EU Congress “Children and young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods - new cohesion strategies”

Leipzig , 27 June 2007

Speech by Ulrich BOHNER, Secretary General

Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A great Russian novelist, Fyodor Dostoevsky, once wrote: "The whole world is not worth a single tear of a child”. These words were written more than a century ago – before the two World Wars, before the Bolshevik revolution and the Communist regimes, and before the triumph of democracy on this continent, which we are enjoying today.

Yet, despite our democratic achievements, we are here because the situation of children and young people in Europe, and in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in particular, urges us to act to prevent the persistent ill-treatment, abuse and violence against our younger generation, and to defend the children’s rights as human beings.

More often than not, the problems of disadvantaged neighbourhoods are linked to the lack of integration of their communities into the mainstream society, the integration of not only young people but, first and foremost, of their parents. This is where, for obvious reasons, municipalities have a key role to play.

The experts today note the spiral of social exclusion in European cities, a mismatch between education systems and labour markets, between housing and jobs, leading to a loss of individual and collective identity in communities and their greater dependence on social services.

Evidently, it is at local level where the opportunities and challenges of today present themselves directly. The effective implementation of integration policy is increasingly a matter for local authorities, and particularly so where there are higher concentrations of new citizens in the total population. The exchange of experience of successful integration policy is therefore of increasing importance for local authorities.  A good example is the initiative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe of the Council of Europe and the City of Stuttgart which jointly set-up in 2003 a loose network of local authorities: “Cities for Local Integration Policy” (CLIP). This network has three main objectives: to support the integration and participation of migrants; to create conditions leading to a peaceful coexistence and to use cultural diversity as a positive resource.

The network, which brings together 25 large European cities, operates in a modular way, covering all issues on the local level relevant to the integration of migrants. This would include, for example:

The Council of Europe Congress, which, in its Chamber of Local Authorities and Chamber of Regions brings together representatives of more than 200,000 territorial communities of its 47 member states, has been actively involved with the issue of integration and participation of people within Europe’s towns, cities and regions. 

In this respect, the Congress has promoted the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level. This Convention opens the possibility of creating consultative bodies at local level elected by the foreign residents in the local authority area or appointed by individual associations of foreign residents. The Convention also provides for granting every foreign resident the right to vote in local elections after five years of lawful and habitual residence in the host country, as well as to stand for election.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is clear that the role of the city in integrating migrants is fundamental.

The city has been called an “integration machine” and cities have certainly been historical stakeholders and actors in the field of integration of migrants, offering them manifold opportunities and also thriving on the new ideas and vitality they bring. Of course this is highly relevant for disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

This is why I welcome the timely initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to organise this EU Congress aimed at giving an overview of the most important national strategies contributing to the improvement of living conditions of children and  young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Addressing the issue of integration of young people in deprived urban areas and dealing with disadvantaged neighbourhoods is not an easy task. But unless we are able to develop solutions to this complex issue, our societies will suffer from major shortcomings, disruptions, conflicts, some of which can already be observed today.

The responsibility borne by each of the partners or players and the different approaches and decisions is an ongoing process of networking to be further developed.

The concept of partnership of players involved in the integration process, which are national governments, local authorities, mediators, families, young people themselves, as well as youth organisations and NGOs, is increasingly put forward as a solution to restore a more balanced relationship between those who suffer from social and economic inequalities and the rest of society.

This is especially true in the case of such a complex phenomenon as the urban “ghettos”.

Here we find dilapidated housing – often the only housing available to immigrants, many single-parent families, unskilled or unemployed people.

Some urban renewal schemes in cities have led to displacements of people who do not have a sufficient income enabling them to afford decent housing conditions.

Divisions have thus emerged between “difficult” neighbourhoods and the rest of the city: they manifest themselves through “invisible walls” of fear and distrust which frequently take the form of visual violence such as gestures, words and actions from both sides.

To break down these “invisible walls” and make “silent voices” of minority groups be heard, you have to assert yourself. Violence is often perceived as a means of achieving more visibility for the lack of social consideration which young people are facing in the media and in the society as a whole.  But there are also other, less discussed forms of violence (for example sexual violence or intimidation), inflicted on girls which does exist, but is ignored all too often.

The facts are clear: violence is increasing, especially among young people, in countries where the economic transition has weakened institutions and thrown whole families into poverty, leaving them disoriented and often without real prospects for the future.

However, we still notice disagreement among political, institutional leaders and analysts over the relative importance of the root causes of this increasing violence.

Individual factors such as the influence of biological and psychological characteristics on innate or acquired personality traits, or relational factors, such as the influence of the family, are often given priority when developing strategies to tackle the phenomenon. Societal factors such as income inequalities, poor vocational skills, the lack of regular, decently paid employment, lousy housing, poor education are too often neglected in these strategies. 

This is especially alarming considering the discrepancy between the promises of success offered by some populist politicians or the promises made that advancement through education will constitute an overall remedy. The growing precariousness of everyday existence combined with the increasingly obvious inequalities of status and opportunity between neighbouring areas, constitutes a phenomenon which contributes to feelings of anger or even hatred among young people and thus engenders outbreaks of violence in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

What triggers violence is the breakdown of bonds of social trust, the loss of a sense of identity and dignity, of shared values and community, and the lack of prospects for the future that could help to overcome such an unsatisfactory and difficult situation.

Looking at the various national strategies to combat youth violence and promote integration, which should not be confused with assimilation, we often find ourselves torn between “targeted” integration policies and “law and order” policies, placing particular emphasis on the offences committed and sometimes creating confusion between delinquency, individual responsibility and social phenomena.

The social environment should not serve as an excuse for the use of violence, but must assist political decision-markers in understanding the problems of the deadlock, which young people are facing in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.  The future of these young people is often deprived of any realistic perspective of joining a process which could allow them to become an integral part of society.

The key issue is: first to understand before condemning outbreaks of violence and following the logic of repression.

Repression will not help to fight the root causes many young people are confronted with. Repression should only be used if all other policy instruments have been used and have not been successful in deescalating violent behaviour, as a kind of “ultima ratio” of public policies, or to counterbalance immediate threats to life, physical integrity, public or private property.

We need a so-called “integrated approach” combing means and efforts at all levels of society. This “all inclusive approach” is the only hope towards integration of large numbers of young people in what we can hopefully still consider as “normal” society.

Here are some key approaches which have been applied so far in some European States:

Approaches based on “employment insertion” or “ownership” of initiatives in the private sector (to propose a way out of public space, often the only space made available to young people from deprived neighbourhoods), is sometimes badly perceived by the young people themselves, as the public authorities often impose certain structures and activities which have been elaborated and set up without the concrete involvement of the young people really concerned by the projects.

In the UK a so-called “targeted” policy for “urban regeneration” has already been adopted and pursued since the early 1990s.

This policy combines actions in the fields of social housing, health care and crime prevention with those of educational achievement and employment. The strategy tried to cope with the influence of ”gangs”, erosion of social networks, socio-economical changes, and the changing role of the family.

While showing the difficulty of building a real coherent strategy for addressing such a complex issue, the approaches illustrate a series of initiatives taken at European level to incorporate significant elements in terms of dialogue, recognition of identities and mediation of conflicts.

Although these approaches are necessary they are likely to be insufficient until a convincing solution is found to the central dilemma:

What is the place of disaffiliated, disadvantaged youth in our contemporary society?

The stakes are very high in terms of cohesion, equality and democracy:

Citizenship cannot be founded on social uselessness.

This is a fundamental social issue: it concerns the pillars which will have to underpin European societies in the future.

We cannot develop a sense of belonging, when nothing belongs to us, and no democratic exercise is possible without a sense of belonging.

It is our task to offer young people a perspective allowing them to feel as part of our common society. The Congress to which we are contributing jointly here in Leipzig will offer an occasion to exchange on good practices to further develop such policies.

Responsibility goes hand in hand with ownership. Being part of a community where personal commitment and contributions are taken into account replaces the feeling of uselessness and the fear of becoming a marginal element of society, having no impact on the development of that society.

We have to review, in the light of these questions, our approaches within the educational systems that leave the individual alone to fight for self-affirmation. Without helping the persons concerned to qualify for programmes and activities, people from disadvantaged areas often perceive them as being miles away from their everyday life and completely inaccessible. These efforts must start, as early as possible, with what we call “Kitas” in Germany or Kindergartens in England.

To help us find our way through these complex phenomena I would like to invite you to have a closer look at a comparative analysis of integration policies carried out on behalf of the Council of Europe’s Social Cohesion Development Division in six European cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, Naples, Moscow and Sofia.

I hope theses findings will provide some “food for thought” so that we can pool our resources and experiences together for the benefit of those vulnerable groups which are eager to find their way out of the deadlock they feel they are trapped in, and become actors, rather than spectators, who can contribute to the development of the society they live in.

This means abandoning the idea of integration as a more or less authoritarian process aimed at a change of identity, in favour of the idea of social construction within a community by giving it the ownership of the process toward integration so that youngsters themselves may feel able to take their destiny in their own hands.

To accept that the issue of integration of young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods should be a complex, cross-sector issue calling for a questioning of theories as there are no ready-made solutions or miracle practices.

We must embark on a process of trial and error where practice fuels theory, and theory in return must help improve practice;

In the same spirit, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has adopted, in a common effort together with the Youth Organisations represented within Council of Europe co-management structures, and in particular the joint Youth Council, a revised European Charter on the participation of young people in local and regional life, with the goal to produce a more user and youth friendly version of this text.

The Charter lays down some guiding principles to make it easier for young people to take part in decisions affecting them.

Another example of the work of the Council of Europe Congress in respect of young people of immigrant origin in towns and regions, aimed at encouraging them to participate at the local and regional level, is  Resolution 181 (2004), adopted during the Congress Plenary Session in 2004, dealing with “A pact for the integration and participation of people of immigrant origin in Europe’s towns, cities and regions”.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to highlight a few principles to be kept in mind when defining “New Cohesion Strategies for Children and Young People in Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods”.

I think we all agree that there is a need for increased co-operation between all levels of government to define a coherent framework for legal and orderly immigration, while effectively combating illegal immigration that encourages trafficking in, and exploitation of, human beings.

I am convinced that we have to present to the public a different vision of what migration entails and the opportunities which are derived from migration.

We should make it very clear that migratory flows foster the diversity and the vitality of our cities and bring clear advantages to be identified in terms of demographic, economic and cultural spheres. These advantages go hand in hand with the capacity and the political willingness to take up challenges in terms of integrating of the individuals concerned and ensuring the harmonious co-existence of different cultural and religious groups in European societies.

We all are convinced that the integration of people of immigrant origin, often grouped in disadvantaged urban areas, is a shared responsibility that demands national and European solidarity to enable the local and regional players most affected by migration flows to perform.

I believe that integration programmes must be aimed both at the effective integration of people of immigrant origin already settled and wishing to remain in the local and regional frame as well as at putting in place specific measures for the integration of new arrivals.

I even want to go one step further, I believe that equality of opportunities for young people, with an immigration background, but living now in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, can only be achieved through positive discrimination measures in a series of specific areas, which demand adequate human and financial resources. 

It is necessary to assign high political priority to these issues and involve all players at local level in a genuine “pact for integration”.

Only if an adequate national and European legal framework is provided by the authorities, if corresponding means are made available and put at the disposal of the competent authorities at local level and regional level, the combination of financial and human resources, political will and motivation, expertise and skills is achieved – only then a difference can be made, only then we do have a realistic chance to make substantial progress for the benefit of the young people concerned and society as a whole.

We need to pull our forces together, to combine all available resources to achieve our common goal of coming closer to a more democratic and a more cohesive and inclusive society from which all our children and all our young people will benefit.

They are our future, investing in them is the only relevant investment to secure the future of our societies.