Meeting in the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg on 16 and 17 October, the co-managed Joint Council on Youth will be both looking to the past and to the future. As the end of the year approaches, the Joint Council will assess the implementation of the 2018-19 priorities and of the recommendations on youth work, access to rights and to social rights, the so-called Enter! recommendation before moving on to agree on the priorities for the new biennium 2020-21. Looking even further forward, the Joint Council will also decide on the next steps for the youth sector’s new strategy 2020-30.

Reviewing the achievements and lessons learnt of the widely followed No Hate Speech Movement Campaign, the Joint Council will discuss how this experience could inform the Council of Europe’s future action to combat hate speech. And after several months of drafting and consultation, the Joint Council members will take a final look at their draft text on supporting young refugees on transition to adulthood but not until they have heard from the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Tomáš Boček.

This 39th meeting will be the first opportunity for the new Director of Democratic Participation, Matjaž Gruden, to exchange views with the Joint Council since his nomination last June, and the Joint Council will also welcome the Secretary of State of Portugal for Youth to hear about preparations for the World Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth.