Strasbourg, 05.10.2012 -"As a parliamentarian, I attach a great deal of importance to political participation by young people. It is vital to make political mandates accessible to the younger generation, at both national and European level, in order to reduce young people's distrust of political leaders. But that is not enough: participatory democracy mechanisms also need to be developed, formal and informal, so that it is possible for all interested young people to play their part in the decision-making process", said Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), speaking today at the opening of the Youth Assembly in the PACE Chamber in Strasbourg.

"Following the first 'Youth Assembly', held in 1999, when the Council of Europe was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, I am proud to have introduced this initiative, especially as the recommendations that you are going to adopt will be considered by the participants in next week’s World Forum for Democracy, a major event in which forty of you will have an opportunity to participate".

"It is the younger generations which often suffer most from the intolerance and discrimination that stem from stigmatisation", declared Thorbjørn Jagland as the Youth Assembly officially opened on Friday.

170 young people have come together at the Council of Europe for the three-day Youth Assembly 2012, so as to discuss subjects relating to youth and democracy, including religion, globalisation, the new social networks, access to social rights, migration, the inclusion of minorities and citizenship education.

The Council of Europe has been participating in youth projects for over forty years and recently finalised an innovative project to combat hate speech on line.

Speech by Jean-Claude Mignon
Speech by Thorbjørn Jagland