Young People for Human Rights

Transcription

1 Young People for Human Rights Working seminar for representatives of the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership countries Warsaw, February 2017 Report 1

2 Table of contents Introduction... 3 Opening session... 4 Study visits to local youth organisations Working groups Panel discussion Evaluation results Annex 1.Message adopted by participants Annex 2.Seminar programme Annex 3.List of participants

3 Introduction The Young People for Human Rights seminar was held in the frame of Polish Presidency in Visegrad Group (V4). The main subject of the seminar was the participation of young people in Human Rights activities. The main objectives of the seminar were to present good practice from the represented countries and work on possible future developments. The main target groups of the seminar were: representatives of line ministries in the field of youth, national coordinators of the Council of Europe No Hate Speech Movement (NHSM) and representatives of National Agencies of Erasmus+ Youth programme and youth activists, especially representatives of National Youth Councils. Participants came from V4: Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Eastern Partnership (EaP) Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The seminar programme included a number of welcome and opening speeches (by representatives of the Ministry of National Education of Poland, the Foundation for the Development of the Education System, the Council of Europe, and the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic) followed by working groups on three core topics: human rights in the digital environment, participation of young people in the field of human rights and cross-sectoral cooperation, study visits to local youth organisations in Warsaw, presentations of Czech, Polish and Hungarian V4 Presidencies and their priorities and a panel discussion on support tools for youth organisations in V4 and EaP such as the Solidarity Fund (PL), Visegrad Fund, the partnership between Council of Europe and the European Commission and SALTO EECA Resource Centre. Additionally, the seminar provided a platform for a series of meetings of NHSM Co-ordinators from V4 and EaP countries with the CoE Campaign Coordinator. The seminar allowed to formulate a Message from participants with their key findings to be submitted to the 3 rd Eastern Partnership Youth Forum to be held in Warsaw (Poland) on June

4 Opening session Mr Grzegorz Chorąży Deputy Director Strategy and International Co-operation Department Ministry of National Education, Poland Thanked all attendees and reiterated the importance of V4 co-operation and its youth dimension, an important element of people to people contacts between V4 and EaP countries. The Ministry appreciates the need to engage all stakeholders, and in a similar fashion the Polish V4 Presidency aims reflect the interests of all countries involved. For Poland making young people active citizens and empowering them is a really important policy area and as it is an idea shared by all countries it was chosen as a priority area. Mr Chorąży highlighted the importance of the Council of Europe s NHSM campaign as a shared experience to be built upon and thanked the Council of Europe for their participation and input. Mr Chorąży highlighted Poland s experiences in the field of youth empowerment that the Ministry would like to encourage youth to engage in all aspects of social life including volunteering at schools. Mr Chorąży encouraged the seminar participants to use the opportunity to meet Polish NGOs and forge future partnerships. The Ministry also hopes that the seminar will inform the main EaP event in Poland this year the 3 rd Eastern Partnership Youth Forum planned to take place in Warsaw in June Dr Paweł Poszytek Director General Foundation for the Development of the Education System, Poland Dr Poszytek welcomed all esteemed guests and thanked them for their attendance. He underlined that the Foundation values and encourages co-operation across 4

5 borders at regional and European level as it operates a number of programmes, not only European but also bilateral a very particular time to do so as the EU Erasmus Programme celebrates its 30 th anniversary this year. Poland has a track record of international educational co-operation since 1998 and even though it is a junior partner compared with other EU countries, the learning curve was a great experience and Poland now appreciates that the space for debate on Europe s challenges and the number of programmes is expanding. Mr Poszytek encouraged the seminar participants to seize the opportunities of the new EU4Youth programme for Eastern Partnership countries, notably the Eastern Partnership Youth Window especially that its first deadline is fast approaching. Ms Zdenka Maskova Head of Youth Policy Unit Youth Department Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Czech Republic Ms Maskova thanked all organisers and outlined the main events leading up to the seminar. The cooperation was initiated by the Slovak V4 Presidency when a CDEJ member from Georgia was invited as an observer to an annual V4 meeting in Bratislava in May Afterwards, the Georgian Ministry of Youth and Sport invited the directors of V4 ministerial youth departments to Tbilisi in July 2011 to discuss the cooperation between V4 and EaP countries in the field of youth. All the annual and thematic V4 and EaP events were further supported by: the partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth, SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Centre and PL and CZ Erasmus+ National Agencies. During the Czech V4 Presidency ( ) the representatives of EaP countries were invited to join the first annual V4 and EaP meeting in Prague (May 2012). During this meeting the participants agreed on developing cooperation between V4 and EaP countries in the field of youth on three levels: among ministries responsible for youth, Youth in Action national agencies and national youth councils. 5

6 Under the succeeding Polish V4 Presidency ( ) in Sulejówek, Poland, in April 2013 the Comparative Study of the Situation of Youth in the Countries of the Visegrad Group was introduced, covering areas such as participation and decision-making, volunteerism, non-formal education as well as employment and entrepreneurship (Ewa Krzaklewska; Council of Europe 2013). In the annual V4 and EaP annual meeting under the Hungarian V4 Presidency ( ) in March 2014, the V4 and Georgian participants evaluated the results of the cooperation. It was for the first time when an idea of signing the Memorandum of Cooperation between V4 and EaP Countries in the Field of Youth was heard. Slovakia and Georgia took there their responsibility for drafting the text of Memorandum. Under the subsequent Slovak V4 Presidency ( ) Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministries of Countries of Visegrad Group Responsible for Youth and the Ministries of Countries of Eastern Partnership to European Union Responsible for Youth in Youth Field was signed in Bratislava in June 22, The Czech Republic supported the Slovak V4 Presidency by organising a thematic working seminar for V4 and EaP countries on volunteerism of young people in Prague in September 2014 in a close cooperation with SALTO EECA and the Czech Erasmus+ National Agency (Centre for International Cooperation in Education). The Czech V4 Presidency ( ) organised Youth Policy and Youth Work: Working Seminar on Cooperation between Visegrad Group, Romania and Eastern Partnership Countries" on October 6 7, 2015 which resulted in a joint Action Plan of cooperation between Visegrad Group and Eastern Partnership countries in the youth field The priority of the Czech V4 Presidency in the youth field was to enable Romania to join the cooperation between V4 and EaP countries in the field of youth as an equal partner in so-called V4+ format on request of the Romanian Deputy Minister responsible for youth (a Romanian delegation took an active part in this seminar). Later on, the annual V4 and EaP meeting (social inclusion) was organised in June Mr Maskova offered some tentative conclusions and taking points for future V4-EaP co-operation: general discussions on the state of play of national youth policies were changed to seminars on thematic fields of youth policy; presentations 6

7 of national delegations on the same topic were changed to reflective discussions on thematic aspects of youth policy and study visits; the V4+ format brings about new challenges and opportunities, including the participation of new countries such as Romania and Serbia. Mr Hovsep Khurshudyan, Mr Grigor Yeritsyan Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Mr Khurshudyan summarised the activities of the EaP CSF including annual forum, working group meetings and grant support system and the EaP Youth Conference Youth for Rights held in Bratislava in The aim of the Conference was to facilitate cooperation and networking between participants engaged in the Conference so as to create stronger and trust-based bonds for the future, and create synergies between EaP Youth Conference from one side and next EaP Youth Forum 2017 (Warsaw), EaP Civil Society Forum Annual Assembly 2016 (November, Brussels) and the next Eastern Partnership Platform 4 meeting 2016 (December, Brussels) from the other side, taking part in developing of priorities and an agenda for both EaP events. The event brought together youth representatives of the civic initiatives and civil society organisations working in the field of human rights and youth rights advocacy in the EU and EaP countries, international experts, representatives of the human rights movements from post-soviet countries, including those from the EU. It involved 120 young people from both the Eastern Partnership (15 people from each country: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), Russia (10 people) and European Union Member States (20 people). Also, international experts (5 people), trainers (5 people), facilitators (7 people) and invited guests (15 people) from the EaP and EU, representatives of SALTO Youth, European Youth Forum, V4 Youth Council and Youth Council of Slovakia, previous EaP Youth Forums, as well as donors. One of the main outputs of the conference were EaP CSF recommendations. The following recommendations to the EU were developed: - To create measures allowing youth CSOs, non-formal initiatives and civic activists to be better included in decision making processes. Encourage a 7

8 minimum youth presence in consultations over EaP programmes and bilateral agreements. - Create a watchdog mechanism for monitoring the spending of EU funding. Involve youth CSOs in discussing how funds should be allocated and improve funding mechanisms so that CSOs have greater access to funding. - The EU should assist national governments in encouraging entrepreneurship by prioritising education programmes such as Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs. The EU should continue to support exchange programmes and research programmes and ensure that these target the most marginalised groups. - Introduce measures to discourage states from repressing CSOs and advocate for fast and non-exclusive CSO registration. Call for the release of imprisoned civil society representatives, activists, and other political prisoners. Assist civil society in monitoring human rights situations free of persecution - Engage in dialogue with CSOs, human rights defenders and youth activists about support to civil society and ensure that youth activist can meet with EU officials during visits. The EU must put pressure on national governments to heed the policy recommendations of CSOs. - The conference also resulted in producing recommendations to EaP governments, notably: - Encourage broader recognition of non-formal education, particularly on the issues discussed (civic education, inclusion, democracy, environmental issues etc.). - Education should adopt both theoretical and practical methods with the option of combining studies with work experience, volunteering or internships. Through cooperation with Higher Education Institutions and employers, nonformal education can be encouraged through career counselling and mentoring programmes in cooperation with businesses and local organisations - National Governments should invest greater resources in modernising education and adequately training teachers at all levels 8

9 - National governments must strive for full and non-biased implementation of Bologna process reforms - Prevent discrimination in access to education and employment by allowing this to be monitored by giving CSOs access to educational institutions and national statistics. Promote and support the collection of data by independent research institutions on issues related to inclusion, tolerance and diversity in education and the workplace - National EaP governments should create a friendly environment for SMEs and start-ups for young people by establishing support mechanisms such as tax reduction and preferential loans. - National governments should launch transparent and independent anticorruption agencies on the national level, implement legislation about the e- declaration of incomes of public officials, and develop systems of transparent public procurements in the EaP states - National governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus should refrain from repressing CSOs and ensure fast and non-exclusive CSO registration. The imprisoned civil society representatives, activists, and other political prisoners should be immediately released Mr Menno Ettema Campaign Co-ordinator No Hate Speech Movement Mr Ettema thanked the organisers and praised title of this seminar Young People for Human Rights is simple, clear and yet very engaging - it reads yes, young people care - they take action for a better world, so let s get on with it! Taking the No Hate Speech Movement as a reference point illustrates just that. The Council of Europe stands fully behind the conviction that youth can act for human rights, democracy and rule of law in Europe. The CoE supports member states and civil society across Europe to do just that through policy development, standard setting and capacitybuilding programmes. The NHSM is a youth campaign of the Council of Europe. It 9

10 mobilises young people to combat hate speech and act for Human Rights online through: reporting with the relevant authorities and counter and alternative speech promoting human rights and democratic values. The campaign is implemented through national campaign committees in 44 countries across Europe. They bring together national youth and human rights organisations, national authorities and others involved in anti-discrimination work as well as 60 European campaign partners and 80 online activists. The NHSM is a clear example of successful youth participation. The campaign was initiated by the youth representatives in CoE statutory bodies following the horrific terror attack on Utoya, Norway. They believed that young people should be mobilised to uphold human rights and democracy online through Human Rights Education (HRE). According to Mr Ettema, the main learning points from the campaign are: - Some hate speech should be taken down following clear transparent rules and procedures if it breaches national legislation that protects human dignity and forms an imminent threat to the people it targets. - Most Hate speech should however be countered by challenging the underlying hateful messages, misinformation and conspiracies - Alternative narratives are needed to occupy the online space - Alternative narratives provide young people with different points of view and encourage them to promote human rights and democratic values online. - Young people (and indeed older people too) need to gain the competences (knowledge skills and attitudes) to identify hate speech and act on it. This means being critical consumers of online content, reflecting on its meaning and intentions, the narrative it promotes, being decisive on what to share further, ignore or dispute. In 2016, the Council of Europe drafted the Competences for Democratic Culture framework 1 to understand the various skills we all need to be able to include democracy and human rights perspectives in our lives. Amongst the 20 or so 1 More on Competences for Democratic Framework here: 10

11 competences some of them are: openness to cultural diversity, dealing with ambiguity, critical thinking, self-reflection, conflict resolution, amongst others. The NHSM supports young people to gain these competences and empower them to combat hate speech through education and awareness-raising in schools, youth centres, sports and online across Europe. To do so the campaign has two key educational resources: - Bookmarks 2, the manual on combatting hate speech through human rights education provides youth workers and educators information and educational activities for youth to understand hate speech and the threat it poses to human rights and democracy. - The new manual We CAN to be launched on March 20. As campaigners have found it particularly challenging to work with youth on developing an effective response to hate speech. This manual presents communicative and educational approaches and tools for youth and other human rights activists to develop their own counter and alternative narratives to hate speech. It is designed for working with young people from the age of 13. Based on the principles of human rights education and youth participation. Combining these tools will provide hands-on guidance to address hate speech and counter extremist narratives. It is important to highlight that learning to do Human Rights and Democracy day to day is a shared responsibility. HRE needs a comprehensive approach accompany us in school, the youth centre, indeed community events like festivals that is sustained over time. The strength of the NHSM campaign relays on the shared engagement of youth and human rights organisations, national authorities and many others. In order to achieve this, youth participation is a must. The recently adopted Recommendation CM (2016)7 on Young People s access to Rights highlights clearly the need for fully participation of young people. Only together with young people can the barriers be identified and taken down that prevents them from accessing sufficient healthcare, education, decent employment, housing and ensure their participation in social and political live. Working with youth on their access to rights will address the ground for discontent and disengagement among young people it is this human rights 2 Find bookmarks online at: 11

12 narrative that needs to be more robustly propagated. True participation builds shared responsibility for our society. True democratic participation entails debunk illinformed quick-fix solutions and populist discourses that flourish online because they single out one group as the problem to be solved undermining the fundamental values of pluralistic democracy. As mentioned before the Council of Europe believes this means there is a need for adequate youth policy, good standards and education. And indeed education for all, both local and national authorities and Youth need to learn to work together. The Council of Europe s recommendation on Youth Participation in Local and Regional Authority and the Manual Have Your Say provide clear guideline for all stakeholders in this process. Mr Ettema reiterated his belief in youth wanting to act for human rights and Democratic Culture both off and online. Ms Kasia Siemasz Board Member Polish Council of Youth Organisations Ms Siemasz pointed to the great power of young people s voices in today s world, quoting the examples of 160,000 young people protesting recently in Barcelona, urging the Spanish government to take in more refugees, hundreds of thousands of young Romanian citizens who took to the streets of Bucharest in the anti-corruption protests, the largest since 1989 revolution, and a wave of demonstrations that gripped Paris following accusations a police officer raping a young black man. All these people decided to go out on the streets, articulate their dissatisfaction and stir with the current events or the policies of their countries. And all this happened only in the last 53 days, but last year was just as eventful, when protests have reached countries represented at this very seminar. In some cases the protests were caused by the concrete violations of the human rights, in other cases it is the broad dissatisfaction with the policies and the decisions taken by the governments. In some cases demonstrators made it clear that it is about the social inequalities and doubts about the transparency and democracy. More and more people feel that the decisions are taken behind closed doors, without the involvement of the society and 12

13 also not necessarily in the interests of the society. That feeds and fuels the populist and extremist movements, which often present themselves as the alternative to the established and democratic parties. The reasons for the protests are multiple. Many of those people are left with no hopes for continuing their lives as they used to, are forced to flee, often risking their lives when their fundamental rights are violated every day. Furthermore, many of them face the reality of economic stagnation with unfair distribution of wealth. The third crisis, a phenomenon particularly visible in the last months - the so-called postfactual or post-truth politics and discourses, in which the facts have no value, truth is falsified and given secondary meaning. Public political discourses become based on an emotional approach and personal opinions, rather than statistics and facts. Or people operate with alternative facts and the more often they repeat them, the more often they will be picked up and quoted and embedded in the public discourse. Youth organizations are where the democracy is being exercised. And that happens without the parliamentary or presidential elections. Young people join youth organizations voluntarily, they are active, they engage themselves for a various societal causes and they also take part in elections by choosing their representatives or representing the others. It is youth organizations, where young people become conscious, engaged and responsible citizens, where they discuss about things they care about, make decisions and take action. They are an important part of the civil society and therefore vital to democracy. And they need to be supported. Ms Siemasz called on all decision-makers to listen to young people, to hear their vision and to react, when young people feel some borders are being crossed and rights are being violated. Ms Siemasz further called on policy-makers to open themselves for a dialogue with us and let it be an active dialogue. Ms Siemasz further wished the seminar participants a fruitful event. 13

14 Study visits to local youth organisations 1) Fundacja Centrum Cyfrowe Centrum Cyfrowe was created in 2010 as a think-and-do tank with a focus on fostering a digital civic society in Poland through the development of open models for education, science, culture and public information. Its primary objective is the introduction of policies and practices related to the open sharing of resources, with particular focus on public resources. It also advocates the use of digital technologies for the public interest, and the development of policies in support of this goal. Its principal areas of work are policymaking and outreach with a focus on open 14

15 education, openness of public resources and copyright reform. It also conducts qualitative and quantitative research on the impact of technology on cultural and educational practices in the society, which provides evidence base for our policy work. More information: 2) Stowarzyszenie Parafiada Parafiada Association A modern non-profit organisation, thanks to which thousands of young Poles can gain sport achievements and open to the culture and faith. In addition to leisure activities, it delivers valuable modern world values: respect, goodness and honesty, which are the initiators of many special projects carried out in schools, sport clubs, orphanages, clubs and campfires, always in accordance with parishes. More information: 3) Fundacja na rzecz Różnorodności Społecznej (FRS) Foundation for Social Diversity The foundation was established in Its main role is supporting integration of society in terms of cultural, religious, ethnic, racial, national and world view. FRS supports at the local level society development, openness and tolerance in the context of cultural, religious, ethnic, racial, national and world view. Main activities are implemented in four areas: education, research, publications and shaping public debate. It supports the networks and coalitions operating on a national or international scale, such as Coalition for Anti-discrimination Education or European Grassroots Antiracist Movement. More information: 4) Fundacja Polskie Forum Migracyjne Polish Migration Forum Foundation The foundation was established in Polish Migration Forum is involved in activities such as: - Information (e.g. leaflets, public space campaigns, books for professionals, meetings and lectures) - Education workshops (e.g. for professionals school teachers, psychologist, police, public officers, journalists; children and adults Poles and foreigners) - Initiatives aimed at integration (e.g. at school, local neighbourhood) 15

16 - Psychological help for children and their parents affected by migration It works a lot within communities where centres for foreigners including refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are located. It implements projects in cooperation with schools, libraries and other local institutions. More information: 5) Młodzieżowa Rada m.st. Warszawy Youth Council of the City of Warsaw Youth Council of the City of Warsaw is a group of young people that serves as a consultative and advisory body to the capital city council. It consists of representatives of the 18 districts of Warsaw, delegated by the youth council districts (2 persons) and 2 representatives of environmental special schools. Its task is to promote youth initiatives, consult the decisions of the city authorities, and create actions addressed to youth and express opinions on the most important issues for young people in Warsaw. More information:. 16

17 Working groups Participants contributed to three working groups, discussing the following topics: 1) Human rights in the digital environment, 2) Participation of young people in the field of human rights, within civil society, especially youth organisations and 3) Cross-sectorial cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of human rights. Human rights in the digital environment Facilitator Nelli Gishyan (Armenia) Group description: The social media and the internet in general play a significant role in the life of young people. Day by day digital environment becomes an integral part of their activities. In recent years, human rights and violations of human rights online are becoming more challenging, as things happening offline have their impact in online activities and actions. Online acting in accordance with human rights is even more challenging because in many cases we do not know whom we are dealing with and the digital environment of human rights perspective becomes unclear and not always safe. The objectives of the group were: - To exchange the opinions and experiences (from local, national, international level) on the needs and challenges of young people in the digital environment; - To come up with common proposals and solutions to face them. A summary of key issues discussed by the group is presented below (word cloud). 17

18 Human rights in the digital environment word cloud The group also discussed a number of issues pertinent to human rights in the digital environment. The group felt that consistent law and policy approach to Hate Speech was needed, accompanied by support from law enforcement agencies in enforcing them all within the HR framework. There was also a strong drive to raise awareness through education, training those working with its victims (police) and with youth using digital influencers and open online courses (including HRE programmes). Other suggestions included: Increasing media literacy through non formal education at grassroots level, strengthening regional cooperation to strengthen protection of human rights of young people, using media literacy as an instrument to enhance critical thinking to deal with fake news, addressing political correctness that feeds populist movements and radicalisation among youth and providing positive constructive solutions to hate speech make fun not hate. Participants of the working group drafted the following messages: 1. Addressing human rights challenges both online and offline requires support for youth organisations, youth councils, public bodies and the educational sector s initiatives for Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship education, including through international engagement and co-operation. 18

19 2. Empowering young people to think critically and act to protect human rights calls for strong European, national and regional co-operation, stakeholder and tool mapping as well as synergy between stakeholders at all levels. 3. Building a common approach to protecting human rights online and creating space for youth participation necessitates the involvement of young people in internet governance processes including through human rights and media literacy education. Participation of young people in the field of human rights, within civil society, especially youth organisations Facilitator Kateryna Zeziulina (Ukraine) Group description: The working group offered a space for sharing good practices and achievements as well as problems and weaknesses of youth participation in the field of human rights. Participants formulated suggestions and ideas how to encourage, activate and strengthen involvement of young people in fostering human rights activities in V4 and EaP countries. The objectives of the group are: - To share achievements, good practices, problems and weaknesses of youth participation in the field of human rights in V4 and EaP countries, - To formulate suggestions on how to activate young people in fostering human rights activities in V4 and EaP countries. A summary of key issues discussed by the group is presented below (word cloud). 19

20 Participation of young people in the field of human rights word cloud Sharing common understanding of youth participation and based on Right-Means- Support-Opportunity-Space (RMSOS) approach of youth participation the group worked out several challenges and problems of region they represent. Those remarks were transformed into following messages: 1. Increasing the levels of trust among young people towards political processes and actors requires their active participation in decision-making processes in peaceful and tolerant societies. 2. Promoting youth participation is crucial in gaining better recognition of youth work and voluntary work. The group also discussed a number of other concerns in the field of participation of young people in the field of human rights. They highlighted the need to recognise importance of non-formal educational in the field of youth and to provide access to young people to receive more understandable information on youth participation. They also identified gaps in assisting young people to reach more practical skills in a field of decision-making process and stressed the importance of meeting good practises of different countries or communities. The group also felt that young people need to be given concrete participation opportunities and build bridges between 20

21 generations for better cooperation. Finally, the group discussed various ways to increase the appreciation and recognition of the impact of youth work as an equal and important field of youth development, learning and empowerment. Participants of the working group drafted the following messages: 1. Increasing the levels of trust among young people towards political processes and actors requires their active participation in decision-making processes in peaceful and tolerant societies. 2. Promoting youth participation is crucial in gaining better recognition of youth work and voluntary work. Cross-sectoral cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of human rights Facilitator Gergely Kiss (Hungary) The aim of the working group was to explore and define key elements of successful cross-sectorial cooperation in the area of human rights in relation to the youth field. Participants will share their experience of already existing human rights actions in the V4 and EaP countries and discuss how they could successfully be adapted in their own environments. As an outcome they will formulate proposals for fostering cross-sectoral cooperation in order to support young people actions in the field of human rights. The objectives of the group were: - To share best practices and challenges of cross-sectorial cooperation in the field of human rights faced by different stakeholders active in this area in V4 and EaP countries and - To formulate proposals for fostering cross-sectorial cooperation in order to support young people actions in the field of human rights. 21

22 The group brainstormed on possible ways of inter-ministerial co-operation (see below) 22

23 The group also reflected on challenges in cross-sectoral co-operation and possible solutions and responses of the youth sector (see below): A summary of key issues discussed by the group is presented below (word cloud). Cross-sectoral cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of human rights word cloud 23

24 The group also discussed good practice and tried to identify specific measures that help and improve cross-sectoral youth policy. Those measures included: - Structured consultative processes (e.g. in Hungary: preparing renewed youth strategy, Ministry of Human Capacities encompasses youth, sports, culture, education, religion and health under one roof) - Subcontracting and open call systems (e.g. in Czech Republic, NGOs should act where states fail : core functions should be kept in house, state has to ensure equal access of provided services to all young people, what is not guaranteed when subcontracting to NGOs; Ukraine: open calls work well, delegating nationwide assignments to NGOs) - Subsidiarity; in Ukraine, local issues dealt with at local level by local authorities; respectively national should be addressed at national and international at international levels - Project cycle sustainability; in Slovakia, a 3-year funding guarantee is provided for major youth organisations, every year recalculating grant based on given formula (that means funding security and quality assurance at the same time - plus points are given for higher standard in educational programs and compliance to Youth Strategy) - Mobilising partners the NHSM strategy is a good example of that - Addressing power issues: political cycle, PR, funding issues - Regular experience-sharing: in Poland, the NHSM NCC is a coalition of 70+ NGOs; in Belarus, CoE democratic citizenship pilot projects; In Azerbaijan: IDP community activities settlements built) Participants of the working group drafted the following messages: 1. Supporting and empowering young people to be engaged in the field of human rights should build on maintaining and further development of existing cross-sectoral co-operation. 24

25 2. Mainstreaming the access of young people to human rights should be reflected in all relevant strategic and programme documents in all policy fields and at all levels. 3. Fostering co-operation and partnership in youth policy requires thorough identification and development of new trust-building mechanisms between civil society and the public sector. 25

26 Panel discussion Mr Andrij Pavlovych, Foundation for the Development of the Education System, Eastern Europe and Caucasus SALTO RC Mr Pavlovych introduced SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Centre and other SALTO instruments, including SALTO website, European Training Calendar, OTLAS and Trainers Online for Youth. Mr Pavlovych also outlined the main components of the new EU4Youth Programme, including the recently launched Eastern Partnership Youth Window. Ms Katarzyna Zakroczymska, Solidarity Fund PL Ms Zakroczymska introduced the Solidarity Fund and its activities in the field of international co-operation, including examples of its support for democratic transformations especially in countries where democratic voices are stifled. She also outlined the Fund s financial support structure (Poland s MFA funding - forty million EUR in the last five years). Ms Zakroczymska also shared details of the Fund s geographical coverage including local offices in Moldova and Ukraine as well as cooperation with USAID and EuropeAid. Ms Zakroczymska also shared her thoughts on youth participation, focusing on five key elements: - Openness of the school system, in connection with local authorities - Experience of the school as the first fair and democratic environment in our life, respecting social rules and human rights; 26

27 - Learning by doing how democracy can become a way of life for students and teachers alike; experience of activity and changing the world - Role of the media in civic education - Importance of methods used (the role of informal education in closed societies) Ms Beata Jaczewska, International Visegrad Fund Ms Jaczewska briefly presented the activities of the Fund and shared a number of examples of its work, notably in the field of youth and co-operation with Eastern Partnership countries both areas of great importance in the Fund s work. Ms Jaczewska noted great enthusiasm and high activity levels of civil society actors in the Eastern Partnership region. Ms Marta Mędlińska, the partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of Youth Ms Medlinska presented the partnership and its work in the youth field. She further shared a number of principles for successful youth participation and guidelines on how it should be fostered, developed by the partnership: 1 - Understanding participation of young people: participation takes place in various forms and arenas! 2 - Learning to be a democratic citizen is a key factor for participation 3 - It takes a whole society to rear a democrat! 4 - There are many good examples and approaches - make use of them! 5 - A few things yet to know - we need a better knowledge of the participation of young people 27

28 Ms Medlinska invited the seminar participants to use the partnership s products and services including its Training Kits and youth policy reviews and encouraged them to attend its youth policy events. Mr Ville Majamaa, European Youth Forum Mr Majamaa thanked the and the Foundation for the Development of the Education System for inviting the European Youth Forum to this event. The European Youth Forum is an umbrella organisation bringing together 103 non-governmental youth organisations in Europe, Europe of course understood as covering also eastern partnership and Council of Europe members. EYF s mission is to advocate for the rights and interests of young people and youth organisations. Although human rights apply to everyone, certain groups of people face particular barriers in accessing and enjoying their rights. The international community has recognized this for specific groups including women, children and persons with disabilities, for example. We must acknowledge that young people moving between two stages of life childhood and adulthood can also be particularly vulnerable to discrimination in various forms such as difficulties in accessing education, quality employment, social protection or civil and political rights. Seen from this perspective, addressing challenges like high youth unemployment or poor representation of young people in national parliaments is not a matter of choice but of necessity. The conversation changes from it would be nice if you paid me a decent salary to I have a right to quality employment. Finally, even though youth organizations are often not considered human rights organizations, when working with these different topics the main focus is on young people s rights and consequently, on human rights. EYF do this in two ways. First, through advocacy towards European and international institutions and second, through building the capacities of our member organisations. Our advocacy work can be both noisy and visible, such as the social media campaign over the last couple of days for shaming the European External Action Service for using unpaid internships, or it can be more long term and subtle, like when after years of lobbying the 28

29 Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe finally adopted a Recommendation on Young People s Access to Rights in September last year. And of course, this work does not stop at the European borders. We are currently pushing for the United Nations to pay more attention to young people s human rights situation through such instruments as the Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights Council. EYF also provide capacity building for youth organisations and other stakeholders. If any of you is interested in knowing more about the Rights-Based Approach, that is how to implement the youth rights perspective, we are more than happy to come and discuss it with you. Excitingly, as soon as next week we will launch an interactive online tool called Promoting youth rights how to harness the power of human rights instruments ( This tool will not only provide the user an introduction to youth rights, focusing on the processes and mechanisms available to highlight violations but also information on how to engage with human rights processes on UN, CoE and on the national level. I hope that many of you will find this tool useful and I encourage you to be in touch with me with both positive and constructive feedback so that we can improve it further. When browsing the news these days, it sometimes feels as if talking about human rights has fallen out of fashion. And yet solutions to the challenges of our increasingly interconnected and interdependent world cannot be found in the past when the world was different. The fact that this event is dedicated for human rights and does so in partnership between the state and civil society representatives demonstrates this. It shows we are all on the same side, we all are working for youth rights. This is hugely important, something we should cherish and take advantage of - but never take for granted. Closing remarks Mr Grzegorz Chorąży Deputy Director 29

30 Strategy and International Co-operation Department Ministry of National Education, Poland Mr Chorazy remarked that seminar participants have used their time very well both in terms of learning for themselves and producing outputs messages - that will be picked up by EaP Youth Forum participants to be hosted in Warsaw in June He encouraged participants to seize the opportunities presented by the various youth support structures showcased during the panel discussion. Mr Chorazy also expressed his hope that seminar participants will return to Poland for other events and purposes and will venture outside its capital city. Mr Chorazy finally thanked all involved in the seminar organisation for their efforts. 30

31 Evaluation results Question 1 participation in working groups Question 2 participation in the whole seminar 31

32 Question 3 support tools Question 4 Learning outcomes 32

33 Question 5 social media outreach Annex 1. Young People for Human Rights Working seminar for representatives of the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership countries Warsaw, February 2017 Message from the participants We, the participants of the working seminar titled Young People for Human Rights held in the framework of the, have gathered in Warsaw to strengthen and develop further the cooperation, dialogue, outreach and impact of the work in the youth field between the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership countries. 33

34 We represent the ministries for youth, national youth councils, national coordinators of the Council of Europe No Hate Speech Movement Campaign, national agencies of Erasmus+ programme and youth activists. We welcome the holding of this seminar in Warsaw and underline the exemplary cooperation existing between the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership countries in the youth sector which offered us a forum to discuss and exchange experiences on the following issues: human rights in the digital environment; participation of young people in the field of human rights, within civic society, especially youth organisations; cross-sectorial cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of human rights. Bearing in mind the need to enhance the communication and exchange between organisations, institutions and governments across borders and inside countries on best practices and build future regular partnerships, particularly between civil society NGOs, youth organisations, community-based groups, opinion-formers and policymakers at all levels we identify the following key findings as results from our work: 1. Addressing human rights challenges both online and offline requires support for youth organisations, youth councils, public bodies and the educational sector s initiatives for Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship education, including through international engagement and co-operation. 2. Empowering young people to think critically and act to protect human rights calls for strong European, national and regional co-operation, stakeholder and tool mapping as well as synergy between stakeholders at all levels. 3. Building a common approach to protecting human rights online and creating space for youth participation necessitates the involvement of young people in internet governance processes including through human rights and media literacy education. 4. Increasing the levels of trust among young people towards political processes and actors requires their active participation in decision-making processes in peaceful and tolerant societies. 34

35 5. Promoting youth participation is crucial in gaining better recognition of youth work and voluntary work. 6. Supporting and empowering young people to be engaged in the field of human rights should build on maintaining and further development of existing cross-sectoral co-operation. 7. Mainstreaming the access of young people to human rights should be reflected in all relevant strategic and programme documents in all policy fields and at all levels. 8. Fostering co-operation and partnership in youth policy requires thorough identification and development of new trust-building mechanisms between civil society and the public sector. We hope that our contribution will be taken into account in discussions and meetings of the 3rd EaP Youth Forum and in future planning of the European Commission activities. 35

36 Annex 2. Agenda Young People for Human Rights Working seminar for representatives of the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership countries Warsaw, February 2017 Hotel Mercure Warszawa Grand, Krucza 28, Warszawa 21st February 2017 Arrivals of participants Optional sightseeing of Warsaw at Registration starting at the hotel from Dinner at the hotel Welcome activities 22nd February Registration 9.30 Opening of the Meeting Plenary session: Welcome by Mr. Grzegorz Chorąży, Deputy Director, Strategy and International Cooperation Department, Polish Ministry of National Education Welcome by Mr. Paweł Poszytek, PhD, Director General, Foundation for the Development of the Education System, Polish National Agency of the Erasmus+ Programme Seminar Programme Presentation (moderator) Summary of the Czech Presidency of the Visegrad Group by Ms. Zdenka Maskova, Head of Youth Policy Unit, Youth Department, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Czech Republic Presentation of the results from the Youth for Rights conference, Bratislava, October 2016 by Mr. Hovsep Khurshudyan and Mr. Grigor Yeritsyan, Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum 36

37 10.30 Keynote speech by Mr. Menno Ettema, No Hate Speech Movement campaign coordinator, Council of Europe July 2016 June Keynote speech by Ms. Kasia Siemasz, youth representative from the Polish Council of Youth Organizations Coffee break 11:30 Introduction to the topics of the working groups (moderator/facilitators) 1) Human rights in the digital environment 2) Participation of young people in the field of human rights, within civil society, especially youth organisations 3) Cross-sectorial cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of human rights Working groups Lunch 14:30 Meeting in the plenary, division into the study visit groups Visits to the premises of non-governmental organizations in the area of human rights (Warsaw city) Back to the hotel (optional) Meeting in the hotel lobby and walk to the restaurant (optional) Social event and formal dinner "Po Prostu" ZACHĘTA, pl. Małachowskiego 3 23rd February Meeting in the plenary hall Working groups I session Summary of the visits at the premises of non-governmental organizations and possibly developing recommendations based on the results of the working group Coffee break Working groups II session finalization of the results to be presented in the plenary Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group 37