Youth empowerment is recognized internationally by both states and international organisations as a key element in building strong and sustainable democracies. With reference to young people, stakeholders recognize them as the bearers of hope towards more inclusive, more adaptive, more innovative communities. Thus, actual youth participation in decision-making and in active citizenship are crucial to improve our way of living.

Youth empowerment is almost always approached in two ways: 1) to create strong, independent, skilled, willing, and participating individuals out of young people; and 2) to consider youth as a vulnerable group among the population in need of protection and specific actions. Both approaches target the countering of certain realities that young people face today. The aim of this paper is to describe the current situation of youth in the region, isolate the challenges faced by young people and propose a series of policy recommendations.