Youth Information Agency B&H (OIA)
The Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina (OSF B&H) founded the Youth Information Agency B&H (OIA) in 2001 through the Joint Youth Program (ZOP), which was based on the Strategy of OSF B&H and the Report on Human Development in B&H - Young People 2000 (UNDP).
The Youth Information Agency B&H (OIA) is the first non-government and non-partisan organization at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina that acts as an independent institute in the field of youth policy with the aim to improve the status of young people and increasing their participation in society.
OIA cooperates with over fifty government bodies and with more than two hundred youth organizations in B&H and throughout Southeastern Europe, and with a series of international organizations and young people through three main activities as follows:
- Information service,
- Policy sector, and
- Capacity building,
This is all carried out through the main office in Sarajevo and regional offices in Banja Luka, Bihac, Mostar, Zenica and Zvornik.
OIA represents regional programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as the "youthNET" and the "youthEXchange.SEE", and it is a member of the Southeastern Europe Youth Network (SEEYN) and the European network UNITED. OIA is partner organization of the European Youth Information and Counseling Agency (ERYICA) at the state/B&H level, and is the only partner of OXFAM International Youth Parliament from Sydney, Australia.
Results in 2003
In 2003 OIA:
- Influenced the completion of over thirty institutional changes in the area of youth policies at all levels of authority in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Lobbied certain recommendations in youth policies through:
- Six Youth Parliaments from Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Three publications (14,500 copies)
- And through more than a 1,000 meetings with around fifty governmental institutions, over thirty international organizations, as well as around ten counseling positions in government bodies at the state, entity and local level
- Sent out e-news on young people from B&H, the region and the world to over 4,000 e-mail addresses in B&H and the region of Southeastern Europe, and created several databases for young people (see www.mladi.info)
- Participated in numerous relevant meetings and conferences across the world, especially in the Southeastern Europe, and spoke to over eighty media houses with focus on the state and activism of young people in B&H
- Educated, through a training program (more than 80 workshops), more than 1,250 young people from around 50 cities on the activism of young people in B&H, advocacy and youth policies. Sixty young people attended OIA-licensed courses of the "Youth for Youth and Community Development - MRZIM" Program and "Youth Policy School - SOP", lasting from six months up to a 1 year.
- Directly financed, through the Youth Fund, 50 mini projects for young people in B&H, costing 100,000 KM, and was involved as an expert in the selection of youth projects of a series of local and regional programs for awarding grants
- Became a national partner for B&H of the European Youth Information and Counseling Agency (ERYICA), and a member of the Southeastern Youth network (SEEYN)
For more information, please contact:
OIA Main office:
Branilaca grada 19b, 71 000 Sarajevo,
Tel/Fax: ++ 387 33 209753
E-mail: oia@oiabih.info
Web: www.oiabih.info
Regional offices:
Banja Luka - savavrbas@oiabih.info
Bihac - unasana@oiabih.info
Mostar - neretva@oiabih.info
Zenica - bosna@oiabih.info
Zvornik - drina@oiabih.info