The Council of Europe and Young people
The Council of Europe wants to encourage more young people to get actively involved in strengthening civil society in Europe and to defend the values of human rights, cultural diversity and social cohesion. It also wants to promote and develop youth policies, putting special emphasis on the participation of young people. The Youth Department already regularly brings together young people, youth associations and networks, government agencies and experts for discussions and feedback on current policies and future objectives. It also encourages the development of youth associations, networks and initiatives, and promotes international co-operation.
The Council of Europe's commitment to fostering greater youth participation can be demonstrated through its system of co-management. This involves representatives from youth non-governmental organisations (NGOs) sitting down in committees with government officials who together then work out the priorities for the youth sector and make recommendations for future budgets and programmes. These proposals are then adopted by the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe's decision-making body.
The Council of Europe has set the following programme in the youth sector for the period 2010 to 2012, under the heading:
“Developing European youth co-operation through youth policy, youth work and non-formal education/learning”
(project number 4 concerns mainly intergovernmental co-operation).
Project N°1
“Human rights and democracy: youth policy and youth work promoting the core values of the Council of Europe”
Project N° 2
“Living together in diverse societies: youth policy and youth work promoting intercultural dialogue”
Project N° 3
“Social inclusion of young people”
Project N° 4
“Policy approaches and instruments benefiting young people and children”
detailed projects…
These projects are pursued through activities ranging from training courses, study sessions, intercultural language courses, seminars, expert meetings and research, publications and advice on youth policy development. The European Youth Centres in Strasbourg and Budapest and the European Youth Foundation all play a vital role in implementing these activities through seminars, training courses and visits by experts to specific countries.
Information
The Youth Department produces a number of PR materials, available on request at youth@coe.int . Below you will find links to pdf versions of this material:
[01/10/2012] |
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