Monday, 8^th 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.