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DG Democracy
Directorate of Democratic Participation
Youth Department
THINK YOUTH No 83 - August 2020
3rd European Youth Work Convention: German Chairmanship’s preparations progress on high-speed
Berlin, 7-10 December 2020

Check out the German authorities’ new website on the European Youth Work Agenda and the 3rd European Youth Work Convention.

The 3rd European Youth Work Convention will take place when the German EU Council Presidency and the German Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe overlap at the end of 2020.

The 3rd European Youth Work Convention plays a key role in establishing the European Youth Work Agenda as a strategic framework for further developing and strengthening youth work practice and policies in Europe as suggested in the Committee of Minister’s recommendation on youth work CM Rec (2017)4. 

Responding to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth will host a solely digital event to allow for large and pan-European participation. More information on the format of the event and registration details for national delegations will be made available shortly.
The Advisory Council on Youth expresses its support for young people in Belarus
The Advisory Council on Youth stands in solidarity with its counterparts, young people in Belarus who are striving for democracy, fairness, equality, freedom and respect for fundamental human rights through peaceful protests.

We call on the national authorities to refrain from any form of repression against those exercising their freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. As a continent, Europe should have no place for violence, ill treatment, unlawful detention, use of disproportionate force in general and in violation of human rights.
Participants near the LIbrary of Sant Adrià del Besòs, kindly offered by the Municipality as a venue for the training
TRAINING4ROMA (AND NON-ROMA) YOUTH
Compass training course in Spain

The Council of Europe organised a Compass national training course "Training4Roma, Human Rights Training for Roma and non-Roma youth activists" in La Mina, Barcelona, in collaboration with the Federation of Roma Associations in Catalonia and Plataforma Khetané.

The activity brought together highly motivated Roma and non-Roma youngsters who work with other youngsters as multipliers in human rights education. Young Roma attending the course could also break with stereotypes about Roma and La Mina, a notoriously disadvantaged neighbourhood of Barcelona. At the request of the non-Roma participants a "guided tour" of the neighbourhood was organised by the Roma participants; this had a very important educational effect.

The course was based on the Compass manual (available in Spanish) and the manual Mirrors was also used to address antigypsysim. Mirrors is available in Castilian (Espejos) and in Catalan (Miralls).
Participants in the course, from 3 to 8 August 2020
Empower Youth with Human Rights Education
Compass training course in Poland

The Bezlik Foundation organised the National Training Course titled "Empower Youth with Human Rights Education" in cooperation the Council of Europe.

Participants came from various backgrounds: teachers, activists, youth workers and NGO workers. During an intense week of learning and living together the group and the trainers worked specifically on how to implement human rights education programmes in schools and on addressing issues such as discrimination or hate speech through human rights education.

Educational resources of the Council of Europe were used such as COMPASS, Gender Matters and Bookmarks. The training was also an opportunity for participants for networking and sharing experiences; as a follow-up to the training, the participants are expected to initiate and run human rights education projects in their local communities.
Youth Engagement for Global Action
12 August 2020, International Youth Day

In 2020, the theme of International Youth Day was particularly relevant to the co-managed youth sector: it sought to
highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes – such as the Council of Europe.

It also aimed to draw lessons on how to enhance young people’s representation and engagement in formal institutional politics.  The chairs of the co-managed committees – the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) and the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) issued a joint statement in which they reflected on the different challenges currently facing young people and how they can be empowered. The Advisory Council on Youth’s (CCJ) statement celebrated young people and the way they create opportunities for themselves and others to grow.

For further information on UN International Youth Day
For further information on Co-management in the Council of Europe youth sector
Participants in the course, 30 July-2 August 2020, Timisoara
Don't give up on human rights!
Compass training course in Romania

The course was organised by Timis County Youth Foundation (FITT) and the Youth Department of the Council of Europe in the Youth House of Timisoara, managed
by FITT, a youth centre that was also awarded with the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres.

The course focused on developing the competences of the youth workers as human rights educators, based on Compass, the manual on human rights education with young people. The residential programme was part of a larger endeavour on human rights education in Romania that was initiated in June 2020 and involved online learning for the 16 participants in the residential course and colleagues in their or partner youth organisations.
Youth advocacy for the right to human rights education
e-learning course

More than 120 youth leaders and activists took part in this e-learning course to develop their competences in advocating 
More than 120 youth leaders and activists took part in this e-learning course to develop their competences in advocating for human rights education with and by young people at local and national level. The course strengthens the conceptual understanding of the right to human rights education and explore the role of international human rights education instruments in youth advocacy projects. The innovation of the course is focusing on the skills of participants in understanding advocacy and applying it to their own organisational and institutional environments. So far, 46 advocacy projects have been prepared. The course was run on the e-learning platform of the Youth Department
Black Lives Matter movement
Online panel debate - 12 August 2020

Andrea Ugrinoska, chair of the Advisory Council, led an exchange with Liz Agbor-Tabi Noton, Vice-President of the initiative Global Citizen, Maria Daniella Marouda, chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe, and Rhammel O’Dwyer-Afflick, Pride in London.
NOTE: FB post date is 11 August 2020
The Council of Europe Advisory Council on Youth organised an online panel debate to understand the BLM movement and how young people in Europe can be an ally to it.The panellists explored racism in Europe to reflect on young Europeans' role in combating racial segregation and discrimination.
News from the European Youth Foundation
In order to respond as close as possible to the needs of youth NGOs, the EYF launched a consultation towards local
and national youth organisations to include them in the discussion of the focus themes for pilot activities taking place in 2021.

The Focus themes for pilot activities are decided by the Joint Council every year in October. The aim of a pilot activity is to support actions which address burning issues and/or challenges faced by young people at local level. It should always have an impact on the local communities and tackle the focus themes of the Council of Europe youth programme.

The next cut-off date for pilot activity applications is 1st of September.
See what the Partnership has in store for you...
Curious about youth work? What is youth work and who is it for? How does it relate to young people’s lives? How is it done and by whom? On 1 September we start the MOOC on Essentials of Youth Work. Enrol now! https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/3JAPEY

Are you looking for something new to read this summer? EU-CoE youth partnership has updated its Glossary on youth, with new concepts and definitions.Have a look at our page and enjoy the summer reading!
... and more reading
The European Platform on Learning Mobility published its Summer 2020 newsletter. Explore updates from practice, policy and research on the topic of learning mobility in Europe and reflections from EPLM members on continuing to support learning mobility in times of Covid 19. Read the newsletter

We are glad to announce the publication of the Estonian version of two of our T-kits:
- T-kit # 7 on European citizenship and
- T-kit # 13 on Sustainability and youth work 
Upcoming activities
Planned activities may be cancelled or run on-line in case of a return to stricter sanitary restrictions (covid-19 pandemic)
  • 15-16 September 2020: 2nd Task Force meeting on Roma youth participation, European Youth Centre Strasbourg
  • 21-25 September 2020: Young women advocates for human rights and social justice, study session in collaboration with YWCA, European Youth Centre Budapest
  • 21-25 Septembre 2020: ''X Language: The impact of sexism in everyday communication'', study session in cooperation with TEJO (World Esperanto Youth Organisation), European Youth Centre Budapest
  • 28 September-3 October 2020: ''Voices of youth", study session in collaboration with study session in cooperation with the Don Bosco Youth-Net, European Youth Centre Strasbourg
  • 28 September-2 October 2020: "W(e)-participate! Harnessing digital innovation for youth participation at local level”, study session in cooperation with DYPALL Network: Developing Youth Participation at Local Level, European Youth Centre Strasbourg
  • 28 September-2 October 2020: Training course on gender equality in youth work based on the revised edition of Gender Matters, European Youth Centre Budapest
  • 30 September-3 October 2020: "Human Rights Educators’ Hub: Be an actor of change", Compass national training course in cooperation with TEJO (World Esperanto Youth Organization) MSS (Mladinski svet Slovenije/National Youth Council of Slovenia), Ljubljana, Slovenia
 
Useful links
The CoE Directorate General Democracy
The CoE Youth Portal
European Youth Centre Budapest
European Youth Centre Strasbourg
European Youth Foundation
Intergovernmental Cooperation
The EU-CoE Youth Parthership
Facebook pages
Advisory Council on Youth
Council of Europe - Youth
European Youth Centre Budapest
EU-CoE youth partnership
European Youth Foundation
No Hate Speech Movement
Coyote magazine
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