During the meeting of its statutory forum (12 February 2021), the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities attested to its conviction that young people are powerful agents for change and that youth work makes an important contribution to allowing them to fulfil this role by adopting two texts on youth work at local and regional levels.
In Resolution 463(2021), the Congress recognises that local and regional authorities must support young people so that they can achieve their full potential as autonomous members of society and exercise their democratic citizenship. It also states that these authorities are primarily responsible for successfully implemented youth work.
In order to meet these responsibilities, the Congress calls on local and regional authorities to invest sufficient resources, both human and financial, in youth work, both when provided by them and by NGOs. It also urges authorities to integrate a future-proofing approach into their planning, with procedures to regularly assess the impact of legislation, policies and activities related to youth work, keeping in mind the well-being of young generations.
In its Recommendation 450(2021), the Congress also appealed to member states to support local authorities to apply for the Council of Europe quality label for youth centres and to implement the Committee of Ministers’ recommendation CM/Rec(2017)4 on youth work in their countries, thereby also supporting youth work at the local level.
These texts are the result of fruitful co-operation between the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) and the Congress Spokesperson on Youth.
