To mark International Youth Day, a sports and social event “Who Says It Can’t Happen?” – a mixed volleyball tournament designed and organized by young people from Vranje – was held at the Sports Hall in Vranje.

Over two days, 11 and 12 August, mixed teams of girls and boys of all ages took to the court, sending a clear message about the importance of equal opportunities, mutual respect, and community spirit. The audience enjoyed exciting matches, cheering and positive energy, while the young teams showed they are ready to take initiative and challenge social norms.

"First of all, thank you for making it possible for everything here to happen just the way it should. The trophies were not carried by the winners, but by young people who, through many challenges, reached one final conclusion: it is indeed possible for women and men to be equal in every aspect of life. This tournament opened up new perspectives for us through socializing, gathering, and above all, learning from one another. Once again, I would like to thank everyone who was part of the organization, and even more so the competitors and all those who came under such conditions to support this initiative." – said one participant.

The organizers emphasized that the tournament was inspired by workshops on gender equality and prevention of gender-based violence that preceded the event. “This is a mixed tournament and we deliberately designed it this way to symbolically show shared rules of the game and equality, with both girls and boys playing together on the court,” said Demir Mekić from the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights.

Through activities like this and the digital campaign “Ćao rode”, young people are given the opportunity to explore topics of gender and gender norms, to question them, and to design initiatives that promote equality and mutual respect.

The tournament was organized by the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Serbia and the Vranje Youth Office, as part of the project “Ending Violence –Empowering Change”, jointly implemented by UN agencies in Serbia, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women, in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Serbia, with the support of the Government
of Sweden.