29th SESSION

Strasbourg, 20-22 October 2015

CG/2015(29)23
20 October 2015

Motion for a resolution[1] from the youth delegates on

“Local and regional authorities promoting young people’s access to social rights”

	NAME	First name	Country
1	ABOLINA-ABOLA	Paula	Latvia
2	BRUNO	Walter	Italy
3	CASEIRO	Sofia	Portugal
4	CHRISTOFOROU	Panos	Cyprus
5	GULYAS	Barnabas	Hungary
6	HOSS	Lena	Luxembourg
7	HUMELNICU	Uma Elena	Romania
8	INAYAT	Mariam	United Kingdom
9	KARADIAMANTI	Kyriaki	Greece
10	KOCI	Ray	Albania
11	KULISHVILI	Tinatin	Georgia
12	LINDBERG	Kristoffer	Sweden
13	MARUNOVIC	Irena	Montenegro
14	MILOVANOVIC	Tatjana	Bosnia and Herzegovina
15	MORRISSEY	Imelda	Ireland
16	OMARSSON	Oskar Steinn	Iceland
17	SCHERRER	Dominik	Switzerland
18	TODOROVIC	Ivan	Croatia
19	UZANIR	Soner	Turkey
20	VAICIUNAITE	Gerda	Lithuania
21	VARDANYAN	Vahram	Armenia
22	VIGE	Ashild Marie	Norway

In 2015, the overarching theme for the Congress’ sessions is “Local responses to human rights challenges – migration, discrimination, social inclusion”.  Social inclusion is firmly based on respect for human rights as codified in the European Convention on Human Rights and the Revised European Social Charter.  Local and regional authorities have a duty to guarantee citizens’ human and social rights, and to ensure that these rights are accessible to all through the formulation of relevant, evidence-based policies.

The Council of Europe’s Enter! project, launched in 2009, aims to support youth policy and youth work responses to exclusion, discrimination and violence affecting young people and explores the multi-dimensional social and economic balances which put young people at a disadvantage when accessing their social rights.  The Congress has been actively contributing to the Enter! project, this contribution gave rise to Resolution 319(2010) on the integration of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods which makes relevant policy proposals to local and regional authorities to address these issues.

Access to quality education, secure employment, decent living conditions, adequate transport, health care, technology and opportunities for social, cultural and economic participation are a prerequisite for the inclusion and active citizenship of all young people.  The on-going economic and social crises are impacting severely on young people’s lives and hindering their access to the full range of social and human rights, what is more austerity measures are aggravating the situation.

Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation CM/Rec(2015)3 to member States on the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights recommends that local and regional authorities take into consideration the measures proposed in its appendix when formulating and implementing policies and programmes to prevent and eradicate the poverty, discrimination, violence and exclusion faced by young people.

From 30 June to 3 July 2015, 180 young people gathered together in Strasbourg for the second Enter! Youth Meeting during which they discussed how to ensure all young people can enjoy access to their social rights.  The participants adopted the appended message for the attention of the Council of Europe in which they specifically ask local and regional authorities to implement youth policies and other measures to transform the realities of young people in line with the contents of CM/Rec(2015)3.

The signatories to this motion call upon the Congress to:

-    raise awareness of its members and the national and international associations of local and regional authorities of the policy proposals contained in Resolution 319(2010) on the integration of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods and of Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation CM/Rec(2015)3 to member States on the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights;

-    promote the implementation of the provisions contained in these two texts;

-    request its Current Affairs Committee, in particular its Rapporteur on the integration of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, to monitor the implementation of Congress Resolution 319(2010) and CM Recommendation CM/Rec(2015)3;

-    invite its members and the national/international associations to submit examples of good practice to the secretariat.