Members of the new Advisory Council on Youth met in Strasbourg at the end of January for training. This included also a session organised by the European Youth Forum on youth policy in Europe, meant to prepare AC members for their mandate over the next two years within Council of Europe.
The three priorities of the Youth sector in 2016-2017 will be: democratic citizenship, autonomy and access to rights, as well as inclusive and peaceful societies.
The AC is composed of 30 youth representatives, 20 of whom were elected among Member Organisations of the European Youth Forum (YFJ). Charlotte Klinting from AFS Denmark, member of the EFIL’s Pool of Representatives, has been elected among these. The other 10 representatives are nominated by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe among youth organisations that are not members of the YFJ.
The AC will co-decide about youth policies of the Council of Europe along with representatives of European governments. This arrangement is a unique policy-making structure, which puts young people at the decision-making table.
The AC is meeting for the first statutory session on 21st -23rd March in Strasbourg.
To learn more about the Advisory Council on Youth as well as the Youth Department of the Council of Europe visit here.
For more: elisa.briga@afs.org