Belgrade, August 2013 – The MLADGRAD 2013 Award was presented by Civic Initiatives today to the municipalities of Pirot and Priboj, Youth.rs website founder and Obrenovac activist Duško Krstić.

Certificates of Appreciation were awarded to the municipalities of Ivanjica and Raška, the Bečej Youth Association, and the Eureka Kruševac Association.  A special prize for contributions to improving the position of marginalized youth was presented to the Belgrade Municipality of Zvedzdara and the Pirot E Publika Association.

The MLADGRAD Award, which has been awarded by Civic Initiatives for four consecutive years, is designed to encourage people, local self-governments and organizations to improve the status of young people in their communities.  The MLADGRAD Award recognizes the groups' successes on International Youth Day to further promote the importance of youth on local and national levels.

“Today's MLADGRAD Award honors those who have established strategic partnerships between institutions and youth and have included youth in decisions which are important to them and their communities," said Civic Initiatives Executive Director Dubravka Velat.  "The practices established by these local governments, organizations and individuals are examples for others to follow."

The MLADGRAD Award is presented in three categories.  It honors municipalities' contributions to improving youths' position in local communities; local self-governments for allocating public space to youth initiatives; and invidividuals or organizations' contributions to improving the cooperation between local self-governments and young people. This year, an additional special prize was made for contributions to the status of marginalized youth in local communities.

"The awards are proof that local governments and civil society organizations – regardless of the size of their communities or their budgets – made important contributions to develop Serbia's young people," said U.S. Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Susan K. Fritz

The MLADGRAD 2013 Award was presented by Civic Initiatives in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Self-Government.  The award was supported by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Organization for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE).  Partners for this year's awards included UNICEF, GIZ, the Serbian Youth National Council (KOMS), National Association of Youth Workers (NAPOR), Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), and the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED).