50 young people from 45 countries from all continents, selected from over 2100 applications, travelled to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and brought their voices to the burning debate ”Democracy = Peace ?“

With war once again returned to the European continent, these young people shared their perspectives and experience, adding a rich global dimension to the Forum. The Youth delegation was actively involved in the Forum with 21 young people as discussants in the Labs and Forum talks. For the second time, a youth delegate played a central role as Youth rapporteur in the closing Plenary Session, and another was speaker in the “Conversations of generations”.

Advisory Council member Marko Lončar participated as discussant in Lab 6 “The age of global protest: how to get out voice hear?” ; together with Anna Knobbout. Nedeljka Ivošević co-chaired the reporting session with Marja Ruotanen, Director General of Democracy and Human Dignity.

This edition of the World Forum for Democracy illustrates the increasing participation of young people in key roles, in line with the commitment taken in the Reykjavik declaration to include a youth perspective in the Organisation’s deliberations.

In the framework of the project Youth revitalising democracy, the Council of Europe Youth Department organised the seminar Let’s get political on the engagement of young people in political life; it brought together 80 participants, young representatives of political parties and their youth branches, national youth councils and youth organisations.

The seminar took place in Vitoria-Gasteiz (European Green Capital in 2012), Basque Country on 30 November-1st December under the auspices of Council of Europe, the European Youth Card Association and the Government of Basque Country.

The event was organised in the framework of Partial Agreement on Youth Mobility through the youth card, a cooperation agreement signed by 25 Member States of the Council of Europe, agreeing to priorities and mainstream mobility in youth policies.

The seminar focusing on sustainability offered a space for debate, update and participation of decision makers, young people, youth workers and private sector around the topic. It brought stakeholders from 17 nationalities to reflect, debate and find common solutions on how to empower and support the young generations to take the driving seat on topics related to climate change, just economic transition and sustainability. 

Watch the video of the seminar!

This one-year project of YMCA Europe aimed to promote inclusiveness, peace, justice and diversity in local communities by improving the impact of refugee services and representational governance processes in youth organisations. During that year, YMCA Europe carried out capacity building activities in connection with local actions to strengthen the capacity of 30 youth NGO leaders on the concepts of impact, intersectionality, vulnerability, work with refugees and intercultural dialogue. By doing so, the project has intensified the effect of social services in 15 youth organisations working with 500 young refugees and other youth from vulnerable groups. 

“I did not know what to expect from participating in the YMCA Europe Leadership Academy 2023, but I can say with certainty that this experience changed the way I think about myself and my goals forever. For the first time, I looked at impact in society as something that I could achieve. Instead of feeling powerless, I felt motivated to make a change. We learnt how to manage problems and how to create a project while maximising the social impact that our project has on these issues.” (quote from a participant in the project).

The Youth Partnership’s 2024-2025 workplan was adopted on 21 November 2023 by the Partnership Management Board in Brussels. The two directors, Matjaz Gruden, Director of Democratic Participation, Council of Europe and Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot, Director for Youth, Education and Erasmus+, European Commission both expressed their satisfaction with the 25 years of cooperation between the partner institutions through the Youth Partnership and its valuable contribution to the European youth sector.

The new workplan includes research related to the youth perspective and youth mainstreaming, a symposium on young people, climate crisis and sustainability; and several activities related to youth work.

Stay tuned for the detailed list of Youth Partnership activities!

The Council of Europe and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine co-organised a seminar on the role of youth work in supporting mental well-being of young people affected by war, in the framework of the Youth for Democracy programme.

Among the new priorities for co-operation in 2024, the widespread issues of mental health affecting young people in Ukraine was highlighted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.  According to the results of a survey conducted in February 2023, 73% of young people expressed a need for more mental support after 24 February 2022. However, only 29.8% sought psychological help.

The seminar brought together youth workers and specialists working with youth in Ukraine to better understand the role of youth work in addressing the emotional and mental health challenges affecting young people in wartime.

15 January 2024 is the next deadline for local and national youth organisations to apply for the pilot activity grants of the European Youth Foundation; the second deadline will be on 15 May 2024. Pilot activity grants support projects that address young people’s needs and challenges in relation to the priorities of the youth sector of the Council of Europe, and need to have a clear link to the local context and address the priorities of the youth sector of the Council of Europe. Projects should be based on innovative methodologies, have a clear youth work dimension, be based on non-formal education principles and have local impact with a European dimension.

Projects must also be organised by, with and for young people (between 15-30 years old). Project formats are flexible, and this type of EYF grant can be used for training sessions, meetings, workshops and local actions, visits, campaigns, festivals etc. Have a look at the examples of projects supported!  

The second COMPASS Training course for Trainers in Human Rights Education with Young People took place from 6 to 10 November 2023 in Brzeće, Serbia.

Over the five-day period, 24 youth leaders, multipliers and youth workers were developing competencies to act as trainers or multipliers for human rights education with young people in Serbia. The participants learned how to make use of the COMPASS manual, to design and implement human rights education activities in line with the quality standards of the Council of Europe, to advocate for human rights education and promote human rights education at a national and local level.

The training course follows the publication of the Serbian language version of the COMPASS Manual in June 2023, and contributes to the implementation of the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education.

The National Youth Council of Romania organised the conference “Romania for young people, too?” on 29 November 2023 in the Parliament of Romania. Organised in the framework of the project Youth revitalising democracy, the conference brought together young people and political representatives to discuss how a Manifesto for political participation of young people of the National Youth Council can be made reality through politics and policy measures ahead of a super elections year for Romania in 2024 (all elections to be held throughout the year).

The conference featured Oana Ţoiu, president of the Commission on Youth and Sports of the Deputies Chamber in the Parliament of Romania, Nina Grmuša, member of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe and Mihai Dragoş, vice-president of the Economic and Social Council of Romania. Attended by more than 60 young people, the conference offered solutions to respond to the challenges posed by the high level of emigration among Romanian youth and the limited chances for political participation in the country.

On 5 November, the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” presented the research results of the needs and state of activity of youth consultative bodies, in particular, taking into account the needs and realities of young people in the war and post-war period, at an organisational meeting of organisations, which are engaged in the creation and strengthening of youth councils in Ukraine.

On 27 November 2023, the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” presented the results of a research of the needs and state of activity of youth centres and spaces of Ukraine of various forms of ownership at the local and regional levels at the All-Ukrainian Forum “Youth Centres in Ukraine: Best Practices of Work with Youth in the Conditions of War”.