NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro organized a workshop on running a youth NGO, as part of the Erasmus+ project, “SETYN: Socially Empowered and Transparent Youth Network”, at the M:tel Digital Factory. At this workshop, the manual “How to run a youth NGO” was presented, which was created as a result of the SETYN project.
The SETYN project aimed to promote good management of youth non-governmental organizations in the area of the Western Balkans and the European Union, to help the development of efficient, sustainable and resilient youth communities, but also to increase their organizational capacities when it comes to the effective management of programs that will engage, connect and empower young people in different parts of the world.
At the beginning, participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the work of the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro, as well as the areas that this organization mainly deals with, namely: 1. information and media; 2. education and improvement of employability; 3. volunteerism and youth policy. When it comes to the first area, the participants got to know the different opportunities that are offered to the younger generations as well as ways to get information about them, where one of the main links is the site www.mladiinfo.me, which takes care of information about different trainings, scholarships, exchanges that exist. The second area concerns the organization of various workshops, seminars, and debates. The third area includes the volunteer service that gathers volunteers of this organization who are in charge of organizing various events, from humanitarian actions to the organization of follow-up workshops where various projects are presented in which this organization is a coordinator or partner.
The second part was reserved for the presentation of the project SETYN: Socially Empowered and Transparent Youth Network, which was created as part of the Erasmus+ project supported by the European Union and whose coordinator was the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro in partnership with 7 countries. The main goal of the project was the desire to help the organizations themselves in terms of their self-sustainability, financial management, structuring of the organization itself, project writing, etc. Within the project, two trainings were held in Ulcinj, Montenegro, where the first training was reserved for leadership education. non-governmental youth organizations and the second training focused on finances. The participants of that project had the opportunity to find out how projects are written, what are the main items when it comes to the budget of the project itself, and what those who run the organization need to know.
As a result of the already mentioned SETYN project, the manual “How to run a youth NGO” was created. The participants had the opportunity to learn about the content of the manual, its structure, as well as the main topics already mentioned, such as: strategic planning, communication strategies, fundraising, calls for proposals, Erasmus plus and the Erasmus solidarity corps. The participants were particularly interested in the SWOT analysis that they encountered for the first time, which represents a strategic management technique through which strategic choices are identified by connecting the company’s strengths and weaknesses with opportunities and threats in the environment. The applicability of this analysis is indicated not only when it comes to strategic planning but also in everyday situations.
The last part of the workshop was reserved for the presentation of the O’visor project, which is also supported by the European Union through the Europe for Citizens program. On that occasion, the participants had the opportunity to learn about the goals of that project, such as strengthening the unity of the European Union and providing support to the Western Balkans on the way to the EU; improving volunteer policies at the transnational level as well as creating a new model of local development, the importance of the role of volunteers, vulnerable groups and minorities with a focus on refugees and migrants. Acquainting the participants with this project was important because of the current Karl Poper debate, which is organized as part of this project and in which teams consisting of 3 participants have the right to participate, during which the winner at the national level will have the opportunity to represent Montenegro at an international competition in Sarajevo.
