IOM Team in Bužim Receives a Certificate of Acknowledgement from the Municipal Council in Bužim

IOM’s team of Local Coordinators in Bužim was recognized for all the extraordinary efforts and work in their local community, within the project “Community Based Approach to Support Youth in Targeted Municipalities”. During the official ceremony marking the Days of Municipality, the Municipal Council Bužim awarded a Certificate of Acknowledgement to IOM’s team in Bužim for their contributions to the development of the local community through the implementation of projects of significance for the Municipality of Bužim and its citizens, and in particular the engagement of marginalized youth in Bužim and their motivation to participate in the social life of the community.

“It is an honour to receive this award”, says the lead Local Coordinator in Bužim, Merima Račić. “We are extremely grateful that our efforts have been recognized by the local leaders in our community, and we use the opportunity to thank the Mayor, the Municipal Council and all the citizens of our municipality who have recognized our work and supported us in being the recipients of this tribute.”

This occasion marks over 2 years of engagement with youth in Bužim within the aforementioned project. As one of the original 6 communities where IOM works on prevention of violent extremism and radicalism, IOM has thus far engaged the youth in building their life skills, critical thinking and media trainings aimed at enhancing the resilience to violent extremism influence, and encourage them to become active community members by supporting them in the design and the implementation of youth-lead projects. Furthermore, a group of parents in Bužim was established with the goal to propose initiatives that can contribute to prevention of violent extremism amongst youth and within their communities by addressing local grievances and proposing innovative solutions to various community issues.

Rural community of Radoč has a newly refurbished space for youth (Rahat Zona); the local high school students and teachers are involved in building a Street Workout park; while the youth in the community of Lubarda are working on another project, called The Friendship Corner. As these projects are completed or nearing their finalization, the youth in Bužim continue to work on preparing new ideas and community projects, which will be implemented with support of IOM’s team of Local Coordinators in Bužim.

Merima Račić nods with pride and excitement when talking about the work with youth in their community: “The best part of our efforts are certainly conversations and work with our youth. And as I said before, youth is our greatest potential, treasure, and a point of pride! Therefore, we congratulate and share this award with all our youth and all the people of our municipality. We also thank the International Organization for Migration and our colleagues for the opportunity and their patience, and USAID for all their contributions and support since the very beginning”.