youth Strategy, in order to provide a coordinated, comprehensive and adequate response to all challenges and opportunities in this area.

UNDP supports the development of the Youth Strategy through the Activate! project, which is funded by the UN SDG Fund.