This years´ Council of Members meeting of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) took place in Madrid on the 26th and 27th of November. EFIL was represented by its permanent representative to the YFJ, Alexandra Singpiel (AFS Germany).
Apart from several resolutions already on the agenda before the meeting, an urgent resolution concerning the aftermath of the terror attacks around the world was brought in, calling on political leaders not to answer violence with violence and recognizing the value of youth organizations in creating a diverse, inclusive and respectful society.
The resolutions that were put on the table beforehand, were all approved, following several amendments, which shows high participation from YFJ Member organisations. In particular:
- The resolution dealing with the vision of European youth for COP21 called on governments to commit to a binding agreement to adequately mitigate and adapt to climate change by involving also young people was dealt with.
- The resolution demanding the protection and integration of young refugees in Europe by amongst others a common EU policy on asylum, the abolition of detention of young and minor refugees and the establishment of a civil, European sea rescue operation.
- The resolution called “Students at Risk”, ensuring the YFJ’s support for this project which aims at protecting students expelled from higher education due to their activism in their countries, by bringing them to Europe to finish their higher education. Besides,
- The resolution presented by several NGOs, among which EFIL, to ensure better access to EU funding for youth organisations in order to strengthen them.
- The resolution dealing with the next Structured Dialogue cycle on the topic ’Enabling All Young People to Engage in a Diverse, connected and inclusive Europe’. Structured dialogue is a process EFIL has been taking part for three years now, it is a tool of the EU that provides young people with the opportunity to discuss their priorities for youth policy and to assess current policies.
EFIL also co-organised a Thematic square with ESU, EEE-YFU, ESN, YEU on the topic “Inclusive education in the Post-Paris agenda”.
Alexandra Singpiel
For more information: elisa.briga@afs.org