On Monday, March 15, at the Serbia Palace, Ambassador Mary Warlick, the Minister of Youth and Sports Snezana Samardzic-Marković, and USAID’s Mission Director Michael Harvey will attend the ceremony of signing Memoranda of Understanding between USAID’s Economic Security Program, supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sport, and representatives of 38 municipalities in Serbia.

The MoU will enable youth offices in these communities to successfully implement various programs for the development of youth entrepreneurship. Minister Samardzic-Markovic and Ambassador Warlick will speak at the ceremony.

The Memoranda will create the institutional preconditions necessary for local youth offices in these communities to grow into vital information points capable of independently providing young people with essential information on entrepreneurship possibilities.

The signing of the MoU signals the true willingness of local leaders from these communities to create an entrepreneurship-friendly environment that will provide more job opportunities for the youth from their communities.

USAID’s youth activities aim to increase the competitiveness of youth and address the issue of high youth unemployment. They enable young people to obtain special knowledge and skills necessary in the modern business environment helping them to become more competitive in the labor market.

USAID’s youth activities directly support the implementation of the Serbian government’s “National Youth Strategy“ and are carried out in close collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

The activities of the Sector for Youth at the Ministry of Youth and Sports are aimed towards improving the position and quality of life of young people in Serbia through a number of activities that include the realization of various youth programs, the establishment of national and regional Youth Offices, informal education of youth, cooperation with other ministries in the field of youth policy, and others.

The municipalities that will sign Memoranda of Understanding with USAID are:

1. Aleksinac,
2. Barajevo (Beograd),
3. Bačka Topola,
4. Bela Crkva,
5. Bečej,
6. Blace,
7. Bujanovac,
8. Veliko Gradište,
9. Vlasotince,
10. Žagubica,
11. Zaječar,
12. Zrenjanin,
13. Ivanjica,
14. Kikinda,
15. Kladovo,
16. Knjaževac,
17. Krupanj,
18. Lajkovac,
19. Lebane,
20. Leskovac,
21. Loznica,
22. Majdanpek,
23. Novi Pazar,
24. Palilula (Beograd),
25. Palilula (Niš),
26. Pantelej (Niš),
27. Paraćin,
28. Plandište,
29. Prijepolje,
30. Ruma,
31. Svilajnac,
32. Svrljig,
33. Senta,
34. Soko Banja,
35. Sremski Karlovci,
36. Surdulica,
37. Ćićevac,
38. Užice