A health club and a roommate search platform – the winning ideas in the youth competition

PODGORICA, 14 August 2022 – The ‘BFit’ and the ‘WithMe’ teams have been declared winners of the Generation Unlimited ‘imaGen Ventures’ Youth Challenge and will be representing Montenegro at the global level with 35 contesting countries. The national competition was co-organized by UNICEF and the NGA Digitalizuj.Me, under the global UN initiative launched in 2018.

‘Youth Challenge’ is an opportunity for young people to solve societal issues and improve the life of their communities, to learn how to develop and implement ideas, and get financial and mentor support.

The ‘BFit’ team wants to tackle the issue of unhealthy diets and a lack of exercise among young people, while the ‘WithMe’ team is developing a platform to help young people find an ideal roommate or travel companion.

The ‘BFit’ team’s representative, Kristina Pavićević, believes that participation in the programme helps develop leadership skills, adding: “We’ll do our best to justify expectations and win the global competition.”

The ‘WithMe’ team’s Stefan Vukmanović says that he has become more of a team player, learned how to develop a start-up and run a business. “We have some long-term goals ahead, and expect that the global competition will help us achieve those goals, and enter the foreign market faster and improve the ‘WithMe’ range of options as much as possible. We expect to present our country in the best light possible, to come back enriched by the new experience and improved knowledge,” Vukmanović noted.

UNICEF consultant Ivana Bošković believes that the global initiative is an excellent opportunity for Montenegrin young people.

“Our young people deserve an opportunity to learn, acquire skills, develop ideas and receive mentor and financial support. The programme sheds light on how young people observe the problems around them and create responses to tackle them. The competition is a good way of getting closer to young people,” Ivana Bošković noted.

The project manager at the NGA Digitalizuj.Me, Bobana Radović, reminded that their association was organizing the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge for the third year running.

“We’re proud that again this year, despite all the post-COVID challenges, there was a lot of interest surrounding the competition which generated some fabulous ideas to represent Montenegro in the global competition,” Radović stated.

The teams, composed of three to five young people aged 16 to 24 from all municipalities in Montenegro, had the opportunity to apply for ‘Youth Challenge’. The 10 chosen teams were invited for a three-day workshop that took place in Petrovac in April, co-hosted by UNICEF Montenegro and the NGA Digitalizuj.Me. Following that, five teams were awarded €2,000 each, and were assigned mentors to help them develop and implement their ideas. Apart from the two winning teams, the remaining awarded teams include ‘E’o’, ‘Maslinari’ and ‘Interakt’.

The UN ‘Generation Unlimited’ initiative and partners – UNICEF, UNDP, Plan International, USAID and the World Organization of the Scout Movement – are pursuing the joint goal of fostering entrepreneurship and social engagement among the close to two billion young people in the world.