North-South Centre - European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity

 

Joint Management Agreement
between the European Commission and the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe
(2009-2012, 2013-2015)
 


Youth activities under the Joint Management Agreement and the EU-COE Youth Partnership


About Africa-Europe Youth Co-operation
 

The Africa-EU Strategic Partnership, a framework created by the 2nd EU-Africa Heads of States Summit and the Africa-Europe Youth Summit, recognise youth as a key actor in development in Africa and in Europe. The strengthening of youth organisations and youth movements is critical for development in general and for developing youth policies that will allow for sustainable co-operation among African and European youth in particular.

As a follow-up of the Africa-Europe Youth Summit in 2007, the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe has been developing and implementing a programme in partnership with key governmental and non-governmental actors in Africa and Europe, including the European Youth Forum and the African Youth Platforms such as the Pan African Youth Union, the African Union Commission and the European Commission.

The North-South Centre has cooperated with the European Commission (Europe Aid, DG Development and DG Education and Culture) in order to secure a sustainable process for collaboration which will provide important support of various (youth) structures, quality, reassurance and funding for Africa-Europe youth work.

In November 2008, the North-South Centre and the European Commission (EuropeAid) signed a Joint Management Agreement ffor a period of three years (2009-2011), later extended to 2012, that aims at strengthening global education in the new member states of the European Union and supporting Africa-Europe youth co-operation. In September 2012, a new Joint Management Agreement was signed by the two institutions, with the aim to strengthen global education in the new EU member states, as well as in EU acceding and candidate countries, and to strengthen the role of youth as a key actor in global and inter-regional development and to facilitate the development of youth policies and structures for youth participation, particularly in Africa and Europe.

Moreover, as a follow-up of the Africa-Europe Youth Summit and answering to the priorities of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership, the Joint Management Agreement will:

  • Strengthen Europe-Africa youth collaboration, exchanges and capacity-building of organisations;

  • Develop the skills and enhance the knowledge and pedagogical support for educators, GDE stakeholders, youth multipliers/ leaders in Europe and Africa through training activities on global/development issues;

  • Facilitate a dialogue and create synergies among stakeholders, encourage a peer learning process and the sharing of best practices on global/development issues;

  • Promote the empowerment of Europe's and Africa's youth;

  • Strengthen young people’s capacity to disseminate information and to get involved in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Joint Strategy;

  • Continue to map the existing African youth networks.

Complementary to the Joint Management Agreement, a programme of Euro-African training activities and support measures has been implemented since 2009 in the framework of the EU-CoE Partnership on Youth between the Council of Europe and the European Union (DGEAC).

Activities within the Joint Management Agreement
Global Education and Youth Training Course for Trainers, 16-23 September 2012, Mollina (Spain)
Within the framework of the 13th University of Youth and Development, the NSC together with the Network of Universities organised a Global education and youth training of trainers, which gathered 20 participants from all over the world. The course was based on the previous experiences of the Global Education (GE) online training courses and several editions of the Global Youth Work Training Course. The training aimed to empowering young people to further support the implementation of the GE online training courses of the Global Education Programme of North-South Centre, as well as to develop competences of key multipliers that are or will be actively involved in the implementation of the different Universities within the Network of Universities for Youth and Global Citizenship.
. Presentation 13th UYD
. Call
. Website
8th Africa-Europe Training Course for Youth Leaders, 10-17 July 2012, Mindelo, São Vicente (Cape Verde)
The 8th Africa-Europe training course for youth leaders took place in the framework of the 4th African University on Youth and Development in Cape Verde, co-organised together with the European Youth Forum and the Pan African Youth Union. The training course gathered 27 participants from Africa and Europe, aiming for capacity-building of youth organisations and civil society actors in the context of Africa-Europe Youth Co-operation and for promotion of co-operation and partnership development between North and South.
. Presentation
3rd African University on Youth and Development, Cape Verde, 15-22 May 2011  in Sal (Cape Verde)
The 3rd African University on Youth and Development aimed at creating a space for debate and reflection; affirmative youth action and the promotion of youth policies; global education and awareness raising for development; training and non-formal education; as well as intercultural and inter-regional dialogue in the context of Euro-African and Global youth co-operation. It is also a space for the follow-up of the Africa Europe Youth Summits and for co-ordination of the Global Youth Work.
. Concept paper
. Draft Programme

Youth Leaders Meeting on Youth Policies in the Context of the Africa-Europe Youth Co-operation, 10-13 April 2011, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
The “Youth Leaders Meeting on Youth Policies in the Context of the Africa-Europe Youth co-operation” took place in Addis Ababa on 10-13 April 2011. It provided a space for youth leaders to build a common action plan on the development of the Africa-Europe youth dialogue and co-operation framework and on the implementation of the recommendations resulting from the Africa-Europe Youth Summits.
. Concept paper
. More

2nd Africa-Europe Youth Summit, 25-28 November 2010, Tripoli (Libya)
The Executive Director of the NSC participated in the 2nd Africa-Europe Youth Summit which was held in Tripoli, Libya, on 25-28 November 2010, preceding the 3rd Africa-EU Summit, at the same location, on 29-30 November. The Youth Summit was designed to offer to young people and youth organisations from Africa and Europe the opportunity to strengthen their dialogue and co-operation on regional and global issues and to promote their meaningful participation in the Euro-African co-operation, contributing to the further development of the Africa-EU strategic partnership.  More...
. Presentation
. Programme
. Opening speech by Denis HUBER, Executive Director of the Council of Europe North-South Centre
. Final declaration

 
 Africa-Europe Youth Platform (AEYP)
 

The Africa-Europe Youth Platform (AEYP) is a result of several years of strong co-operation in the youth field between Africa and Europe and is an important step forward that was agreed in the Youth Leaders Seminar that took place in Addis Ababa in 2011. The mission of this platform is to prepare, implement, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Action Plan 2012-2015.
1st Meeting of the Africa-Europe Youth Platform, 7 November 2012, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
The Africa-Europe Youth Platform had its first constitutive meeting in November 2012 at the headquarters of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe in the framework of the EU-CoE youth partnership, in co-operation with the European Youth Forum, PanAfrican Youth Union, the African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe and the African Union Commission.
. Presentation
. Programme
. Participants
. Report

 
  Institutional Follow-up Meeting of the Africa-Europe Summit
 
2nd Institutional Meeting Africa Europe Youth Co-operation, 25-27 May 2012, Braga (Portugal)
The 2nd Institutional Meeting on Africa Europe Youth Co-operation was held on 25-27 May 2012 in Braga (Portugal) in the framework of the Braga 2012 European Youth Capital and gathered the 16 main youth stakeholders in the Euro-African co-operation with the objective to monitor the implementation of the Africa Europe Youth co-operation since 2011, prepare the implementation of the activities in 2012 and discuss the prospects for this co-operation for the period 2012-15 and onwards
. Concept Note
. Programme
. Report
1st Institutional Meeting Africa Europe Youth Co-operation, 28-29 April 2009, Lisbon & Catalazete (Portugal)
This meeting was organised by the Portuguese National Youth Council and the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, in partnership with the European Youth Forum and the Pan African Youth Union. It brought together key youth actors from Africa and Europe and representatives of implementing institutions involved in the Africa Europe Youth Co-operation and Africa EU Strategic Partnership. The main aim was to update on new developments since the Youth Summit held in December 2007 and to refine the ongoing implementation of the Youth Declaration and the Africa EU Strategic Partnership.
. Programme
 . Participants
. Final Report

 
 Monitoring Group for the follow-up of the Africa-Europe Youth Summit
 
The Monitoring Group was set up in February 2009 to observe and monitor the implementation of the Africa Europe Youth Activities inscribed in the Joint Management Agreement as well as the Euro African training Activities inscribed in the partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of Youth, to act as a think tank on Euro African Youth Co-operation, and to guide the efforts on Africa Europe Youth Co-operation. Since then, the group holds bi-annual meetings which are facilitated by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. It consists of representatives of the Pan African Youth Union, the European Youth Forum, the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe, the Steering Committee on Youth of the Council of Europe, the African Union Commission, and the European Commission.
4th Meeting, 16 May 2011, in the framework of the 3rd African University on Youth and Development, Sal (Cape Verde)
The 4th Meeting of the Monitoring Group of the Africa Europe Youth Co-operation was held in Cape Verde on the 16th of May 2011, in the framework of the 3rd African University on Youth and Development. Following the recommendations made in the evaluation meeting of the II Africa Europe Youth Summit, two representatives of ADYNE and ICMYO were invited to attend the meeting and integrate the group.
3rd Meeting, 17 September 2010, in the framework of the 11th University on Youth and Development, Mollina (Spain)
The 3rd Meeting of the Monitoring Group of the Africa Europe Youth Co-operation was held in Mollina, Spain, in the framework of the 11th UYD. The meeting allowed for an evaluation of the activities carried out since the last meeting, but also allowed for preparations for the 2nd Africa-Europe Youth Summit.
2nd Meeting, 30-31 October 2009, Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)
 Participants
Final report
1st Meeting, 1 February 2009, Portugal (Lisbon)
 Participants
Final report

 
Regional Seminars on Youth Policies and the African Youth Charter
 
During the Africa-Europe Youth Summit in December 2007, it was decided to hold a series of five sub-regional seminars in different regions of the African Union between 2009 and 2011. The seminars give National Youth Council leaders and national representatives of international youth organisations a chance to assess the situation of youth policies; to discuss the implementation of the African Youth Charter; and to plan future youth activities in the respective regions. The seminars are held within the Joint Management Agreement between the North-South Centre and the European Commission.

North Africa Sub Regional Seminar on Youth Policies and the African Youth Charter, 10-13 December 2012, Hammamet (Tunisia)
The North-African Seminar took place the framework of the pilot experience for a Mediterranean University on Youth and Development. The activity was carried out in close co-operation with the National Youth Observatory in Tunisia, as well as with the European Youth Forum, the Pan African Youth Union, the Network of International Youth Organisations and ADYNE. The North African Seminar gathered 24 participants with the overall aims to promote youth work and youth policy development in the region as well as to assess the level of dissemination and implementation of the African Youth Charter.
.Presentation - pilot experience of the Mediterranean University
.Concept paper
.Concept paper (French)
Central Africa Sub Regional Seminar on Youth Policies and the African Youth Charter, 10-13 March 2011, Libreville (Gabon)
The seminar gathered close to 60 participants, mostly presidents, secretary generals and leaders of National Youth Councils from the region. The Countries represented were: Central African Republic, Guinea Equatorial, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC), Chad, Sao Tome and Prince, Gabon, Burundi, and Cameroon. High level representatives from the EU, UNFPA, CEEAC, CONFEJESS, UNESCO and the US government also took part in the seminar. The seminar was organised by the National Youth Council of Gabon and the Central Africa Vice-President of the Pan African Youth Union, in partnership with the North-South Centre.
. Report (French)
. Declaration (French)
. Programme (French)
. Participants
Southern Africa Sub Regional Seminar on Youth Policies and the African Youth Charter, 29-31 March 2010, Luanda,  (Angola)
The Southern African Sub-Regional Seminar was co-organised by the Angolan National Youth Council (NYC) and the NSC in close co-operation with the Pan-African Youth Union. The seminar brought together representatives from around ten southern African countries and focused on the importance of national youth councils and the implementation of the African Youth Charter, in particular in view of the 2nd Europe-Africa Youth Summit of November 2010. The purpose of the meeting was to collect contributions for major challenges in youth policies and to assess the situation of youth policies in the sub region.
 .Call for participants
.Participants
.Declaration
East Africa Sub Regional Seminar on Youth Policies and the African Youth Charter, 1-3 November 2009, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
The East Africa Sub Regional Seminar was hosted by the Pan-African Youth Union. Participants of the seminar were youth leaders from national youth councils and international youth organisations active in the East African countries. The programme and the discussions revolved around the status of the ratification and implementation of the African Youth Charter in the region, as well as around challenges and achievements of youth policies on the national and regional level. This Activity was also an important moment for the strengthening of the Pan-African Youth Union in this specific sub-region, during which participants prepared the opening of a liaison office to the African Union in Addis Ababa.
.Call for participants
.Participants
 .Final report
West Africa Sub Regional Seminar on Youth Policies and the African Youth Charter, 12-16 June 2009, Tarrafal (Cape Verde)
The seminar was held in the framework of the 1st African University on Youth and Development and the seminar was the first of five sub-regional meetings foreseen to take pace in the framework of the Joint Management Agreement. Participants were mainly youth leaders from 14 different countries – members of the Pan African Youth Union, national youth councils, and national branches of international youth organisations in the countries of West Africa. Being the first of five sub-regional seminars, this seminar turned out to be a pilot exercise, helping in the design and the conceptualisation, and contributing to defining a model of recruitment and identification of participants for future seminars.
.Call for participants
.Declaration
.Final report incl. list of participants

 
Seed Funding Africa-Europe Youth Co-operation
 
Seed Funding for Africa Europe Youth Co-operation is a grant allocation intended to promote Africa Europe youth exchanges, networking and political participation of non-state actors. It aims at funding initiatives which provides the possibility for youth leaders, youth workers, experts and trainers to participate in Euro African Youth activities and youth exchanges projects. The grants are of a maximum 2000 € per project/organisation. The seed funding aims to strengthen the role of youth organisations as civil society actors and youth leaders’ ability to organise and take action as well as strengthen young people’s political participation in Euro-African c-ooperation. The seed funding is a part of the Joint Management Agreement between the North-South Centre and the European Commission.

Seed Funding 2013
4th phase of the seed funding: projects to be implemented between 15 April and 15 October.
Deadline for applications: 4 March 2013.
. Call
. Application form
The application should be sent to: nsc.africaeurope-youthsummit@coe.int or to fax no: +351 213 584072

Seed Funding 2012
3rd phase of the seed funding: projects implemented between 1 March and 30 October 2012.
. Call

Seed Funding 2011
2nd phase of the seed funding: projects implemented between 1 May and 31 October 2011.
1st phase of the seed funding: projects implemented between 1 January and 30 April 2011.
. Call
. Application form

 
 Africa-Europe Youth Co-operation Online Resource Centre
 
Since the 1st Africa-Europe Youth Summit in 2007, the need for a mapping of Africa Europe Youth Co-operation has been identified as a priority to facilitate work and co-operation between youth organisations and institutions from both continents. However, it was only in the Youth Leaders meeting in Ethiopia in March 2011 that the stakeholders developed further in the Action Plan 2012-2015 what was expected from this mapping exercise. A first step was the 2012 compilation of the political texts and declarations of the Africa Europe youth movement since 2007, a next step is the development of the online resource centre for Africa Europe Youth Co-operation.

The terms of reference of this Online Resource Centre for Africa Europe Youth Co-operation (AEYCO) were agreed in April 2012 and the results of the call for a contractor to develop this project were announced by the end of June 2012. The core team was composed by young people both from Africa and Europe (including African Diaspora) with relevant experience in Africa Europe relations, youth work and ICT. A beta version was presented in the AEYP meeting in the framework of the first meeting of the Africa Europe Youth Platform on 4-7 November in Addis Ababa and the final version of AEYCO is expected to be launched at the beginning of 2013.
. Publication: Africa-Europe Youth Co-operation Programme
. Terms of Reference
. Presentation  

 
 Global Youth Work Training Course
 
The North-South Centre Training Course for Global Youth Work is a week long training course for representatives of youth organisations from different regions of the world. During the course, participants are trained in different skills and knowledge areas relevant to successfully conduct global co-operation, exchange and awareness raising programmes. The overall aim is to develop the capacity of youth organisations to respond effectively to the impact of globalisation on the lives of young people. The course is implemented in co-operation with the members of the International Co-ordination Meeting of Youth Organisations and usually takes place within the framework of the University on Youth and Development.
Global Youth Work Training Course, in the framework of the 3rd African University on Youth and Development, 15-22 May 2011, Sal (Cape Verde)
The Training Course on Global Youth Work was a week-long activity involving 36 representatives aged between 18-30 years) of youth organisations from different regions of the world. The course was implemented in co-operation with the International Co-ordination Meeting of Youth Organisations (ICMYO) and the Portuguese National Youth Council.
. Presentation and call for application
. Application form
. Endorsement form
Global Youth Work Training Course, in the framework of the 11th University on Youth and Development, 12-19 September 2010, Mollina (Spain)
The course was implemented in co-operation with the Members of the International Co-ordination Meeting of Youth Organisations (ICMYO), the 26 participants were recruited among ICMYO member organisations, and the course itself was led by an international team of facilitators and experts.
. Draft Presentation
. Draft Programme
. Call for Rapporteur 
. Call for Facilitator 
Global Youth Work Training Course, in the framework of the 10th University on Youth and Development, 13-20 September, Mollina (Spain)
The course was implemented in co-operation with the Members of the International Co-ordination Meeting of Youth Organisations (ICMYO), the 30 participants were recruited among ICMYO member organisations, and the course itself was led by an international team of facilitators and experts.
. Presentation
. Participants

Activities within the EU-CoE Youth Partnership
Symposium “Arab spring: Youth participation for the promotion of peace, human rights and fundamental freedoms”, 28-29 August 2012, Tunis (Tunisia)
Co-organised by the North-South Centre and the EU-CoE Youth Partnership, the League of Arab States, the Youth Department of the CoE, the European Youth Forum and other relevant stakeholders in the Euro-Arab and Euro-Med Youth Cooperation, the Symposium “Arab spring: youth participation for the promotion of peace, human rights and fundamental freedoms” took place in Tunis on 28-29 August.
Workshop on “Empowerment of youth organisations and youth-led civil society initiatives in the South-Mediterranean framework”, 22-24 March 2012 (Malta)
The workshop in Malta brought together about 40 participants from 19 countries and provided youth non-governmental organisations and institutional partners with the opportunity to reflect upon recent developments and their implications for the future youth policy cooperation as to safeguard ownership of the process among stakeholders and to ensure a sustainable long-term perspective.
. Programme
. Report
. Compilation of recommendations
Seminar for Youth Leaders of the African Diaspora Living in Europe, 19-21 September 2011, Mollina (Spain)
Under the theme “From Millennium Development Goals to Millennium Development Wins”, the seminar was organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe in the framework of the EU-CoE Youth Partnership, in cooperation with the African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe (ADYNE). The seminar was held within the framework of the 12th University on Youth and Development. The seminar aimed at being a forum and space to discuss, identify and propose how African Diaspora youth in Europe can start to address the MDG agenda and come up with actions that can convert some of the aspirations and requirements to deliverables; and to develop a stronger and effective network of African Diaspora youth in Europe as part of the solution to the MDG agenda. Two preparatory meetings for this seminar were held in Lisbon, on 26 February and 6-8 May 2011.
. Call for participants
. Programme
. Publication: "From the Millenium Development Goals to the Millenium Development Wins"
Africa-Europe Youth Leader Seminar, 10-13 April 2011, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
The seminar took place at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa and focused on youth policies in the context of Africa-Europe youth co-operation. A preparatory meeting was held on 19 February 2011 in Lisbon.


. Presentation
. Conclusions
. Participants
. Programme
2nd African University on Youth and Development,  4-12 July 2010 (Cape Verde)
The Second African University on Youth and Development aimed at creating a space for debate and reflection; affirmative youth action and the promotion of youth policies; global education and awareness raising for development; training and non-formal education; as well as intercultural and inter-regional dialogue in the context of Euro-African youth co-operation. This activity was organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, under Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth, in co-operation with the Cape Verde Federation of Youth, the Portuguese National Youth Council, the Pan-African Youth Union, the European Youth Forum and the Youth Forum of Portuguese Speaking Countries.
. Presentation
 . Declaration
. Report

2nd Training Course for Youth Leaders of the African Diaspora Living in Europe, 4-12 July 2010 (Cape Verde)
The course took place in the framework of the 2nd African University on Youth and Development. It had similar programme elements as the first course and it had an important role in promoting greater synergies between people and youth organisations to further develop the networking and the African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe.
. Application form for trainers
. Call for participants
. Application form for participants

Long-Term Training Courses of Trainers for Trainers on Africa-Europe Youth Co-operation
In the framework of the EU-CoE Youth Partnership, the North-South Centre launched a long-term training course on Africa-Europe youth co-operation. A first seminar took place in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, on 12-19 July. The second and last residential seminar of the course took place in the framework of the 2nd African University on Youth and Development on 4-12 July in Cape Verde, and concluded a one-year training cycle for a group of 30 committed and qualified youth trainers. This cycle included the two residential seminars, a project implementation phase and a Learning Community Virtual Platform (LCVP). As result of this training process, the participating trainers created a community of trainers: Trainers for Africa Europe Co-operation, TAEC. The community of trainers continued the networking through the LCVP and by assisting in the facilitation process of the 2nd Africa Europe Youth Summit, as well as offering their expertise with respect to other youth-related activities.
. Presentation

7th Africa Europe Training Course for Youth Organisations, 23-30 May 2010, Polokwane, Limpopo (South Africa)
This training course was organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe within the framework of the Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth and in co-operation with the Africa Institute of South Africa, the European Youth Forum and the Pan African Youth Union. 35 European and African youth leaders and activists engaged in youth organisations participated in this event, which was aimed at promoting the capacity of youth organisations to take part in the EU-Africa Strategic Partnership and to prepare and give input to the second Africa-Europe Youth Summit in November 2010
. Presentation

Training Course for Youth Leaders of the African Diaspora Living in Europe, 6-12 December 2009, Almada, Lisbon (Portugal)

The training course offered the participants the opportunity to learn about the existence of different youth organisations, which involve in their strategies the African Youth Diasporas. The course was held in conjunction with other training activities organised by Portuguese National Youth Council. More than 60 representatives of youth organisations and youth groups from the African Diaspora living in Europe shared their common vision of Africa and Europe and discussing the challenges the Diaspora is facing and developing intercultural learning and inter-regional experiences.

. Conclusions
. List of participants
. Programme

 
6th Africa Europe Training Course for Youth Organisations, 12-19 June (Cape Verde)
 As part of the EU-CoE Youth Partnership between the Council of Europe and the European Commission and building on the success of the previous Africa-Europe training courses for youth organisations, the NSC organised the 6th Africa-Europe training course for 30 youth leaders from Africa and Europe. This course was implemented in a larger framework in parallel with other youth activities focusing on Africa-Europe youth co-operation; the 1st African University on Youth and Development.
. Call for participants
. Call for trainers
. Outcomes

1st African University on Youth and Development, 12-19 June, Tarrafal (Cape Verde)
In the framework of its Africa-Europe Youth Co-operation Programme, the North-South Centre launched the first African University on Youth and Development. more...
. Agenda
. Outcomes
. Final Declaration
 . Apresentação da Universidade Juventude & Desenvolvimento