With 60 votes in favor and one against, Parliament adopted the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, which encourages the inclusion of young people in policy-making decisions, according to the official press release.

The new law also aims to strengthen activism and volunteering among the young, as well as promote their personal, professional, and social development and their greater inclusion into the workforce, the release adds.

Under the new law, the government and local municipalities will have to adopt strategies and specific action plans focusing on young people.

Municipalities will also have to establish youth offices and youth centers and to appoint youth officers who will be in charge of providing young people support in accordance with the new law’s provisions.

In the first year after the law comes into force, the Agency of Youth and Sports needs to form a research center focusing on topics relevant to young people’s lives.

Within the next five years, each municipality needs to make sure there is at least one youth center on its territory.

Both the ruling parties and the opposition reached a consensus that the law should be adopted, after consulting with representatives from youth organizations nationwide.

This is the first-ever law focused on young people in the country, according to Member of Parliament Ivana Tufegdzhikj, one of the law’s authors.