Center for youth development CATAPULT

CATAPULT is a non-governmental association dealing with issues relevant to young people. The association is committed to capacity building, strengthening, and encouraging young people to recognize the importance of civic engagement and their future role as key actors in social change, promoting an empowerment process that will lead to proactive youth participation in society and decision-making processes in their communities. Catapult promotes and acts in accordance with the objectives of the European Youth Strategy (2019-2027) which seeks to encourage and help young people to become active, autonomous, and capable citizens, improve policies in all sectors of importance to young people, create equal opportunities for all young people, contribute to the eradication of poverty among young people, as well as all forms of discrimination. Furthermore, the association is committed to advocacy and implementation of sustainable development objectives (SDGs) in accordance with the UN Agenda 2030, with a special focus on young people.

Strategy of the organization:
Creation of a new layer of young people committed to human rights agenda, basic principles of democracy, and values of an open society, ready to work for the welfare of the people and to cooperate in the spirit of tolerance and partnership with other nations, respecting the values and principles of cultural diversity.

Objective of the organization:
To set enabling grounds for youth to develop into autonomous individuals prepared for meaningful civic engagement.

Aims of the organization:
- Improving the position of young people in society especially in terms of increasing prospects for active participation in decision-making processes, access to information, and the right to equal opportunity as well as valuing and recognizing the youth’s outstanding achievements.
- Providing knowledge, tools, and opportunities for young people to promote their personal and professional growth.
- Raising the quality of life of youth and creating a stimulating environment for growth, development, and active participation through public advocacy and representation of youth interests.
- Promoting and acting in accordance with the objectives of the European Youth Strategy (2019-2027) which seeks to encourage and help young people to become active, autonomous, and capable citizens, improve policies in all sectors of importance to young people, create equal opportunities for all young people, contribute eradication of poverty among young people, as well as all forms of discrimination
- Advocacy and implementation of sustainable development objectives in accordance with the UN Agenda 2030, with a special focus on young people.
- Networking, cooperating and exchanging experiences of relevant actors from all areas envisaged by the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030.
- To enable the youth to have a grasp and broaden their perspective on the context of peace, intercultural understanding, pluralism, non-discrimination, justice, equal opportunities, and solidarity among young people.
- Promoting cooperation between the state-actors, private sector, and civil society through capacity building and advocacy processes to ensure socially responsible management and participation of young people in policymaking.
- Advocating for the development and application of advanced technology and social innovation in the field of youth work.
- Empowering young people in a field of culture, media, and computer literacy with the aim to promote access to reliable information and combat misinformation.
- Cooperation with young people in the country and abroad, exchange of experiences, knowledge, and best practice with the networking and collaboration on projects and programs.
- Advocating for the development of a comprehensive framework regulating volunteerism, as a category of special importance and promoting volunteering culture
- Implementation of programs of social inclusion of youth at risk (young people from vulnerable socio-economic groups), professional training of young people for independent life and encourage their involvement in civil society.
Improving the system of youth care for all of the priority areas regarding youth development, in particular: improving formal and non-formal education, employability and employment of young people, youth safety and health of young people, the role of youth in sustainable development and environmental protection, youth mobility, quality leisure, and other fields.

Activities and tasks of the organisation in order to achieve its goals:
- Organizes independently or in cooperation with other organizations and institutions, professional meetings, conferences, seminars, exhibitions, forums, and other forms of educational sessions in the field of youth policy and other public policies relevant to young people.
- Organizes non-formal educational activities in order to improve the personal and professional competencies of young people.
- Cooperates with state institutions and agencies, universities, professional associations, and other organizations in the country and abroad engaged in similar activities.
- Performs advisory and consultancy services in the field of project management - leading or assisting the execution of project design, team creation, application preparation, budgeting, procurement, monitoring, overall management, and reporting processes and performing administrative tasks.
- Produces publications on issues related to youth policy and other public policies of relevance to young people.