Young people from Mostar expressed their discontentment on the situation of the City of Mostar in the light of the fact that the local elections have not been held in the past 8 years. 

The intention of Mostar youth, gathered around this initiative was clear:

“We want to stop the agony and send a clear message:

- we have the right to elect and be elected,

- we have the right to a functional government,

- we have a right to our city.“

With this gesture, the young people have shown that they are not passive and they want to express their opinion and attitude, and ultimately affect change.

On the day of local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, October 2^nd, 2016, an activity named “Elect Mostar“ was held in the City of Mostar. The citizens of Mostar had the opportunity to “vote“ in three city locations and by casting their “ballots“ with the answers to the questions.

The activity “Elect Mostar” was organized by a group of associations of citizens active in the Mostar city area and dealing with youth issues: Local Democracy Agency Mostar, Youth Council of the City of Mostar, Youth Cultural Centre “Abrašević”, and the Association of Young Psychologists. The results of the campaign have shown that citizens are very dissatisfied with current state of the city of Mostar. The vast majority (89.35%) indicated that they would come out to the elections and vote, and even 95% of them believe that their human rights are threatened by the fact that the local elections have not been held. Nevertheless, 75% of respondents said that they still want to continue living in their city.

These results, as well as the positive reaction and public interest on this initiative were the impetus to young people from Associations of Citizens to continue with this activity. Two new organizations joined to the Group of non-governmental organizations who participate in this activity: Elsa Mostar and Youth Power. Facebook page is also created. It is decided that each 2^nd day in the month there will be organized a new activity “Elect Mostar“ with new questions, new answers and new suggestions from young citizens of Mostar. These activities are implemented within the Youth taking over day action, leaded by Local democracy Agency Mostar, as a part of the project Balkan regional platform for youth participation and dialogue, financed by EU.

Within the Activity “Elect Mostar“ organized on the 2^nd November, 2016 young people answered the question: Do you see yourself in Mostar ten years from now (with indication on the age and qualifications).  They were able to answer on the question via online questionnaire published on 25^th October, 2016 on the official Facebook page, or filling out the printed questionnaire during the activity carried out from group of volunteers at the University Dzemal Bijedic and the University of Mostar.

The questionnaire was completed by a total of 503 persons, 43.9% of whom want to leave Mostar. The main fact is that 82.3% of respondents belong to the age limit from 15 to 35 years, and even 42.7% are young people with higher education and 39.40% with secondary education.

The initiative for the activity “Elect Mostar“ came exclusively from the young citizens of Mostar without any political and party influence, who want their voice and message to be heard and respected. Therefore, this message should be sent to all those who are responsible for this situation in Mostar and which may affect its decision: The City Election Committee, The Central Election Committee, The City of Mostar, The Government of Herzegovina Neretva Canton, The House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation, The House of Peoples of the Parliament  of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation, The Office of the High Representative, The Office of the Ombudsman, OSCE, Delegation of the European Union, The Council of Europe, The Congress of Local and Regional Governments of the Council of Europe, The Peace Implementation Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

-          LDA Mostar

-          Youth Council of the City of Mostar

-          OKC Abrašević

-          Association of Young Psychologists

-          ELSA Mostar

-          Youth Power Mostar