How Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Youth Are Building the Future They Want

From Classrooms to Communities

August 12, 2025

In a school hall in Brčko District, the lights dim and Igra (The Game) begins to play. Created by the civil society organization Forum with support from UNDP within the LEAD project funded through the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), the short film confronts the dangers of small arms and light weapons. By the time the credits roll, the silence in the room says everything. In just months, Igra has been screened in nearly 200 schools across eight cantons and Brčko District, reaching over 13,000 students, made possible by a meaningful between youth, police agencies, and UNDP, working with funding and institutional cooperation from local authorities.

Audience members with backs turned, watching a presentation on a screen.

View of people with their backs to the camera, one wearing a 'POLICE' jacket, watching a screen.

A panel discussion with four speakers seated in front of an audience in a classroom setting.

In Gradačac, the change is political and deeply local. In the town’s Social Centre, young people gather not to watch, but to write: drafting the city’s first-ever Youth Strategy. Over two workshops, they analysed data, debated priorities, and proposed measures in areas from education and employment to culture, health, and safety. Supported by Sweden and the Government of Switzerland through UNDP’s “Strengthening the Role of Local Communities” project, their recommendations will shape official policy for years to come, a reminder that democracy thrives when young people are at the table.

A group of young adults attentively listens to a speaker in a bright room.

And in Mostar, youth stand on an international stage. At the Dialogue for the Future 3 conference, they join ministers, diplomats, and cultural leaders to sign the Mostar Youth Declaration 2025. The commitments are ambitious: protecting heritage, advancing peace, fostering cross-border education, and strengthening youth roles in diplomacy. The conference which embodies the message that “youth are the guardians of our shared future” was jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, the Government of the Federation of BiH, UNESCO, the City of Mostar, the Center for Peace and Multiethnic Cooperation Mostar, and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), with the support of the UN Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), through the flagship initiative Dialogue for the Future 3 (DFF3), implemented by UNESCO, UNICEF, and UNDP in partnership with the Presidency of BiH and the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH.

Sometimes, building the future means confronting the past. In Tuzla, the association Vive žene brought together survivors of war and young people in a series of intergenerational workshops supported through the EU Support to Confidence Building in the Western Balkans initiative, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by UNDP. Survivors like Mirsada Tursunović shared their stories, many for the first time, while students like law student Melisa Bukvić listened, learned, and promised to carry these truths forward. “The truth must be defended and spoken out loud,” Melisa says. Their connection is a bridge between generations, built on memory, respect, and the shared determination to create a just society.

"The truth must be defended and spoken out loud,” Melisa Bukvić

A group of people collaborates on a large drawn map of Bosnia and Herzegovina, using markers and crafting materials.

A group of diverse participants seated in a workshop, listening attentively.

A group of women joyfully interacting, embracing and smiling in a lively indoor setting.

Other bridges are built with code and circuits. Through the Schools of the Future programme, supported by the Government of the Kingdom of Norway through UNDP’s “Economic Governance for Growth” (EGG2) project and implemented in cooperation with STEMI, more than 500 students and 70 teachers from 29 schools have explored robotics, 3D design, and programming in modern STEM classrooms. For many girls, it was their first step into technology.

“IT is not just the future, it is the present where girls create, innovate, and lead,” says Nađa Imamović from the Technical School in Zenica. From motion-controlled robots to web development, their projects challenge stereotypes and prove that STEM is for everyone.

A group of six young women smiling, seated at a desk with computers and gadgets.

“IT is not just the future, it is the present where girls create, innovate, and lead”

In the water sector, one of the country’s most traditional industries, a quiet revolution is underway. With support from the Municipal Environmental Governance Project (MEG2), jointly funded by the Government of Switzerland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the European Union, young professionals from utility companies in 30 partner communities have formed new subcommittees within both entity-level water associations, the Association of Utility Companies in the Federation of BiH (UPKP) and the Water Utility Association of Republika Srpska (UVRS). They are exchanging knowledge, developing innovative solutions, and preparing to launch a Water Academy to train the next generation of engineers. “Without young professionals, there is no future,” says Petar Topić, one of the initiative’s leaders.

Group of diverse individuals holding blue folders, smiling in a conference setting.

From climate action advocacy ahead of COP29 to the School of Green Chemistry for a Greener Future, organised under a Sweden-funded POPs project, students learn how lemon peels can clean polluted water, while youth initiatives are turning local energy into global impact. They show that when young people are trusted, resourced, and included, they do not just participate, they lead.

Woman with long brown hair smiles while seated at a conference table, flags in background.

A group of people seated at a conference table, focusing on a female participant with red hair.

A speaker addresses an audience in a conference room, with flags and a presentation screen visible.

Group of people engaged in a science experiment, with a focus on a man mixing substances at a table.

As Bosnia and Herzegovina marks International Youth Day 2025 under the theme Local Youth Actions for the SDGs and Beyond, these stories are more than snapshots of progress. Together, they form a portrait of a generation that is coding, debating, remembering, inventing, and connecting, shaping a future that is inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable.

UNDP is proud of its close partnerships with domestic and international institutions, organisations, civil society, academia and all those whose joint efforts empower youth throughout the country, ensuring their voices are heard, their ideas supported, and their leadership strengthened.

#InternationalYouthDay2025