“It’s official: in the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2026, young people have been almost completely removed from the budget priorities, and the only federal budget line intended exclusively for young people and youth organizations – Transfer for Youth – has been shut down. With this decision of the government institutions, young people in the Federation of BiH not only lose a financial mechanism, but also the institutional recognition that they represent a social group that deserves special and transparent public support”, according to the FBiH Youth Council.
They point out that the deletion of the Youth Transfer from the Budget for 2026 cannot be seen as a technical change or budgetary adjustment, because it is a political decision with clear consequences, since this Transfer from 2012 represented the only system framework through which young people were directly recognized in the federal budget.
“During more than a decade of its existence, a total of 5.2 million KM was allocated through Youth Transfer, and only in the period from 2018 to 2023, 357 youth organizations and organizations that work with young people were supported, which clearly shows that it was not a formal item, but a mechanism that had a real and measurable impact. Despite this, this item no longer exists in the budget plan for 2026, and it was not offered to the public no clear and responsible explanation of this decision. If the government claims that the funds for youth have not been abolished, but redistributed within other budget lines, it is obliged to publicly and accurately show where these funds are positioned in the budget, in what amount they are planned and in what way the youth will have access to these funds, because without a named budget line, without concrete figures and transparent procedures, support for young people remains declarative, not real,” states the FBiH Youth Council.
They add that special weight is given to this decision by the fact that it is made in an election year, when the budget becomes the clearest indicator of real political priorities, free from public rhetoric and promises.
“By deleting the Transfer for Youth, the authorities clearly show that young people are not part of their specific budget plans, and such a message has a political weight that young people understand and remember, because political trust does not come from statements, but from decisions that can be seen in the budget. The Youth Council of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina hereby demands that the Transfer for Youth be urgently returned to the Budget of the Federation of BiH as a clearly named and dedicated budget line for youth, and that the public be given access to precise and clear information about the planned funds for young people in the Budget Proposal of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2026, including their amount, purpose and expected effects.
They say that young people are not an abstract social group, but citizens and voters who very clearly recognize who considers them a priority and who deletes them from the budget.
“It is time to clearly show whether young people will be returned to the budget priorities or whether this decision will remain a permanent indicator of the government’s attitude towards them,” concludes the announcement, which N1 BiH.
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