International Conference on “Local democracy and youth”

Baku, Azerbaijan - 18 June 2014

Opening speech by Herwig van Staa, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Deputy Minister,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear colleagues,

It is a great pleasure for me to open this international conference on “Local Democracy and Youth” – a subject which is high on the political agenda of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. I should express our appreciation to the Azeri Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers for this initiative, which perfectly fits in the framework of the current Congress action.

Indeed, the Congress Bureau has decided that the theme for both Congress sessions this year will be “Empowering Youth: A Shared Responsibility for Cities and Regions”. During the session in March, we already had a number of thought-provoking debates with invited representative of youth organisations and young elected representatives – on the role of young people in democratic society, on lowering the voting age to 16, and on linking education and employment opportunities.


We will continue on this path during the Congress session in October. We are inviting young people from the 47 member states to participate in this session as part of their national Congress delegations, and to speak in debates on a par with Congress members.

Only last week, on 12 June, the Current Affairs Committee of the Congress organised a conference on youth participation at the grassroots, to discuss how we, local and regional elected representatives, can go beyond simple consultations with young people and make sure that their participation has a real impact on society. The Rapporteur on youth participation, Natalia PILIUS, will make a keynote speech on this subject later today, to present the results of the conference of 12 June. These results will contribute to a report on youth participation that Ms PILIUS is currently preparing. This report in itself follows on the Congress resolution and recommendation on “Youth and democracy: the changing face of youth political engagement”, adopted in 2012.

As you can see, the Congress is fully involved in this subject, which is the theme of our conference today. However, our focus on youth did not start only this year, or two years ago. Engaging young people in local democracy building, improving their situation and fostering their meaningful participation has been indeed a long-standing priority of the Congress.

More than 20 years ago, in 1992, the Congress proposed a European Charter on the participation of young people in municipal and regional life, which was adopted as a recommendation of the Committee of Ministers. The Charter was revised further in 2003, and the Revised Charter today serves as a main reference text and a practical tool for enabling youth participation in our communities. The definition of participation, formulated in the Preamble to the Charter, has also become a classic reference. I quote:

“Participation in the democratic life of any community is about more than voting or standing for election, although these are important elements. Participation and active citizenship is about having the right, the means, the space and the opportunity and where necessary the support to participate in and influence decisions and engage in actions and activities so as to contribute to building a better society.” End of quote. 

We in the Congress are convinced that local and regional authorities, as the authorities closest to young people, play a crucial role in promoting youth participation and involvement in the life of communities. This involvement is in itself a necessary condition for sustaining the democratic development of our municipalities and regions. At the same time, our understanding of youth participation goes beyond solely political involvement or participation in youth councils or parliaments, although these are very important mechanisms. In today’s digital age, in the era of social networks and new media, we must be looking at new ways of reaching young people, of making sure that their voices are heard, and that they are included in decision making which they can influence with their ideas and proposals.

And of course, we cannot overlook the fact that the economic and social situation of young people has been deteriorating sharply in many parts of Europe, because of the crisis. With youth unemployment exceeding 50 and even 60 per cent in some countries, with more young people becoming marginalised economically and socially (and I can refer in this regard, for example, to young Roma, who were the subject of another Congress debate in March), we cannot speak about their meaningful participation and engagement without addressing this precarious situation. The Congress has been contributing to this process through its participation in the ENTER! project of the Council of Europe, focusing on improving access of young people to their social rights. This action follows on the Congress’ resolution on the situation of young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, adopted in 2010, and will lead, we hope, to a Committee of Ministers recommendation in young people’s access to social rights.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A few minutes of the opening speech are not enough to highlight the broad range of issues which the theme of this conference entails. Nor is it enough to cover the range of the Congress’ involvement with these issues and its co-operation with European youth organisations to address them. I am sure that the speakers in today’s conference will elaborate on them in greater detail, and I look forward with great interest to our discussions. May this conference become another practical contribution to our joint efforts for empowering young people – empowering them to be fully fledged participants in the life of our municipalities and regions!

Thank you.