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DG Democracy
Directorate of Democratic Participation
Youth Department
THINK YOUTH No 84 - September 2020
EYCS welcomes first youth activity since March
After six months without youth activities, the DYPALL study session “W(e)-participate: Harnessing Digital Innovation for Youth Participation at the Local Level” is held at the EYCS under strict sanitory protocols.

The session explores ways on how young people can take part in decision-making processes online; it is based on the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life and Have your say manual.
Solidarity with Belarus - youth activists in dialogue
WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF BORISS CILEVIČS, CHAIRPERSON OF THE LEGAL AFFAIRS AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

Concerned about the intimidation and arrests of youth civil society representatives and other young citizens in Belarus, the Advisory Council on Youth organised an online discussion on the evolving situation in Belarus since the elections last August.  With guests from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, RADA, the national youth council of Belarus and the European Youth Forum, the debate was one of the solidarity events organised in response to a call by activists in Belarus for support for their struggle for human rights and democracy and to observe 20 September as Global Day of Solidarity for Belarus
The all-new Gender Matters website goes online!
The website Gender Matters contains accessible non-formal education methods for addressing and preventing gender-based violence with young people. It also provides reflections on gender and gender-based violence and information of the main Council of Europe human
rights standards relevant for gender equality and dignity for all. Gender Matters is useful to youth workers, teachers and other educators active in human rights and combating gender inequality.

The manual itself is available online for consultation and usage with all the flexibility of Internet navigation.
X Language: The impact of sexism in everyday communication
The study session in cooperation with TEJO was held online from 23 to 25 September 2020. The activity gave the
opportunity to thirty young people to learn about the topic of sexism in language and verbal communication with a special focus to gender-based discrimination and violence and on ways of combating them. 

Participants were given the chance to develop their competences and exchange about their experiences related to human rights, gender-sensitive and gender-neutral language and develop ideas for taking action against sexism and hate speech in their communities.
Launch of new long-term educational programme for educational staff of youth centres holding the Council of Europe Quality Label
First Webinar held on 22 September-Online course from August till February 2021.

The Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres network introduced a long-term educational programme to develop competences of youth centres’ educational staff for incorporating human rights education in their activities and to support centres to introduce more strategic educational programmes that will mainstream human rights education. 

The e-learning phase of the training process was launched in the summer with the involvement of educational staff of youth centres (including volunteers, consultants, freelancers etc.). 57 participants from 13 youth centres have so far enrolled in the online course;  participants are expected to complete online modules designed by international experts and to attend thematic webinars as part of each module.  

The first webinar aimed to provide participants with an opportunity to further enhance theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of human rights education.
Youth for democracy in Ukraine project ready to launch!
The project Youth for Democracy in Ukraine will be officially launched at on 8 October in Kyiv. The launching event will bring together representatives of the partner organisations, national authorities and youth civil society organisations, as
well as local authorities – all of them important stakeholders of this project. Youth for Democracy in in Ukraine is set to strengthen participation and civic engagement of young people in both rural and urban settings in Ukraine based on Council of Europe standards. The project is funded through the 2018-2021 Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine and implemented jointly by the Council of Europe Youth Department, the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine and the Council of Europe office in Kyiv.

The team based in the Council of Europe Office in Kyiv started its work to launch officially the project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”.
YOUNG PEOPLE, FULL CITIZENS
Local authorities in Ukraine commit to foster youth participation

The project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” is carried out in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021 and built on previous
experience and fruitful bilateral co-operation between the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine.

The project invited local authorities for partnerships within the component “Young people, full citizens” which will support municipalities in nine regions of Ukraine to implement youth-friendly policies for youth participation and civic engagement.

Twenty-two local authorities expressed their interest to join the project; ten communities will be prioritized for participation in research and capacity-building activities. Supported by youth policy experts, they will design and implement their own projects at local level.
Task Force Roma Youth Participation
Second meeting online, 15-16 September 2020

The task force was established by the Joint Council on Youth to prepare proposals for the continuation of the work on Roma youth participation
within the Youth for Democracy programme and to assess the need for a recommendation by the Committee of Ministers.

A study on Roma youth participation stressed the scarcity of references to Roma youth in national youth policies. The task force identified the need for guidelines for the implementation of the recommendation and the process to ensure the engagement of the member states while reinforcing double mainstreaming between Roma and Youth programmes. The Task Force should conclude its work in November, when all the results of the surveys underway will be processed.
TAKE PART – survey on Roma youth participation
As part of a study about how Roma youth participate in youth programme and projects, the Youth Department invites national or regional youth councils and
international youth organisations to share their experiences and opinions related to the topic of inclusion of Roma youth in their work or the relevant policy and decision making.
For this purpose, two surveys are open until 30 September 2020: Survey for national youth councils & Survey for international youth organisations.
Please take part in the survey and invite other organisations to do so! It is short, quick and very meaningful!
Euro-Arab dialogue: Learning together online
The results of the 7th Euro-Arab Youth Forum held in Budapest last November were reviewed by officials and consultants of the League of Arab States and the Council of Europe.
The online evaluation meeting (8-9 September) involved representatives from the Advisory Council on Youth, participants of the forum and trainers.
As a result, the programme of activities for 2020 was updated - transformed into online activities - and the basis for the 2021 programme were agreed upon with an emphasis on the next youth forum, to be held in Tunisia.
The online Euro-Arab youth dialogue will continue with the training course on human rights education and youth participation, an online learning six-week programme designed for implementation in November and December. The activity will include some 80 participants from both regions, selected on an open call.
News from the European Youth Foundation
The EYF information sessions took place on 3 and 4 September, online, for approximately 50 international youth
organisations. NGOs exchanged with the EYF Secretariat on challenges to their EYF funded projects, due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Following the info session on 28 September, the EYF organised an online platform to exchange on good practises concerning COVID 19 induced adaptations to funded workplans.

The next deadline for applications for pilot activities, including those related to the COVID 19 pandemic is 14 December 2020.
Check the website of the Youth Partnership for the following calls...
Save the date! 1 October: Webinar within the Youth Work MOOC on ‘European youth policy and its connection to youth work’ with Antje ROTHEMUND, Head of Youth
Department at the Council of Europe, and Floor Van Houdt, Head of Youth, Volunteer Solidarity and Traineeships Office Unit at the European Commission.
Open CALL: Are you a youth researcher? Would you like to contribute to evidence-based policymaking and youth work practice? We are renewing our Pool of European Youth Researchers*! Application deadline: 14 October.
Survey for Youth Organisations! If you are a member of a youth organisation that uses research and evidence towards development and evaluation of programmes and activities, feel free to share examples of how you have been integrating research into every-day practice! Open by 4 October
News from the Youth Partnership
Boundaries of Youth Work was the topic of the 1st webinar of the MOOC “Essentials of youth work” available here >> https://youtu.be/FR4eOanoJi8
Our Youth Knowledge Break series continue; the 4th Inspiration Break focused on Youth Policy Evaluation: https://youtu.be/0XgGeqRXCaU
Upcoming activities
  • 30 September-3 October 2020: Training course for human rights educators on working with Compass and/or Compasito, “NTC Human Rights Educators’ Hub: Be an actor of change”, Youth Centre Brežice, Slovenia
  • Until 18 October 2020: Massive Open Online Course on Essentials of Youth Work, Youth Partnership
  • 1 October 2020: Webinar within the Youth Work MOOC on ‘European youth policy and its connection to youth work’ with Antje ROTHEMUND, Head of Youth Department at the Council of Europe, and Floor VAN HOUDT, Head of Youth, Volunteer Solidarity and Traineeships Office Unit at the European Commission
  • 4-10 October 2020: Evaluation and consolidation seminar of the Long-term training course for youth trainers from the Russian Federation involved in educational activities with young people based on non-formal education, Russian Federation
  • 7 October 2020: online, Steering Group of the European Platform on Learning Mobility, Youth Partnership
  • 8 October 2020: online, 31st Joint Co-ordination meeting between ERYICA (European Youth Information and Counselling Agency) and the Council of Europe
  • 12-14 October 2020: online meetings of the Statutory bodies (CMJ/CDEJ/CCJ/CPJ) of the Youth department, 43rd meeting of the CMJ, 65th meeting of the CDEJ, 44th meeting of the CCJ
  • Week of 12 October 2020: Democratic youth participation through youth parliamentarism - during Summer PACE session, European Youth Centre Strasbourg
  • 14-18 October 2020: Training course for human rights educators on working with Compass and/or Compasito, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 19-24 October 2020: Study session with Youth Social Rights Network with the support of the I-PARTICIPATE NGO (Greece) - Skills Up! European Youth Centre Strasbourg
  • 19-24 October 2020: Study session with Youth Peace Ambassadors Network (YPAN) “Peace Advocacy - Strengthening the role of youth in advocacy for peace and peace-building processes from the grassroots level”, European Youth Centre Strasbourg
  • 16-21 October 2020: Training course for human rights educators on working with Compass and/or Compasito “Human Rights Matter - Educate, Promote & Protect”, Braga, Portugal
  • 21-22 October 2020: online, Preparation of the first review of the implementation of the Recommendation on Young People's Access to Rights
  • 27-30 October 2020: online, Youth Knowledge Forum and annual meeting of PEYR and EKCYP (pool of European Youth Researchers and European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy).
 
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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