Connecting communities: Youth centres in North Macedonia
Published: Feb 13, 2026 Reading time: 5 minutes Share: Share an articleOne country, two towns, and thousands of young people seeking a safe space where they can meet, talk, and develop their skills. Ohrid and Kumanovo are towns in North Macedonia where we partnered with youth centres to support young people in their efforts. These centres provide education and places for discussion for young people.
In North Macedonia, material waste is a problem. We partnered with youth centres to screen a documentary film and hold discussions on this topic with young people. We also supported initiatives, conceived by our young participants, to reduce waste.
Young people for youth
Ohrid is a well-known town in North Macedonia, mainly due to its lake and historical centre. While tourism is a significant part of town’s life, young people in Ohrid need a place to meet and learn with their peers.
The Ohrid Youth Centre opened in 2022. Here, we met Jovan, who recalls when they began advocating for the centre.
In the past, all extra-curricular activities took place at school, which was often limiting and inconvenient for young people, as some preferred to share their concerns with someone outside the school environment. The youth centre is a safe place where young people can come and ask for support, if needed. The Ohrid Youth Centre is led by a group of young people like Jovan. They understand and listen to the needs of the youth and tailor the activities to their preferences.
The Ohrid Youth Centre organises a various range of activities from yoga, concerts, to art classes, and collaborations with other NGOs. They also support a career fair where universities, career consultants, and professionals help young people to navigate their future careers.
As Jovan mentions, one of the biggest challenges in the region is brain drain - immigration of young people to the capital of Skopje or abroad. By organising various events and activities, they create opportunities for young people and at least partly address this issue.
Connecting communities
The Youth Centre in Kumanovo is also led by a group of young people. Besides creating new opportunities for youth, the push for establishing a youth centre came from a will to unite people of Macedonian and Albanian ethnicity who live separately.
Albanian and Macedonian communities in Kumanovo live in separate neighbourhoods, go to different schools and often, they do not even have a chance to meet. As Dimitrij mentions, thanks to the youth centre he had, for the first time, a chance to meet and talk with the peers from the same town but different community.
Dimitrij joined the youth centre 3 years ago, he helps to run the centre and its activities. The youth centre regularly organises creative workshops, sports tournaments, IT skills lessons, and psychosocial support. The centre is a safe space also for people who face bullying, domestic violence, or alcohol and drugs in their families.
Movies and inspiration
We are proud to partner with youth centres across the whole country and introduce our One World in Schools methodology. Through this methodology, youth centre workers learned how to engage young people in debates after the screening of the documentary movie we have provided.
The young people had a chance to come up with their own ideas and we financially supported eight of these. It is humbling to witness creative ideas from young people, such as creating a smart trash bin, to organising events and fairs for selling various goods, clothing, and redesigned products.
The project "Civil Society and Youth for Inclusive and Sustainable Development through Circular Economy in North Macedonia" is funded by the European Union. The project is led by People in Need (PIN), within a consortium with ARNO, LEAD, and Ekovita.
‘This publication was funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of People in Need and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.’
