Youth is an important period of human life, perhaps the most important one, regarded from the perspective of defining the grounds of professional pathways. During this period, young people formulate their aspirations and life goals, search for and find their roles and responsibilities in the society and move towards economic independence. This also means that youth is a period  of social and psychological transition, within which young people are anticipated to make significant decisions and choices that jointly influence the flow of their lives. The quality of life of young people considerably depends on the success of their school-work transition. Failure to find a decent job after the completion of studies may have a serious long-term impact to professional capacities and skills of young graduates, as well as to their personalities. 

In recent 10 years, young adults in Montenegro have different opportunities for growth and development and improvement of their future profession, much more than in the years preceding 2010. The opportunities available and offered to them on a daily basis are diverse possibilities for improvement of language knowledge, basic skills, soft skills, and the like. They have greater choice and the space to improve their best knowledge and skills. 

Any time spent in unemployment, insufficient employment and inactivity may leave marks to a young individual. On the contrary, a positive start on the labour market may have a positive effect on professional and personal success in later phases of life. However, besides recent efforts for the improvement of employment and employability of youth, this issue remains an important challenge on the labour market. 

Strategy for Youth in Montenegro defines six key priorities – key outcomes – regarding young people in Montenegro:

• youth achieve economic and social security through facilitated access to labour market and employment,
• youth are provided with the access to high quality education,
• youth are active, motivated and proactive participants in decision making processes, community development and policy creation and implementation,
• youth are healthy, safe and have ensured access to adequate support system for the transition to adulthood and self-accomplishment,
• youth have access to high quality culture offer as creators and consumers
• there is an established framework for the implementation of youth policy. 

There are numerous organizations in Montenegro that provide space for improvement to young people. They, at one place, offer a myriad of opportunities for the improvement of the position of adults , informing, promotion of volunteerism, and active participation in the society, as well as raising awareness of the society on the issues related to young population. They strive to ensure to them the conditions for the achievement of their goals and needs, as well as for the expression of talents and capabilities, for the benefit of the whole society.

Jelena Bojović, EPALE ambassador