FEMYSO’s European Youth Work Agenda Statement

Last week, the Third European Youth Work Convention (EYWC) took place. The EYWC is complementary to a larger process of furthering the Youth Work agenda in Europe (EYWA). FEMYSO delegates attended as both participant and panel speakers, and followed the success of the Convention. See the video contribution of our Executive Committee Member, Hande Taner, who is also a member of the Council of Europe’s Advisory Council on Youth, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpewFN7oOyI. And find here the final declaration of the Convention, with signposts for the future: https://www.eywc2020.eu/downloads/doctrine/WebforumVeranstaltungenWebsiteBundle:Media-file-54/3rdEYWC_finaldeclaration.pdf.
Our position on the EYWA’s future is focussed on the implementation process. While great achievements are recorded and progress is at a high speed, how inclusive will the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda be? European Muslim Youth and Students are going through dark times where the Islamophobic narrative is normalised more and taking more public space in European countries. It directly affects the lives and civic engagement of young European Muslims and targets them for how they look or what they believe in. Islamophobia is one of the active engines behind the shrinking civic space in Europe.
However, FEMYSO also recognises the socially excluded and marginalised youth of other backgrounds, who might not be aware of youth work in their local contexts in general, or of the valuable efforts of the processes led at European level. These youth must be included, not just as a ticking-the-box exercises where they are invited to share their thoughts and go, but rather, youth of ethnic, religious and lower socio-economic backgrounds must be systematically and constantly engaged in the process.
FEMYSO remains a close partner and ally to the European Youth Work Agenda processes.
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Notes

  1. FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 33 Muslim youth and student organisations across 20 European countries, and is the leading voice for European Muslim youth, developing and empowering them, and working to build a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe.
  2. For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org

Application call : Step up and Take action!

Climate change is now occurring at rates much faster than anticipated and its effects can be widely witnessed throughout Europe and the globe. The environmental sustainability threat puts at-risk not only human lives but also the economy, education and biodiversity. This issue needs to be tackled by people of all ages and backgrounds. Especially younger generations need to take action, as they will be affected by it the most. Despite the increased interest and mobilisation amongst young people towards the action against climate change there are still existing barriers in engaging young people from minority backgrounds in activities related to the environment, fair trade, and the related SDGs.   

 

Therefore, FEMYSO, through its network of 32 youth and student member organisations from 20 European countries aims to raise awareness, engage, train and empower an international group of young people, of minority backgrounds, with diverse experiences to come together and become environmental advocates by giving them the tools to actively take part in the political process and debate.  This will aid to creating a network of passionate young environmental activists supporting each other to mobilise their organisations and communities. By leading sustainable projects, the participants will not only promote environmental actions, but they will also enrich the young generations’ understanding of the world they are living in, while at the same time promote human rights such as justice and equality.   

Apply now following the link

https://bit.ly/StepUpTakeAction

This project aligns with the Council of Europe’s Priority 2 ‘Youth participation and Youth Work’ and will be implemented through various means as trainings, workshops and case studies. Human rights in regards to sustainable development will be accentuated throughout the programme in order to provide a holistic understanding of the European environmental context and challenges, and the keys to prioritise and classify such environmental issues. The human rights that will be addressed include environmental protection, social inclusion, economic growth and undoubtedly environmental rights. This programme is dedicated to underline the importance of supporting young people from minority backgrounds to become advocates and to fully exercise their rights ensuring inclusive youth participation and work.  Another aspect of the programme will be enabling a comprehensive understanding of the European climate affairs, institutions and framework, which will facilitate the participant’s engagement with both their local and international public authorities. By enabling young people to advocate for climate action, FEMYSO is actively contributing to the creation of inclusive and peaceful societies, as prioritised by the Council of Europe (Priority 3).