The Kosovar Youth Council (KYC) is one of the oldest NGOs dedicated to youth in Kosovo, having been founded in 1999 in refugee camps in Albania during the Kosovo War. It was officially registered in Pristina later that same year. KYC emerged from a pressing need to support young people who had been displaced, and over the years, it has become a crucial player in promoting youth engagement, development, and representation in Kosovo. The organization is committed to empowering young people of all genders through education, active participation, and innovation.

Since its inception, KYC has broadened its impact by forming partnerships with schools, public institutions, nonprofits, and various stakeholders. The organisation takes a comprehensive approach to youth development, tackling social, educational, and policy-related issues. Through its multiple programs, KYC works to elevate the voices of young people, enhance their skills, and foster an inclusive atmosphere for youth-led initiatives.

Since its founding, KYC has been a key catalyst for progress in Kosovo’s pre-university education system. By partnering with 100+ primary and secondary schools from 30 municipalities, the organisation has introduced student-led councils, trained teacher‐mentors, piloted co-management models, and created career-orientation and work-placement programmes that link classroom learning to real-world skills. KYC’s sustained advocacy secured the inclusion of student-participation clauses in the Law on Pre-University Education and shaped the Administrative Instruction that sets out how learners are elected and engaged in school governance. 

Through nationwide consultations, data-driven policy briefs, and a robust feedback network, KYC channels classroom concerns to municipal and national decision-makers, ensuring reforms are grounded in students’ lived realities and geared toward equitable, high-quality education for all.

In parallel with its educational work, KYC has emerged as one of the most prominent youth representation structures in Kosovo. In recognition of its long-standing grassroots presence and credibility, in June 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) entered into an informal cooperation agreement with KYC to represent the voices of Kosovar youth in national, regional, and European platforms. Since then, KYC has actively participated in numerous high-level forums and policymaking spaces, including the Western Balkans Youth Forum, the Prespa Forum Dialogue, and the International Youth Conference in Krusevo. KYC has played a strategic role in regional initiatives such as the Connecting Youth Platform and has been instrumental in the co-development of the RYCO Strategy 22/24 & 25/27, the Youth, Peace and Security action plan, and the Western Balkans Youth Lab (WBYL), where it co-led thematic processes on youth unemployment, mental health, and green agenda. As an official youth sector representative in the National Working Group on Youth Guarantee, KYC has directly contributed to the design of Kosovo’s Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan, organizing national research and publishing regional policy papers. Through its involvement in consultations for the Youth Strategy 2024–2032, the Education Strategy 2022–2026, and various legal and administrative frameworks, KYC has consistently advocated for inclusive youth policies. At the local level, its grassroots youth structures in 29 municipalities ensure a bottom-up, data-informed approach to representation, enabling young people across Kosovo to meaningfully influence policies that affect their lives.