International Conference on “Local democracy and youth”

Baku, Azerbaijan - 18 June 2014

Speech by Nataliia Pilius, Congress Rapporteur on youth participation

Youth participation in public life: engaging young people in democracy

Ladies and Gentlemen!

The aim of this conference is to take a look at “local democracy and youth”.  It is quite fitting that the Congress is a partner in this event as the Congress firmly believes that young people, as citizens in the towns and regions where they live, have an important role to play in the development of a democratic society and in promoting the fundamental democratic principles which are the Council of Europe’s mission. When young people play this role, they gain understanding and insight into political life and democratic procedures which in turn enables them to promote these democratic values.

It is clear that democratic principles must be firmly embedded at national and international levels. However, genuine democracy is built first and foremost at the grassroots level, from the bottom up. Citizens gain their first democratic experience as young people at that level and it is there that they learn about, and interact the most with democratic structures. This is why youth participation in democracy is crucial. At the same time, effective participation can only be achieved if the political will exists and if elected representatives are committed to developing a permanent dialogue with them. The local and regional elected representatives who make up the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe firmly believe in the importance of the participation of young people.

The Congress’s understanding of youth participation embraces more than the sole idea of political involvement or participation in youth councils or parliaments. To participate means having influence on and responsibility for decisions and actions that affect the lives of young people. And our Revised European Charter on the participation of young people in local and regional life states that participation applies to ALL young people, from all walks of life, regardless of their social and/or ethnic origins, without discrimination.

In 2012, the Congress decided to take a look at claims that young people have disengaged from democratic and civic behaviour, claims based on the fact that many no longer vote nor join political parties.  Our report showed that, contrary to popular belief, young people’s democratic values are still strong.  Young people are still engaging today but they use different forms of democratic activities to do so.  They use social media, online petitions, or demonstrations.  They use methods and tools which are appropriate to their own understanding of democracy and citizenship.  The explanation for this is that they live in a society in which many of them feel marginalised from the political process.  Over the past few years, there have been numerous protests and riots in many European countries and these can be seen as young people’s answer to a political system that they feel does not give them their share of power and full citizenship, and which they also see as corrupt and unfair. Young people have found other ways to make their voices heard.

The Congress firmly believes that young people’s voices must be not only heard, but also heeded.  If young people do not want to participate because they feel marginalised from the political system, then we must ensure that the instruments they use to get their views across become the instruments we use to promote that participation.  Only when we take heed of their needs and adapt our policies to take into account their views will young people feel included.  Young people will be motivated to participate if we make use of their means of expressing themselves.

This is why I decided the Congress needed to take a new look at youth participation: we need to know which instruments young people are using to have their say so that local and regional councils and parliaments can tap into these tools.  Only this way can we develop a youth participation culture whereby young people are allowed and encouraged not only to express their opinions but also to participate fully in policy and decision making to bring about actual change in society.  I proposed a new report to explore precisely these questions.

To help gather information for my report, the Congress Current Affairs Committee organised a conference last week entitled “It’s not just about consultation: How can local and regional authorities promote youth participation that leads to a real impact on society?”.

Why did we give this title to this conference?  There are many different interpretations of the concept of “youth participation”.  These vary from manipulation and tokenism, which is non-participation, through to activities which are youth-initiated and directed, which is participation.

Local and regional authorities have different interpretations of what youth participation is and, unfortunately, some of us our guilty of engaging in non-participation.  Inviting a group of young people along to the launch of a new swimming pool, placing them next to the mayor while the press takes photographs, but having at no stage asked them if they wanted a swimming pool‑ perhaps they would have preferred a youth centre...  That is manipulation. Asking young people whether they want a swimming pool or a youth centre, but then building a swimming pool regardless of the outcome of the poll, that is also non-participation.

And that is why our conference had this title: because it’s not just about consultation.  Participation means to be consulted, but also to be involved, to have tasks to do, to share and take responsibility.  It means to have access and to be included.  Youth participation is about forming opinions, being allowed to express them, act on them and to bring about a positive change in society thanks to those opinions.

Inviting young people to join in the discussions as to what the municipality should build to meet society’s needs, giving them their say in the realisation of the project and its future use, and taking those opinions fully into consideration to build the result, that is participation.

The Council of Europe is committed to fostering real youth participation and its youth sector operates through a system of co-management, that is to say representatives from youth NGOs sit down in committees with governmental officials to define the priorities for the youth sector and to make budgetary recommendations.  This is real participation in action.  Young people express their opinions, debate with government officials, arrive at a consensus and then take responsibility for implementing the conclusions.  Our fellow speaker here today, FarhadHajiyev has much experience of this co-management system as he represents Azerbaijan on the governmental committee.

And this is what we want to achieve at local and regional levels, in the 200,000 municipalities and regions across Europe.  We want to offer young people opportunities to enter into a structured dialogue and to participate in politics and policy making by setting up joint decision-making mechanisms, adapted to local realities, in the form of joint councils composed of elected local/regional councillors and youth representatives.

During our conference last week, we confronted our, that is to say that of local and regional elected councillors’understanding of youth participation with that of the youth representatives present.  It was an interesting experience, and unfortunately, we did not escape criticism...

Thanks to the different discussions and opinions expressed last week, I will now be able to start work on my report which I aim to finish in time for the Congress to examine it in October 2015.  I invite all local and regional authorities from the 47 Council of Europe member states to implement the recommendations I will make.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention.