make it youthful

8/14/2019 Make It Youthful

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/make-it-youthful 1/11

The written declaration calls on the European Commission and the EU

Member States to take into account the needs o young people when

developing policies that aect them, in particular:

health•employment,youthautonomy&socialintegration•education&lifelonglearning•mobility•

fundamentalrights&non-discrimination•

The declaration calls on the European Commission to commit to

developing a more horizontal youth policy; something endorsed by

the Council o Ministers but has not yet been translated into concrete

action. Furthermore, EU Member States need to ocus on youth when

implementing the Lisbon National Reorm Programmes.

‘‘While we appreciate the recognition by the European institutions on

the importance o taking youth more into account when developing

EU legislation, we are still waiting or more concrete measures that trulyreect our needs to happen. This can only be achieved through a genuine

dialogue with young people and their organisations. This process, o course,

also needs to happen at national level,’’ underlines Bettina Schwarzmayr,

President o the European Youth Forum.

The declaration calls on the Commission to consider and incorporate the

impact on youth and the results o the structured dialogue with youth

organisations, through the European Youth Fourm, when preparing

legislative proposals.

At least hal o all MEPs will need to sign the written declaration in the

upcoming three months so that it becomes an ocial demand o the

European Parliament. To make it reality, the YFJ relies on the energy and

commitment o all its Member Organisations.

`Make it youthul´ caMpaignissue 3 - 2008

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The European Youth Forum is a platorm o 95

youth organisations in Europe, working with

the European Union, the Council o Europe and

the United Nations to promote the interests o

young people.

Editor in-chie Diego Pinto · Editor: Marta Gomez

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Marie-Hélène DESCAMPS

Christa PRETSMarie PANAYOTOPOULOS-CASSIOTOU

Ramona Nicole MĂNESCU

Bart STAES

http://youthforum.org/







http://youthforum.org/declaration.htm



Make it youthul

2

‘‘Aware o the role young people play in the construction o Europe, the EU has

adopted several documents in recent years calling or a better consideration o

young people’s needs in the implementation o the Lisbon strategy. Nevertheless,

young people are still acing diculties in lie long learning, employment, social

integration, health, autonomy and mobility but also as regards undamental

rights and non discrimination.’’

“It is essential to include young people in the political dialogue, because they are

the ones who will shape the uture. Furthermore, agreed policies have to be visibly

implemented.”

“Practical solutions need to be given, through the implementation o the European

Youth Pact, to the diculties young people ace, ocusing more particularly on

the provision o qualications adapted to the requirements o the employment

market, on the ght against unemployment, and on the enorcement o measures

which enable young people to realise their hopes in all the other areas o lie:

amily, participation in social, cultural, artistic lie, etc.”

“I was and I will always be condent o the power o young people to change

the uture o their communities. There are two aspects that we have to

consider: on one hand we have to support them in order to be more proactive

and to involve in the democratic lie and on the other hand we have the

duty to involve them in the decision making process, especially when thosedecisions afect their lives, directly. It is crucial or all Member States to involve

the young people in the political dialogue in order to easier identiy, together,

the practical solutions to their problems and needs.”

“Despite the EU-legislation on employment, we still nd too many young people

jobless and living in precarious situations. I ask the Commission strongly not to

take youngsters or granted and to think about them when making legislation.

Young people are too important to be orgotten.”

Marie-Hélène DeSCaMPS

(ePP/Fr, CUlT)

CHriSTa PreTS

(PeS/aT, CUlT & FeMM)

Marie PanaYOTOPOUlOS-

CaSSiOTOU

(ePP/Gr, eMPl, PeTi &

FeMM)

raMOna niCOle MĂneSCU

(alDe/rO, CUlT)

BarT STaeS

(GreenS/eFa/Be, COBU)



youth neWs

On the 15 and 16 o March, the YWDWG, Youth Work Development

Working Group, held the third meeting in its work mandate. The WG

met to urther the eorts on already started actions and documents.

The ocus o the work was mobility o young people, cross pillar coo-

peration and the strategic approach to youth work development.

Following careul and thorough updates on discussions and ideas

or dierent countries and regions covered in Europe, the WG began

working on the proposal or a guideline paper to enhance cross pillarcooperation. The WG has already helped to develop a proposal or

the urthering o the YFJ work on mobility by implementing the reso-

lution adopted in the last COMEM o YFJ.

The work o the WG is entering a stage that provides and ensures

tangible results and concrete proposals. This is seen in the work and

opinions o the group but also through the concrete proposals and

results they produce.

MOBILITY...

Ater adopting a resolution on the mobility o young people and an

internal action plan or urthering the activities and expected results

in the feld o the mobility o young people, YFJ worked out a pro-

posal or the network o national coordinators on mobility coming

orm dierent member organisations in every country. In countries

with National Youth Councils (NYCs), the coordinator would be co-

ming rom the NYC itsel, whilst, in countries not covered by an NYC,

the national coordinator would be appointed ater a specifc call and

according to previously defned competences applying to all the

coordinators.

The system o national coordinators is introduced in order to increase

the ocus on mobility lobbying on the national/authority level. As

some o the most important legislation on mobility in the EU is being

passed and is soon to be discussed in the EU Council, lobbying at the

national level is very important to ensure the regard or youth at alllevels in the mobility and immigration systems.

The network o coordinators will also serve the purpose o collecting,

processing and exchanging inormation on the mobility o young

people in their respective countries and sharing it with the YFJ and

other member organisation. They will need to be in constant contact

with the authorities in charge o mobility, both directly and indirectly,

as well as actively lobbying in coordination with the YFJ or the in-

crease o the mobility o young people in Europe.

youth Work DevelopMent Working group

4

For the 5th time, Latin American Youth organisations gathered at the

University on Citizenship Participation (UPC), which is organised by

the YMCA – Latin American and Carribean with the support o the

Latin American Youth Forum (FLAJ ), the Uruguayan Institute or Youth,

the Ibero-American Youth Organisation (OIJ) and the partnership o

the Spanish Youth Council.

The European Youth Forum was represented in a seminar on the

political impact o youth participation, which was jointly organised

by the Latin American Youth Forum and the Spanish Youth Council.

Among the processes discussed were the upcoming Summit

between the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean Heads o States

which will take place in Lima, Peru, on 16-17 May 2008.

the university on citizenship participation



A remark oten heard rom people who have never been in youth

organisations and who are not amiliar with NFE is: can you prove

the eectiveness o NFE? Are you sure that you get the results that

you want?

For most people in youth organisations it is quite clear that NFE works

well, being witnessed in their daily practices. However, valid ques-

tions arise as very ew organisations are able to support their claim

with data and numbers. Measuring the impact o NFE is not easy: at

the end o a youth exchange, does it make sense to ask participants

whether they are more peaceul? And i they answer yes, does this

constitute hard-scientifc evidence? Providing data to support claims

is an apparent and dicult problem or the youth feld to legitimize

NFE.

One institution, the World Bank, is working to develop economies

and societies world-wide through the use o education. This institu-

tion has the reputation o producing very solid studies on economic

eects and trends. Moreover, this institution, while working with

youth organisations, is getting more and more interested in NFE. The

World Bank shares similar concerns with Youth Organisations, mainly

with the question; What are exactly all the eects o the NFE pro-grammes they und?

The complexity o this issue is strikingly apparent as youth organisa-

tions across the globe team with the World Bank to reach a conclu-

sion on the impact o NFE. The European Youth Forum and some

o its Member Organisations, especially WOSM and YMCA, have and

will continue to advocate a study on the impact o NFE. In May 2005

at the conerence: ‘Young People in Eastern Europe and Central Asia:

From Policy To Action,’ the YFJ and World Bank discussed an idea or a

NFE study in the near uture.

The proposal materialized last autumn as the YFJ, the World Bank and

the European Commission started developments or a large scale im-

pact study o NFE on young people in Europe. Along with the major

organizations, a specially hired youth researcher joined the team to

aide and maintain the ocus o the study to the youth work environ-

ment. The study will be run by a research team o the World Bank

beginning in April 2008.

The study will try to answer two questions: First, what is the impact o non-ormal education on young people at a personal level (learning

outcome, sel-esteem, competences) and community level (related-

ness, interaction, integration). Second, what is the socio-economic

impact in terms o employability and active participation in public

lie.

As it is impossible to measure this or all young people in Europe,

the study ocuses on fve countries: Romania, United Kingdom, Spain,

Moldova and Czech Republic. In these countries the research team

will do a double research: a research on young people who have ta-

ken or not taken part in NFE. The second part o the research will

ocus on the NFE and youth work environment. The teams will have

interviews with youth organization coordinators, education ocials,

state and local government, parents/amily members, community

representatives, employers, etc. All this data will be compiled and

analysed. The outcomes o the study are expected in May 2009 and

distribution o the outcomes will be undertaken by the three organi-

sers o the study.

With the study now underway, the European Youth Forum has

connected the World Bank to the various National Youth Councils o the countries concerned to ensure the World Bank access to all the

relevant ino. Also, this is a good opportunity or youth organisations

to work with one o the largest institutions in the world.

The European Youth Forum, thereore, has great hopes or this study

and believes it can be a great step orward or the recognition o NFE

and the great work o Youth Organisations in Europe.

WorlD Bank & non-orMal eDucation

youth policy

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http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth-policies/doc23_en.htm-policies/doc23_en.htm





Youth employment has become one o the greatest challenges o

the 21st century as young people are increasingly acing diculties

entering the labour market and struggling with precarious jobs

where salaries are low and social protection conditions are scarce ornon-existent.

In previous decades at the global level, both in developed countries

as well as countries in transition, labour markets have been incapable

o integrating newcomers. 85 million young people are unemployed

and the unemployed youth make up 43.7% o total unemployed

people in the world. At the European Union (EU) level, 4.6 million

people aged between 15 and 24 are unemployed and young people

represent 38.5% o the total unemployed population. The situation

is even worse when talking about young people rom South East

Europe and Eastern Europe, where unemployment rates concerning

young people are even higher.

Given the importance o the topic, the YFJ has been developing a

Policy Paper on Employment and has been actively engaged in

advocacy work towards both EU Institutions such as the European

Commission, European Parliament and Council o the European Union,

but also towards the United Nations through the Youth Employment

Network, aiming to improve the living conditions o young people.

Additionally, the YFJ is planning a symposium on Youth Employment

which is oreseen to take place by the end o the year.

The concerns o the YFJ are more and more the concerns expressed

at the EU level as one can see in the “Council Conclusions on a

transversal approach to youth policy in view o enabling young

people to ulfll their potential and participate actively in society”

which were adopted under Portuguese Presidency in November

2007. The same concerns are expressed in the “Key Messages rom

the EPSCO Council to the Spring European Council” in 2008.

There is still work to be done, not only at Global and EU level but

also at regional and local level, in a collective involvement o public

authorities, social partners and youth organizations in order to

improve young people’s integration into the labour market. .

To the YFJ there are key issues which need to be tackled in order toimprove employment conditions o young people:

• Educationalsystemsshouldbeadoptedtomeetthelabour

markets’ needs

• Importanceofprofessionalguidance(systematicadvicesin

career planning should be provided)

• Promotionofentrepreneurshipeducationforyoungpeople

• Importanceofvocationaltrainingashighereducationisnot

the only way to shape young people’s uture opportunities

in lie

• Fightagainstleavingschoolearly

• YouthNGO’s andsocialpartnersshouldwork togetherto

improve the situation o young people in the labour market

• Importanceof establishing balancedexicurity strategies,

between security and exibility, which allow or improving

the unctioning o labour markets and increasing the

working opportunities o young people

Attention should not just be paid to the amount o jobs created but

or the need to strive or better jobs. Internships should be part o

education curricula, acilitating young people’s access to employ-ment and allowing or their proessional development. Internships

shall not become precarious types o contracts oered to graduates

without any labour protection and oten without any or very limited

fnancial compensation.

Importance o combating discrimination and disadvantage in the

labour market as well as fghting or gender equality at work.

yJ & youth eMployMent

youth policy

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http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth-policies/doc23_en.htm



http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/employment_strategy/emco/opinion2004/spc_final_2004_en.pdf











alCOHOl

The YFJ has been particularly active in the work on alcohol related

harm, submitting a joint commitment to the European Alcohol and

Health Forum (EAHF) with Eurocare and raising youth issues in the

two task orces set up within the rame o the EAHF. One representa-

tive o each Member Organisation has the opportunity to give a pre-

sentation during the Marketing Task Force workshop. It gave a good

example o the projects youth organisations can do to prevent alco-

hol related harm and it specifcally dealt with the portrayal o alcohol

in the media in Sweden. It showed, as well, how youth organisations

can play a signifcant role and must be involved when it comes to

alcohol, as the youth are one o the most vulnerable groups and peer

to peer education being one o the most ecient ways o raising

awareness. In the coming months, the YFJ will continue its work byparticipating in the ounding conerence o the Alcohol Policy Youth

Network in Romania, the 3rd Building Capacity Conerence which will

be held in Barcelona in April, as well as the Plenary o the EAHF. The

European Commission is also organising an Open Forum on Alcohol,

in the rame o the EAHF, which will be a tremendous opportunity or

organisations to network and give input on alcohol policies.

TOBaCCO

The YFJ is also maintaining its involvement in the European

Commission’s tobacco HELP campaign, with the Tobacco project

continuing in 2008. The last two months were devoted to the

preparation o the activities envisaged or this year. The YFJ already

launched a call or proposals or tobacco-related activities to be run

by Member Organisations at national level while the EU-wide on-line

contest on youth and tobacco is going to be launched by the end o

March on the “youth and tobacco” website.

MenTal HealTH

The YFJ has also developed its work on mental health by taking

part in the preparations to the European High Level Conerence on

Mental Health which will take place in June 2008 and on sexual and

reproductive health and rights (SRHR) by attending meetings and

strengthening contacts with other organisations such as the United

Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned

Parenthood Federation European Network (IPPF EN). The YFJ is

organising Inormation and Networking Days on HIV/AIDS and sexual

and reproductive health which will take place in July 2008.

YOUTH HEALTH:alcohol, toBacco & Mental health

upDate on health

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http://www.help-eu.com/







eu aairs

8

the seconD citizen’s agora

FOr MOre inFOrMaTiOn On THe CiTizenS’ aGOra, PleaSe

COnSUlT THe aGOra weBSiTe:

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GOvernanCe:

Ater the frst Citizens’ Agora on the EU Reorm Treaty o 8—9

November 2007, the European Parliament is organising its second

Citizens’ Agora on the topic o Climate Change on 12—13 June

2008. European civil society organisations have been invited to

contribute to the work o the European Parliament’s temporary

committee on climate change, which is currently preparing its fnal

report or this autumn.

The European Youth Forum and a good number o youth organisations are invited by the European Parliament to take part in this Citizens

Agora, to develop, with other civil society organisations, views on fve thematic questions:

As youth organisations have an active role to play, not only in raising awareness on climate change but also in contributing to sustainable

development, the European Youth Forum will actively take part in the Citizens’ Agora, with a delegation rom all EU countries.

http://forum.agora.europarl.europa.eu/

http://forum.agora.europarl.europa.eu/



Standard updates on the work o the YFJ with regard to the Council o

Europe on the developments within the Advisory Council on Youth

and the Programming Committee on Youth were complemented

with up-to-date inormation rom the Directorate o Youth and Sport.

The latter was represented in the meeting by Hans Joachim Schild,

Manager o the Partnership on Youth between the EU and the Council

o Europe, who brought frsthand inormation about the work or the

long-term strategy on youth policy in Europe, the preparations or

the 8th Conerence o European Ministers responsible or Youth in Kyiv

in October 2008, the reurbishment o the European Youth Centre in

Strasbourg, the ollow up to the All Dierent – All Equal campaign

and other issues o importance.The main item on the agenda o the

meeting was related to the above-mentioned strategy on youth

policy, which the COEACOM prepared urther input to drat the Final

Declaration, which will be adopted at the Ministerial Conerence

in Kyiv. In addition, the COEACOM worked on inputs to a number

o YFJ drat policy papers. Finally, the COEACOM also discussed the

importance o securing a ocus on Council o Europe-related matterswithin the reorm o the internal working structures, which is currently

on the agenda o the YFJ.

eu aairs

9

At this meeting, the EUACOM prepared the Youth EmpowermentCampaign or a written declaration in the European Parliament

(see article page 1), and also contributed to the preparations o the

YFJ campaign as well as the maniesto or the European Parliament

elections in 2009. The EUACOM members also provided input,

rom an EU perspective, or the policy papers and opinion papers

that will be presented to the Council o Members in May.

The main sessions o this meeting were organised jointly with the

Forum Nazionale dei Giovani and ocussed on two key issues on the

agenda or 2008. A common session on voluntary activities looked

into the ollow-up o the Resolution o the Education, Youth and

Culture Council o November 2007, ocussing on a contribution to the

planned proposal o the European Commission or a recommendation

to EU Member States on volunteering and the civil society campaign

to proclaim 2011 as the European Year o Volunteering. A second

common session with FNG dealt with climate change, including a

debate on the contribution o youth organisations to combating

climate change and preparing a youth input or the EuropeanParliament’s Citizens’ Agora on Climate Change o 12—13 June

2008.

The European Union Aairs Commission in Rome was possibly the last

one, as the European Youth Forum is currently undergoing a reorm

o its internal working structures. Depending upon the results o the

debates among Member Organisations at the Council o Members

in May, the work o the EUACOM may be continued by specialised

thematic groups and a new EU advocacy body.

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10

Within the Directorate o Youth and Sport (DYS) the most important

point in the year will be the 8th Conerence o European Ministers

responsible or Youth, which will take place on 10-11 October 2008 in

Kyiv, Ukraine. This conerence will determine the long-term strategy

on youth policy in Europe. The YFJ and the DYS discussed the planning

o the conerence together with the youth event that will be held in

Kyiv on 8-9 October, which will be organised by the YFJ.

The YFJ also received updates on the reurbishment o the European

Youth Centre in Strasbourg. The process has been delayed or several

months and the Centre will likely be re-opened in the second hal

o 2008. Furthermore, despite generous voluntary contributions

rom certain Member States, the project still needs a large fnancial

injection in order to realise the plans. To attract the attention o the

Council o Europe Member States to the need or increased fnancing

o the youth sector, the YFJ has lobbied the Council to boost their

regular fnancial input to the European Youth Foundation.

Views were also exchanged with the DYS regarding the ollow up to

the ’All Dierent – All Equal‘ campaign. The YFJ will be involved in the

pan-European activities in this ramework, and possibilities are being

explored as to the possible involvement in a new Council o Europe

campaign, which will ocus on the fght against discrimination and

will target media networks and educational structures or journalists.

The YFJ also met and exchanged inormation with representatives

rom the European Youth Foundation and members rom the

Partnership on Youth between the EU and the Council o Europe, as

well as, representatives o the Education Directorate. Also, or the frst

time, the YFJ met with the sta working on the Council o Europe

project “Building a Europe or and with Children”, enhancing links

between the two organisations in this area. A separate meeting with

the Education and Training Unit was held in March 2008.

The Parliamentary Assembly o the Council o Europe’s Committee on

Science, Culture and Education has a Sub-Committee on Youth and

Sport, whose secretariat members met with the YFJ. It is to be notedthat the Parliamentary Assembly is working on a report “A new start

or youth cooperation in Europe”, which it aims to present in October

2008. The input o youth organisations to the drat will be welcome.

The YFJ also discussed other possible venues o cooperation,

especially with interested parliamentarians.

Another body approached by the YFJ during this meeting was the

Congress o Local and Regional Authorities in Europe, concretely, the

secretariat members o the Committee on Culture and Education.

At this occasion, the YFJ was invited to take part in the April session

o the above-mentioned Committee. In addition, the YFJ outlined

options to promote urther use o the Revised European Charter,

the Participation o Young People in Local and Regional Lie. The

proposed options included urther use o the Pool o Trainers and

or the youth sector statutory bodies to pay more attention to its use

when conducting youth policy reviews (Council o Europe) and study

visits (YFJ).

Annual coordination meetings with the Council o Europe are one

o the ways through which the YFJ remains actively involved with

institutional partners, maintains communication o the YFJ policiesin a clear and consistent manner, and keeps itsel open to useul

inormation and eedback. This way the YFJ consolidates its relations

with existing partner structures, explores new opportunities and

positions itsel as a strong and credible interlocutor.

yJ & coe: exploring urther oppurtunitiesor cooperation

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02-03 COMEM

Castelldeels, Spain

09-11 PoT Meeting

Zagreb, Croatia

28-29 3rd Dialogue on Non-ormal Education

Brussels, Belgium

agenDa 2008

This publication has been produced with the nancial sup-

port o the European Union. Ar ticles represent the opinions

o the European Youth Forum and do not necessarily refect

the views o the EU.

11

FOr MOre inFOrMaTiOn On

OUr evenTS Have a lOOk aT

OUr CalenDar

May

June

07-08 Bureau Meeting III/08

TBD

07 EU Institutions Open Day

Brussels, Belgium

11-12 Employment Week

Brussels, Belgium

27-29 I&N Days on policies and best practice or youth autonomy

Brussels, Belgium

http://www.youthforum.org/




make it youthful

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