DG Democracy
Directorate of Democratic Participation
Youth Department

THINK YOUTH No 76 - December 2019

Georgian presidency of the Committee of Ministers – a commitment to youth engagement

Georgia is underlining its belief that young people are fundamental partners in the consolidation of democracy, human rights and the rule of law by including youth engagement in the priorities of its presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. “Strengthening Democracy through Education, Culture and Youth Engagement” is one of the priorities of the current president of the Committee of Ministers.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND YOUTH – More or less than we think?...

4-6 December, European Youth Centre Strasbourg

The Consultative Meeting Artificial Intelligence and its impact on young people brought together more than 70 experts from the youth, academic and business sectors interested in contributing to a youth perspective about Artificial Intelligence. It resulted in a better understanding of the various intersections between AI and youth, as well as a critical understanding of what is AI, notably in relation to democratic youth participation, young people’s access to rights and the potential of AI to support some of the functions of youth work. The seminar produced recommendations for policy and action in the fields of education, health and well-being of young people, social rights and future of work, equality and dignity, hate speech and disinformation as well as in the field of privacy and online safety.

70th anniversary marked in Hungary

On 10 December the European Youth Centre Budapest was the venue for a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Council of Europe. Two keynote addresses – by former Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Martonyi and Director General for Democracy of the Council of Europe Ms Samardžić-Marković – recalled the role of the Council in the democratisation of Central and Eastern Europe following the fall of the Iron Curtain and the current and future challenges facing it as the premier pan-European intergovernmental organisation dedicated to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Recommendation on young refugees presented at first meeting of focal points on migration

Further to the adoption of a roadmap for its implementation at the 41st meeting of the Joint Council on Youth (October

2019), Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)4 on supporting young refugees in transition to adulthood is being disseminated to key stakeholders. In this context, the Youth Department presented the recommendation at the first meeting of focal points dealing with migration issues at national level (Strasbourg, 28-29 November 2019), which was organised by the office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on migration and refugees. On this occasion, representatives of relevant ministries from 25 Council of Europe member states were informed about the practical guidelines contained in the recommendation, and of its contribution to the Council of Europe's Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe.
The Youth.Together project on the social inclusion of young refugees was also presented at the same meeting.

Programming Committee on Youth

The Programming Committee on Youth met at the European Youth Centre in Budapest on 12-13 December 2019. It took decisions on the programme of activities

of the Council of Europe Youth Sector for 2020, including study sessions to take place at the European Youth Centres, as well as the EYF budget and EYF grants for 2020. Out of the 85 grant applications assessed by the EYF Team, the representatives of member states of the Council of Europe and of youth organisations jointly agreed to support further 14 one-off international activities and 11 annual work plans for 2020. Furthermore, 34 international youth organisations were awarded structural grants to cover their administrative costs for 2020 and 2021.
This was the last meeting of the current Programming Committee on Youth – the Head of the Youth Department thanked all members for their excellent work and commitment during their 2 year mandate.

Youth.Together: Youth work for social inclusion of refugees

21-29 November, EYC Budapest

The long-term training course Youth-Together was evaluated; 32 projects on social inclusion of young refugees were

implemented, reaching out to some 1500 young refugees, including many in transition to adulthood. The Youth.Together project highlighted the important role that youth work plays for the social inclusion of young refugees by restoring dignity, self-confidence and developing civic and social skills. Key to the success of projects is young refugees interacting with local young people, as recognised in CM recommendation on supporting young refugees in transition to adulthood. Youth.Together was made possible thanks to a Voluntary Contribution from Flanders (Belgium).

Remembrance and youth

9-10 December, European Youth Centre Strasbourg

A human rights-based approach to remembrance activities with young people is essential to contribute to a culture of human rights. Multi-perspectivity is indissociable from remembrance activity, not confusing this with relativism or confronting opposite views on a historical event, but rather as different and complementary facets of the same reality. These were addressed during the workshop on Remembrance activities with young people which gathered experts dealing with Remembrance of World War II, the Roma Genocide or the Holocaust.
The workshop was organised in cooperation with the National Youth Council of Russia and also prepared Remembrance activities in 2020, ont the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.

COMPASS LTTC in Ukraine

Compass Long-term training course in human rights education

The course supports the implementation and development of youth policy and youth work in Ukraine through quality non-formal education activities using a human rights-based approach and Council of Europe quality standards. Twenty-eight participant-trainers initiated their preparation to carry out Human Rights Education youth activities as well as set up their learning and practice projects for the rest of the course.

With this activity, the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of Ukraine expect to expand the number of trainers competent to support and develop quality human rights education and non-formal learning activities with young people on national level.

Evaluation Meeting of National Training Course on Human Rights Education

From 16-17 December 2019, sixteen representatives of youth NGOs having

implemented a National Training Course on Human Rights Education between 2017 and 2019 gathered to evaluate the national training courses held in 13 member states. With the help of an external researcher they focused on identifying challenges they faced in the implementation of such training courses and on creating a set of practical recommendations for future national training courses. The outcomes of the meeting together with the findings of the researcher will represent the basis of an upcoming working tool “Guidelines for youth NGO organisers of National Training Courses on Human Rights Education” which is expected for the end of April 2020.”

More on national training courses on human rights education ›

News from the EYF

In November, the EYF Secretariat visited an international activity in Rome, organised by Service Civil International (SCI) as part of their “Gendered Realities” work plan.

The activity was a training on communication and campaigning and used different non-formal education methods to build capacity and empower participants to plan and implement their own campaigns on gender related issues.
Good news for NGOs preparing Pilot Activities in 2020! The Programming Committee agreed to re-establish the maximum threshold for pilot activity grants 2020 to €10 000. The next cut-off date is 20 December 2019.

News from the Partnership

Coyote magazine #29 “All Rights Included. Enter! Youth week and beyond.” Following the Enter! Youth Week Coyote sheds light on the access of young people to their social rights in at least three continents.

The Steering group of the European Platform for Learning Mobility (EPLM) met on 12-13 December in Cologne and discussed a vision paper of the EPLM, the theme of the next biennial conference, reviewed the development and use of its quality tools, and agreed on the next steps of the EPLM in 2020.

The annual Partnership Management Board took place in Brussels on 13 December. The partner institutions commended the work of the EU-CoE youth partnership in 2019 as a successful example of co-operation and approved its work plan for 2020, featuring activities focusing in particular on strengthening the trialogue: youth research, policy and youth work practice.