On Thursday, 13 November, another youth dialogue titled “Rights at the Centre: Young People, Freedom of Assembly and Association in 2024 and 2025” was held at the Human Rights House in Belgrade.
The Youth Programme of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights brought together young people to present the key findings of the Youth Human Rights Report 2024 and discuss developments in 2025.
Building on the findings of the 2024 report, the nearly two-hour discussion focused on what has changed in 2025, whether and to what extent the space for freedom has narrowed or expanded, and how young people today connect, organize, and defend their rights to assembly, association, and expression.
The report was presented by its co-author Petar Vidosavljević from the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, while the dialogue with young participants also included Uroš Jovanović from Civic Initiatives and Una Danilović, legal advisor at the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM.
The discussion highlighted how young people in this period have reshaped public space, opened new topics, built solidarity, and created new forms of collective action. Among the key questions discussed were: What does the right to assembly mean today, and what will it mean tomorrow? How have young people shaped protests, blockades, and movements in 2024 and 2025? Is freedom of association truly free, or do we still carefully choose our words, space, and timing when speaking out?
The Youth Human Rights Report 2024 represents the sixth annual edition of this publication and is the result of continuous monitoring of youth human rights in Serbia since 2019. This long-standing monitoring tradition covers the analysis of twelve key rights and multiple thematic areas — from education and employment to health, housing, youth participation, and the situation of particularly vulnerable groups — aiming to present, in a clear, evidence-based, and accessible manner, the state of youth human rights, the areas in which they are most at risk, as well as examples of exceptional youth resilience and strength.
The report is available HERE.
Photos: Belgrade Centre for Human Rights
