The European Youth Centre in Strasbourg hosted a meeting of the drafting group for the CMJ guidelines on young people's participation on May 25-26, 2023. The guidelines focus on two documents: Congress Resolution 152 (2003) on the revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life and CM Recommendation (2006)14 on citizenship and participation of young people in public life. These important documents require renewed attention due to changing conditions, such as crises in the financial, health, and security fields, as well as technological advancements.
The guidelines recognise the ongoing need to encourage young people's active, creative, and productive participation in local, regional, and national contexts, which goes beyond simply soliciting their opinions. Their aim is to provide clearer guidance and concrete examples of good practices to help member states and other relevant actors achieve this goal as well as help youth organisations access Council of Europe policies that directly affect them.
The objectives of the Guidelines are to:
- explore the roles played by young people and youth activists in promoting and fostering youth participation;
- identify the obstacles and barriers young people encounter in their efforts to promote and foster youth participation;
- reflect on policies and tools member states sh/could put in place to facilitate young people’s meaningful contribution to public life;
- explore positive examples of mechanisms that promote youth participation in policy development and decision-making.
The drafting group is composed of two Advisory Council members, two members of the European Steering Committee for Youth and a representative of the European Youth Forum. In May's meeting, five additional experts on youth participation and youth activists were also included. Over the course of two days, the participants focused on the content of the CMJ guidelines, emphasising the developments of the last two decades since the adoption of the CM Recommendation and Congress Resolution.
