Young people face unique challenges and barriers to participating in society. Many factors may prevent their participation, including a lack of quality jobs, inadequate education opportunities, a high risk of poverty, and the absence of political representatives who would advocate for youth-relevant issues. To better understand and address the potential barriers to youth participation, it is important to have adequate information on the current state of political, economic, and social contexts that significantly shape the opportunities that young people have.

The Youth Participation Index (YPI), which has been published for the past seven years within Youth Hub Western Balkans and Turkey Network of youth organizations, is a tool for understanding the broader political, economic, and social framework that either facilitates or limits youth participation in society in Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. YPI offers a thorough assessment of opportunities for youth through the prism of 25 indicators of political, economic, and social participation. The data series includes a period of 7 years, collected from 2016 to 2022.

Through regular publishing of the Youth Participation Index YHWBT Network aims to:

• IMPROVE the practice of using data as a reliable base for any decision-making concerning youth;
• COMPARE countries according to key indicators of youth participation in all three dimensions: political, economic and social;
• MONITOR progress in youth participation throughout the years in respective countries;
• PROVIDE a practical tool for decision-makers, youth organisations and other stakeholders that supports the implementation of policies and programs aimed at the improvement of youth participation.