The Joint Council on Youth in Budapest

This week the Council of Europe held its first bi-annual meeting with the Advisory Council and the Joint Council on Youth. The meeting took place in Budapest during the 20th Anniversary of the European Youth Centre. Government and youth representatives discussed issues such as youth participation, cooperation with Russia and Ukraine, youth work and young people’s access to rights. There was also a thematic debate about young people and their mental health.

The meeting concluded with budgetary allocations that will fund the three main priorities of the youth sector of the Council of Europe. These priorities include advancing democratic citizenship through innovative forms of participation, autonomy of young people and their access to rights and promoting inclusive and peaceful societies.

The Joint Council on Youth allows young people to be included in the decision-making on policies on an equal basis. This process is called “co-management.” The Joint Council on Youth is made up of 30 youth representatives from the Advisory Council and government representatives from member states of the Council of Europe. The European Youth Forum has an observer status and is contributing to and supporting the selection of members of the Advisory Council to ensure that the voice of young people is properly heard. The Youth Forum will elect 20 new members for the Advisory Council 2016-2017 at this year’s Council of Members taking place in Brussels this week.

The European Youth Forum looks forward to the elections of the new Advisory Council and hopes that the next bi-annual meeting in October at the European Youth Centre Strasbourg will build on the success of this week’s meeting.