On December 14, 2025, we carried out activities aimed at promoting volunteering, activism, and the importance of children and youth participation in decision-making within our local community. From 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM, we were present at the Youth Center in Banja Luka, where we engaged with citizens—especially children and young people—and distributed informational leaflets and brochures created as part of the initiative “The Future Is in Our Hands.” Visitors had the opportunity to learn about ways to actively participate in volunteer and activist activities, as well as the significance of their voice in decision-making processes and shaping the life of their community.
The initiative “The Future Is in Our Hands” aims to increase the engagement of children and youth in the local community, encouraging them to actively contribute to its development and to improving the quality of life for all citizens, with a special focus on the needs of children and young people. Through this project, we strive to empower children and youth to recognize their potential, develop leadership skills, and become drivers of change in their community. The initiative motivates them to design and implement projects and ideas that respond to their real needs, creating an environment where young people are active, included, and ready to contribute to positive change.
Active participation of children and youth is crucial for their personal and professional development, as taking responsibility and engaging in social activities enables them to acquire important skills, knowledge, and experience. At the same time, their involvement contributes to the healthy and sustainable development of the community, reducing passivity and apathy, and combating the marginalization of children and youth.
Through this project, we address key challenges such as insufficient engagement and awareness among children and youth, lack of support for implementing their ideas, and limited opportunities for their personal and professional growth. Our goal is to create an enabling environment where young people have space, support, and motivation to be active participants in positive changes within their community. Young participants emphasized how much they value having a space to express their opinions and create ideas.
The initiative “The Future Is in Our Hands” is implemented by the Citizens’ Association “Srce na dlanu” (Heart in Hand) Banja Luka, within the project “Connecting the Dots 2.0 – Advancing Child Participation in Decision Making for Enhanced Child Rights and Democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” carried out by World Vision BH Foundation and the Association Naša djeca Sarajevo, in cooperation with the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, with financial support from the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
