The North South Centre is an enlarged partial agreement of the Council of Europe created in 1989 to spread the values of the Council of Europe– human rights, democracy and the rule of law –  beyond the European continent.

The Centre empowers civil society, in particular youth and women, through intercultural dialogue and global citizenship education, to play an active role in CoE Member States and neighbouring regions, under the principles of dialogue, partnership, solidarity and global interdependence.

These principles are put into practise through a bottom-up work approach which entails three specific courses of action undertaken by the Centre:

• Advocacy: the push for the implementation of recommendations
• Capacity-building: the transfer of knowledge through educators and peers
• Awareness raising: contributing to the reflection and understanding of each individual’s role within a global interconnected society

This work is thus translated into cross-cutting activities fulfilling the mission of the Centre and spreading the CoE’s standards.

The North-South Centre focuses on four priority areas:

1. Global Education: this programme brings together different stakeholders to strengthen global development education through intercultural learning, dialogue and networking in Council of Europe member states and neighbouring regions.
    
2. Youth Co-operation: this programme provides training and capacity building for young people and youth organisations and facilitates their participation in decision and policy making.
    
3. Empowerment of Women: this programme aims at empowering and protecting women at all levels of society, through the promotion and dissemination of Council of Europe tools, in particular in the southern and eastern Mediterranean regions.
    
4. Migration: The North-South Centre works with different actors from origin, transit and destination countries, in particular their diasporas, in order to contribute to a collective response and successful integration of migrants and refugees.

The North-South Centre develops multilateral activities responding mainly to four priority areas: global education, youth cooperation, empowerment of women and migration. To do so, it uses the quadrilogue methodology, a platform for dialogue and structured cooperation between stakeholders (governments, parliaments, regional and local authorities, CSOs).

The North-South Centre currently has 20 member states: Andorra, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Holy See, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Spain and Tunisia.

According to the statutory resolution of the North-South Centre, member states of the Council of Europe are invited to become members of the Centre.  A member state may join at any time by notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Other states may be invited to accede to the Centre by a decision of the Committee of Ministers taken by the majority provided for in Article 20. of the Statute of the Council of Europe and by the unanimous vote of the representatives of the member states of the Centre entitled to sit on the Committee after consulting the other members of the Centre.

The European Union is invited to join the Centre.

The North-South Centre is an instrument for multilateral cooperation of the CoE policy towards its neighbouring regions, therefore it was set up as an ‘Enlarged Partial Agreement’, allowing states that are not members of the Council of Europe to join.

Global Education ‘aims at enabling learners to understand world issues while empowering them with knowledge, skills, values and attitudes desirable for world citizens to face global problems’ (Global Education Guidelines, 2010). It strives to provide us with the tools we need to be able to face today’s challenges and gives us the competences that are called for when it comes to solving global problems.

Therefore, GE aims at forming active global citizens, who are able to think critically, and understand the complexity and the diversity of perspectives which underlie most global problems.

The iLegend is a joint programme between the European Union and the Council of Europe. Meaning ‘Intercultural Learning Exchange through Global Education, Networking and ‘Dialogue’, its objective is to foster inclusive and equitable quality education that promotes peaceful and inclusive societies, mainly through global development education and intercultural dialogue. Activities of the Global Education Programme are co-funded by the Civil Society and Local Authorities Programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe.

The North-South Prize distinguishes each year two personalities, one from the north, one from the south, who have excelled in their commitment to human rights, democracy and rule of law, by contributing to the north-south dialogue, fostering solidarity, promoting interdependence and creating partnerships.

In accordance with the Regulations of the North-South Prize , an organisation or individual may submit nominations, and in particular, the following institutions and individuals are encouraged to do so:

• Member States of the North-South Centre;
• Member States of the Council of Europe;
• Other North-South Centre stakeholders and partners;
• Former winners of the North-South Prize;
• International Organisations.

Nominations should be addressed to the North-South Centre Secretariat, in English or French, providing the identification of the nominees, details regarding their achievements and the relevant supporting documents, namely motivation letters.

After the application process, the Laureates are selected by a jury. The Jury is presided by the Chair of the North-South Centre Executive Committee and is made up of members of the Bureau of the North-South Centre and a representative of the North-South Centre‘s host country, if the country’s representative is not a Bureau member.

The selection procedure can be consulted in the North-South Prize regulations.

The Lisbon Forum is a high-level conference organised annually since 1994 by the North-South Centre, bringing together representatives of the quadrilogue from Europe, neighbouring regions and international organisations.

Themes of the Forum are closely related to the mission of the North-South Centre.