Friday, 19th November 2010

YFJ General Assembly: My Election Speech

Dear delegates, chères amis,

First of all I want to express my gratitude to my nominating organisations for their support and would like to thank all my friends for encouraging me to stand here before you today as a candidate for the position of YFJ president.

Ever since I visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories as a volunteer in a youth camp back in 1999 I followed Mahatma Gandhi's words: “be the change you want to see in the world”. After eight years of involvement in European youth work and youth policy I believe I have the knowledge, skills, experience and motivation to step up my commitment and serve the YFJ as its humble president.

In the last four years in which I've been active in the YFJ I've seen a lot of good things being done towards improving the internal and external work of the platform. For this I want to thank Bettina and Tine and their respective teams for doing a good job.

But regardless of how well an organisation is doing there is always room for improvement. And if elected President I want to build on the good work done and enable young people to be the change they want to see.
The first crucial issue I want to focus on is organisational culture. YFJ's organisational culture needs to be build on equal participation, open, transparent, inclusive and democratic decision-making processes and promotion of cooperation and mutual respect at all levels.

By equal participation I mean equality between member organisations in terms of access to information and means of participation. But also creating the possibility of greater involvement of MOs by using their experience for the work of YFJ without taking over their sphere of influence and work. If elected president I want to make sure that everyone can participate to the fullest extent possible in the YFJ’s work and policy discussions, regardless of the size of the organisation or whether it has a full-time staff or not. In practice this also means providing support where needed to enable this equal participation.

The second crucial issue I want to focus on is how the YFJ can bring added value to its members and young people in Europe by being a strong advocate on their behalf. An important added value of the YFJ lies in offering all its members a chance to voice their concerns and gain access to advocacy possibilities at European level, for example on the EU2020 strategy or the future YiA programme.

The YFJ has proven to be a strong and credible advocate on the underlying and cross-cutting issues shared by all its members. I believe that youth participation, youth volunteering and the rights and well-being of young people are such underlying issues of our work and key areas that concern every single one of us in this room.

Participation is key. Be it in the existing form of the co-management system in the Council of Europe as the highest level of participation of young people in decision-making. Be it in the institutionalised structured dialogue within the EU youth field. Or be it by lowering the voting age to 16. I want to focus on how the YFJ can use the available tools to best take advantage of them as well as change and improve them when needed to achieve our set goals.

I believe volunteering is the oxygen for youth NGOs to breathe and flourish. Therefore we should make the most out of the 2011 European Year of Volunteering and the 10th anniversary of the UN International Year on Volunteering properly, using the momentum to advocate for better recognition of youth volunteering and non-formal education and informal learning that accompany it.

Regardless of what the outcomes of the discussions on youth rights are, there are important areas of work that correspond to the needs of young people and our MOs, which need YFJ's full attention: youth employment, quality education, securing of funds at European level for youth organisations and youth-led projects and full recognition of non-formal education and of youth organisations as providers of these skills.

I'm convinced that developing youth perspectives on all issues that concern and affect young people's lives should remain in the forefront of our efforts in trying to make Europe a better place for young people. In this respect I believe the YFJ needs to be an agenda-setter towards institutions and if elected I will make sure that the YFJ will be a strong stakeholder in setting those agendas.
To achieve it advocacy will be crucial. I believe that my experience of having worked in the European youth political and policy field from a non-partisan perspective and cooperating with all colours of the political spectrum can be of an advantage. But in order to successfully advocate for something, we all need to pull at the same end of the rope.

In practice this can be achieved with a professional and accessible YFJ Secretariat and its Policy and Advocacy Department and a more strategic involvement of MOs where they have the expertise and lobbying experiences - we must capitalise on the assets we have.
The time of fighting for the right of young people to be heard is by no means over. But in areas where it has been achieved it is time to move on to the next step: focusing on what we want to say as a platform, what added value we can bring and what YFJ can make itself indispensable in. The YFJ is and has to remain the one organisation in Europe legitimately speaking on behalf of young people.
To conclude, I want to ensure that YFJ is a platform for exchange, a support mechanism for the members relying on it and a single channel for advocating youth issues at European level.

By setting up a proper team-work spirit, by leading and motivating a team of dedicated volunteers that this GA will elect, by keeping the big picture in mind, by being aware of all the facts and by keeping the focus and guaranteeing continuity of action, by keeping little distance between the leadership and the members and by working closely together with member organisations I want to ensure the YFJ does that in a way that we can all feel ownership of the work done.

Allow me to finish with the most important principle we have: work done “by young people, for young people and with young people”. In this respect the path that we walk on is as important as the goal we are trying to achieve. And with your help and support I promise to do my best in ensuring that the YFJ reaches its goals by walking up the right path.

Thank you! Merci bien.
Wednesday, 17th November 2010

Let the the YFJ General Assembly in Kyiv begin!

After months of campaigning and five weeks of blogging, tweeting and exchanging views with YFJ member organisations in person, via email, phone and even Facebook messages it is now time for the big showdown in Ukraine's capital Kyiv.

There are still many topics concerning young people in Europe I wished I had the time to explore on this blog, such as the question of youth employment, multiple discrimination, intergenerational dialogue, demographic change, migration, poverty, the millennium development goals (MDGs) and many more. The list can never be properly exhausted but I hope that with the blog entries I did make I managed to spark some interest, provided some food for thought and shade some light and my perspective on the topics discussed.
I'm very glad that the readership of the blog surpassed 3000 visitors in a relatively short time but I was hoping for more direct feedback and debate being developed via comments.

As of this afternoon I will be in Kyiv at the General Assembly of the European Youth Forum and available to answer any questions in person. Feel free to approach me!

Safe trip to everyone coming to Kyiv and see you there!

Saturday, 13th November 2010

Non-formal education: the added value we've got!

In my nine years of youth work involvement I've been regularly confronted with the question why am I spending my spare time involved in youth organisations and their activities. Bottom line was that most people thought that I was wasting my time trying to save the world instead of focusing on finishing my studies and getting a real job. My usual answer was that I'm actually gaining a lot of valuable experience by being involved in youth organisations and that thanks to the non-formal education - of which youth organisations are the main providers - I've managed to gain competences and skills I didn't get in my formal education.

Let us first have a quick look back in history to see when it all started and  the categorisation of education that emerged. Non-formal education became part of the international discourse on education policy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There was concern about unsuitable curricula; a realization that educational growth and economic growth were not necessarily in step, and that jobs did not emerge directly as a result of educational inputs. Some forty years later some of these challenges still persist.

At around the same time there were moves in UNESCO toward lifelong education and notions of 'the learning society' which culminated in Learning to Be ('The Faure Report', UNESCO 1972). What emerged from these debates was the following definition of and distinction between the three different types of education:
  • Formal education: the hierarchically structured, chronologically graded 'education system', running from primary school through the university and including, in addition to general academic studies, a variety of specialised programmes and institutions for full-time technical and professional training.
  • Informal education: the truly lifelong process whereby every individual acquires attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience and the educative influences and resources in his or her environment - from family and neighbours, from work and play, from the market place, the library and the mass media.
  • Non-formal education: any organised educational activity outside the established formal system - whether operating separately or as an important feature of some broader activity - that is intended to serve identifiable learning clienteles and learning objectives.
Non-Formal Education (NFE), and the increase in its recognition, has been a top priority for the European Youth Forum (YFJ). It should continue to be so in the coming years until we achieve our aim: full recognition of NFE and ensuring sufficient financial support to youth organisations as the main providers of NFE activities.

The YFJ has already developed an extensive policy documentation and studies on the topic, most notably the study entitled Building Bridges for Learning – the Recognition and Value of Non-Formal Education from 1999, the policy paper on Youth organisations as non-formal educators – recognising our role [0618-03], the policy paper on Recognition of non-formal education: Confirming the real competencies of young people in the knowledge society [0716-05] and the policy paper on Non-Formal Education: A framework for indicating and assuring quality [0009-08].

It is important to remind ourselves that as youth organisations we are the prime providers of NFE and as such also responsible to ensure the quality of learning in the activities we provide. In the past two years the YFJ has been advocating for a quality assurance framework and defined a set of quality indicators as well as an objective of establishing a European Quality Assurance framework for NFE by 2015. An important YFJ activity linked to this process has been the annual Dialogue on NFE event, taking place for the fifth time this December. The aim of the 5h Dialogue on the recognition of NFE is to jointly explore, reflect and deepen the recognition process of NFE, focusing on the contribution of youth organisations towards well being and health of young people. This is especially important because we need to show that NFE is not only a goal in itself (except when fighting for its full recognition) but first and foremost a tool we use to tackle youth issues, such as health of young people.

To come back to what my family and friends have been wondering about in terms of  the added value of my involvement in youth organisations I can proudly show  the personal results achieved thanks to non-formal education as well as informal learning. It was mainly thanks to NFE that I've vastly improved my language skills, that I got confident in speaking in public, that I gained project management and financial management skills and many other things that represent an added value for me. And it is this added value that youth organisations can and should provide. And the YFJ as the largest platform of organised youth should help ensure that NFE becomes truly recognised and that its member organisations receive the necessary financial support to continue implementing numerous NFE activities that help change the life of millions of young people in Europe and beyond.
Monday, 8th November 2010

Regional, thematic and cross-pillar cooperation

Recently I was asked during exchange of views about my candidacy with a member organisations what I think about regional cooperation within the European Youth Forum.

I believe there is an added value to such cooperation and want to share my thoughts on the importance of cooperation between member organisations and elaborate some personal ideas on how similar cooperation could be done even better to maximise its value for MOs and the platform as a whole.

First we need to be aware of the specific nature of the YFJ as a platform based on two pillars, the National Youth Councils (NYCs) and international non-governmental youth organisations (INGYOs). Within these two pillars there are several cooperation initiatives of a more or less structured nature. On the NYC side we have four regional cooperations, namely:
  • the Nordic-Baltic cooperation featuring national youth councils from Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden;
  • the Southern Youth Cooperation (SYC) featuring national youth councils from Catalonia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, the French-speaking Community of Belgium, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain;
  • the Bodensee-Benelux Cooperation plus (BBC+) featuring national youth councils from Austria, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom;
  • the Eastern European Youth Cooperation (EEYC) featuring national youth councils from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine;
On the INGYO side we have a few thematic or issue-based cooperations, such as the so-called “exchange group”, the cooperation between faith-based organisations or the party-political youth organisations (PPYOs). Moreover, we have a so-called cross-pillar cooperation initiative called CP2 that aims to promote exchange of views and ideas between the two pillars. Others might cooperate among them on a ad hoc basis.

I'm convinced that nobody will dispute the fact that cooperation is a good thing. But let's look at why different types of cooperation between MOs are not only beneficial to those participating in a given cooperation but also for the YFJ as a platform. Any type of cooperation has at it base a certain common understanding on the importance of the region in which and/or topic on which they are working together. They feel they are bound together by different ties, be it for geographical, cultural, linguistic and/or specific issue-based reasons. The good part of the different cooperation initiatives within the YFJ is that with their joint proposals and initiatives, common positions with regards to policy positions and activities of the YFJ, they help achieve a broader consensus within the YFJ on a given topic but also assist each other in ensuring their voice be heard better.

It is understandable that it might happen that different regional and/or thematic cooperations might have contradictory positions on a given topic between them. But despite apparent dialectics and differences among them, all MOs are not only pursuing the same or similar goals but are also complementing each other. This complementary function is not only within a cooperation initiative but also between the different groups. Personally I think it would be great if the different regional cooperation initiatives would explore the possibility of working together on a bilateral or multilateral basis. This is currently happening among and between many MOs on a more individual/bilateral basis. But just imagine an entire regional cooperation such as for example the BBC+ having a joint meeting with the EEYC on a set topic. It could create new synergies and increase the exchange of experience and knowledge between regions. Of course this is something that YFJ as such can only welcome and potentially assist with expertise and know-how on the chosen topic if asked to do so, while it is the MOs or regional groupings themselves responsible to explore such an idea.

At the moment the closest we come to inter-regional cooperation or inter-bloc cooperation within the YFJ framework is every two years prior the General Assembly in order to try to secure better chances of their own candidates for elections. Albeit understandable it shouldn't be the only reason for closer inter-bloc cooperation. Especially bearing in mind that many MOs, especially on the INGYO pillar are not in any specific group. It would be great if we could see more exchange and cooperation between MOs that might not come from the same region nor pursue the same issues but have certain basic values and ideas in common. This could be in terms of promoting active citizenship, youth participation, different experiences with youth volunteering or involvement in decision-making process.

A concrete example of where such cooperation would have an added value for the YFJ as whole is the discussion on the future of the Youth in Action programme. More exchange between different MOs but also different existing cooperation initiatives/groupings and more joint cross-pillar initiatives could provide a fresh impetus and contribute via better mutual understanding of our work and needs.

Friday, 5th November 2010
Council of Europe: youth's best friend with a challenge

Recently I've engaged in an interesting debate with other candidates on the YFJ intranet blog on the importance of the different institutional partners the European Youth Forum (YFJ) is working with, especially the Council of Europe (CoE), the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN).

Notwithstanding the importance of all three institutions I've argued that due to the obvious facts of being a European platform, having the vast majority of our member organisations working predominantly in the framework of the CoE and the EU, these two institutions merit a special relationship with YFJ. Bottom line is that thanks to the structured dialogue we have in the EU and the co-management system we have in the CoE the YFJ is THE voice of young people in these two contexts, while in the UN framework were are one of the voices.

Now I want to also make a distinction between the EU and the CoE and remind us of the importance and relevance of the Council of Europe, especially for youth work in Europe.

Let's start with the obvious: the EU covers only 27 states in Europe compared to 47 covered by the CoE; but still many people see the EU and Europe as one and the same thing. I constantly fight against this due to my background: before Slovenia joined the EU in 2004 I was already part of Europe in everything except having the rights linked to so-called European citizenship that is de iure a thing of the EU. The YFJ is a truly European platform including among its members national youth councils ranging from Iceland to Azerbaijan and covering almost everything in between. Nobody disputes the Europeaness of our colleagues whether they are part of the EU or not and this in itself is an important value we share – the dream of a united Europe to which the CoE is the next best thing (so far). The work of the YFJ should continue to reflect this fact.
Secondly, the CoE institutional framework recognises the YFJ as the representative platform of young people in Europe to the maximum possible extent, namely through the so-called co-management. What is this exactly? The co-management system involves representatives from youth non-governmental organisations (NGOs) sitting down in committees with government officials who together then work out the priorities for the youth sector and make recommendations for future budgets and programmes. These proposals are then adopted by the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe's decision-making body. According to the ladder of participation it is the highest possible level of involvement in decision-making. How does it work in practice? We have this special body called Advisory Council on Youth (AC) which is made up of 30 representatives from youth NGOs and networks who provide opinions and input on all youth sector activities. It also ensures that young people are involved in other activities of the Council of Europe. This shows that the CoE is the only institution that practices what it preaches when it comes to youth participation.
However, despite the CoE being an institution that already shares many of the YFJ values (respect for human rights, democracy, rule of law, etc), it is currently going through a profound reform process, and there is a legitimate fear that this reform process will interfere partly with the activities of the youth sector, including the European Youth Foundation, and partly with the co-management system. The European youth centres in Strasbourg and Budapest and the European Youth Foundation are unique instruments that we want to keep in the future, so is the training and multiplier-approach, especially in relation to combating racism, islamophobia, romaphobia etc in Europe, but if we want to keep them we need to be ready to defend them. It is now more than ever time that YFJ is not only the beneficiary of the co-management system in terms of raising the voice of young people but to use this voice and proactively engage in and contribute to the reform process. How? By showing the CoE that the youth civil society believes in it and is supporting it. But also by showing that the CoE needs youth if it is to survive and develop its distinctive value in the European context. At the same time the YFJ must fight to maintain the co-management system and advocate for keeping the funds available for the youth work development in Europe to which CoE has vastly contributed already.
And how do I propose the YFJ does this? First step is better awareness among all member organisations of the added value the CoE represents for our work. Acknowledging the fact that the above-mentioned AC – 2/3 of which are composed by members elected by YFJ – is an important tool for YFJ advocacy work as the main representative of youth organisations in the CoE context. Second step would be to better inform and prepare the 20 AC members elected by YFJ in terms of explaining them what YFJ wants and advocates for and how they as individuals can help contribute to the work of the AC. Moreover, by improving the exchange of information to make sure that all MOs know what is going on in the CoE context and by improving the ways of reporting back to the YFJ membership these 20 young people can be the perfect link between the CoE and YFJ MOs.

Despite the EU being a supranational institution and therefore more powerful in many respects we should not neglect the importance of the CoE nor see it only as the framework in which we want to fight for youth rights via a convention but foremost as the place where youth is co-managing youth affairs and where we can work on a truly European youth work development. We need a strong CoE but we need to recognise the fact that we are part of its decision-making and thus need to be strong ourselves and fight for maintaining and further improving the system.
Tuesday, 2nd November 2010

Gender equality: Europe's quality?!
This was the title of our JEF seminar back in March this year and I want to use this title/question to approach this important topic. Despite positive developments we still have a huge task ahead of us before we achieve proper gender equality in Europe as well as within our own organisations.

Gender equality both as a value and as a goal is enshrined in various European documents and legal provisions. Yet, the pay gap between men and women remains wide and the percentage of women engaged in politics and business in high-ranking positions remains dismal. The promotion of gender equality is considered as a precondition for achieving sustainable social and economic development.
The European Youth Forum (YFJ) has been actively involved in the gender equality policy debate and back in 2007 adopted the excellent “Policy paper on achieving equality between women and men” in which it stresses its belief that all policy areas must incorporate a gender dimension. This policy paper looks specifically at gender role division; the social and economic position of young women; gender and education; and gender and development – with an additional focus on the participation of women in political life, and the role of young men in the struggle for equality between women and men.

Moreover, this policy paper included a clear list of actions to which the YFJ had committed itself, and of demands to which it called on institutions to commit. In the wake of the new policy developments at EU level it will be important for the YFJ to check that list of actions and demands and see what has been achieved and implemented and where the work remains to be done.
On 21st September 2010 the European Commission adopted a five-year strategy for promoting equality between women and men in Europe entitled Strategy for equality between women and men (2010-2015). Championed by the Belgian Presidency, the new strategy is based around five key principles: (1) equality in senior positions, (2) getting more women into the job market, (3) promoting female entrepreneurship, (4) equal pay for equal work and (5) tackling gender violence.
YFJ has welcomed the new strategy but also rightly voiced concern about it. On the positive side are the focus on young women's access to entrepreneurial market in order to achieve economic independence as well as the recognition of the the need to pay special attention to the transition between education and the labour market and narrowing the pay gap. But as YFJ puts it the strategy lacks many vital elements, such as any effort whatsoever to promote gender equality in the field of sexual and reproductive health, or a focus on combating gender-based stereotypes.
I personally share this line of reasoning and join those voices (such as the European Women's Lobby and several female MEPs) that criticised the plan for being heavy on rhetoric but somewhat light on action. As long as the Commission calls for more women in power in the business sector but fails to give them power when it can do so itself (e.g. the recently established European External Service with only 6 out of 28 EU ambassadors being female) its credibility will be questioned.

Why does the topic of gender equality concern us and the YFJ?
Youth organisations have a unique chance and responsibility to not only discuss the issue of gender equality but also to act on this internally in its activities based on non-formal education and peer-to-peer education. It is seminars, exchanges, trainings and similar youth activities that help broaden our views and tackle difficult topics that touch upon sensitive understandings of gender roles in a given society.

The gap between women’s and men’s rates of participation at various levels within youth organisations still prevails and at the top level there is a vast imbalance. By many, this imbalance is often not noticed or perceived. Therefore, it could be fruitful for youth organisations to internally evaluate their work from a gender perspective, measuring the participation of women and men as well as analysing why there might be a discrepancy. It is also important to empower young women to take part in the different structures of an organisation. A particular regard has to be taken to young people that might face multiple barriers such as young women from minority backgrounds.
This is something that was agreed and adopted in the YFJ back in 2007, yet if we assess the situation today we will see that not much has changed. We are having elections in the YFJ coming up in 3 weeks time and the number of female candidates presenting themselves is not the desired half, it is even below 40%. We need to evaluate this situation and address the shortcoming that might arise from such evaluation. So that we lead by example and practice what we preach, otherwise our demands towards decision-makers to do so will be hollow.

Moreover, it is through youth work that we can enable a broad discussion on the quintessential nature of gender and its role in European societies, provide youngsters engaged in NGO activities basic information about the gender perspective and offer practical advice how gender equality can be promoted. Another important objective is to get a European perspective on the issue by getting an insight on the evolution of the perception of gender, by comparing different approaches and achievements to promote equality.

I am confident that our member organisations within the YFJ have the expertise needed to help us analyse and make proposals on how the principles of gender equality in youth work can be implemented in European youth policy. We should build on our previous policy papers and make sure that the youth voice we are defending is a voice in favour of proper gender equality backed by positive examples within our own ranks.