DFD-YD/ETD (2024) 237 Strasbourg, 12 November 2024

Youth advocacy for democracy and human

rights
Training course

27 – 31 January 2025
European Youth Centre, Strasbourg

Call for participants

Deadline: 3 December 2024, 14:00 CET

Realised in partnership with:

Rationale
The Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik held in May 2023, the Heads of State and
Government of the organisation’s 46 member states decided to establish to strengthen the
Council of Europe and its work in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law by
adopting a declaration on democracy principles 1which emphasizes the importance of investing
in a democratic future for all:

“Priority will be given to supporting the participation of young persons in democratic life
and decision-making processes, including through education about human rights and
core democratic values, such as pluralism, inclusion, non-discrimination, transparency
and accountability.”

The Reykjavik Declaration, entitled United around our values, also sets a high standard, rooted
in the values of human rights and democracy, for the Council of Europe work:

“… a youth perspective in the Organisation’s intergovernmental and other deliberations

as youth participation in decision-making processes improves the effectiveness of
public policies and strengthens democratic institutions through open dialogue.”

The Joint Council on Youth has initiated the drafting of a Reference Framework for a Youth
Perspective with the expectation to be adopted in 2025 with the occasion of the Council of
Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth (Malta, 8-9 October 2025). The
Reference framework will provide guidance to the Council of Europe on how to integrate and
operationalise the youth perspective, as well as to the member states on how to follow up at
national level.

The revised Charter on participation of young people in local and regional life clarifies
participation is having the right, the means, the space, the opportunity and the support to take
part in the life of the community. The Charter is also undergoing a process of revision, initiated
by the Congress of local and regional authorities in partnership with the Joint Council on Youth.
The process is also involving the consultation of young people, youth organisations, as well as
local authorities. A new revised Charter is expected to be adopted by the Congress in October
2025.

These developments, together with other efforts undertaken by the Council of Europe to make
institutions youth friendly and support the involvement of civil society open up possibilities for
advocacy for youth organisations.

To translate into reality the promise of the Reykjavik, young people and youth civil society need
both the political will and effort into the creation of relevant structures for participation in
decision making, as well as the capacity and competences to meaningfully take part in these
structures and processes. In order for young people to be successfully and meaningfully
participating in the Council of Europe work, their capacity needs to be developed starting with
knowledge about the work done by the institution beyond its youth sector, and competences
to engage with decision makers in various fields.

The youth campaign Democracy Here | Democracy Now was run by the Council of Europe in
2022 as a response to the challenges face by democracies in Europe: rise of populism,

1 The Reykjavik Declaration – United around our values, Appendix 3 Reykjavík Principles for Democracy
is available here.

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demotatorships, shrinking space for civil society, economic and social crises, war against
Ukraine, all contributing to a climate where young people fear retribution when exercising
freedom of expression and, at the same time, “show a high degree of political interest but a
low degree of engagement with essential democratic processes”2. The campaign involved
national campaigns in 27 member states, more than 50 projects and initiatives implemented
with the support of the European Youth Foundation and partners. The flagship activity of the
campaign, the Youth Action Week: Democracy Now!, brought together 450 young activists in
Strasbourg, and resulted in a Call for Action with 50 proposed actions to be taken by young
people, youth civil society, member states and the Council of Europe. The Call for Action was
further endorsed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Following the success of the Democracy Here | Democracy Now youth campaign, the Joint
Council on Youth decided in October 2022 to continue the work initiated through a follow-up
project, Youth revitalising democracy, and keeping Democracy Here | Democracy Now as its
slogan.

The project is run in partnership with national authorities responsible for youth and youth civil
society active at European, national and local levels. The implementation of the project is
overseen by a Follow-up Group composed of representatives of the Advisory Council on
Youth, the European Steering Committee for Youth, and the European Youth Forum.

To further support and develop the capacity of youth civil society to advocate for human rights,
democracy and youth participation, the Youth Department organises in partnership with the
European Youth Forum and the German Federal Youth Council a training course on advocacy
for human rights and democracy.

The training course takes place in Strasbourg, between 26 and 31 January 2025, in parallel
with the meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe offering a chance to
participants to engage also with members of their national delegations.

The training course

The training course aims to develop the competences of youth civil society and young activists
to advocate for human rights, democracy, ensuring a youth perspective in all the Council of
Europe work, as well as advocating for the implementation and expansion of Council of Europe
standards at national and local level.

Objectives of the course:

- To familiarise participants with the Council of Europe, its institutions and standards for
democracy, human rights and youth participation
- To develop participants’ competences in human rights-based advocacy and strengthen
their capacity to develop and implement advocacy strategies and practices
- To create a space for sharing and learning from each other, as well as from examples
of good practice in human rights and democracy advocacy, structures for youth
participation in decision making, working with decision makers, etc.
- To associate participants with the Youth Department’s work, notably the project Youth
revitalising democracy
- To develop common advocacy initiatives/actions, also supporting the advocacy
objectives of the project Youth revitalising democracy: enhancing youth participation in

2 State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law – A democratic renewal for Europe, Report of
the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, 2021, available at
https://www.coe.int/en/web/secretary-general/reports

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 the elections and removing barriers to youth standing in elections, as well as securing
structures for youth participation in decision-making.

Methodology and programme of the course

The training course will be based on the approaches on democratic citizenship and human
rights education, being designed to be an experience of mutual learning and sharing among
participants. The participants will have the chance to have hands on experiences, as well as
engage with experts from the Council of Europe institutions and sectors, in order to learn how
to advocate on youth issues within the institution, as well as advocate for the implementation
of Council of Europe standards at national and local level.

Profile of participants
The training course is designed for participants who are:

• aged between 18 and 30 years, exceptions can be made if justified;

• representatives of national youth councils, international youth organisations/networks,
and other youth civil society motivated to further advocate towards and cooperate with
the Council of Europe;
• holding a position in their organisations to follow-up on the training course with
advocacy campaigns/initiatives;
• committed to the values of the Council of Europe, democracy, human rights and the
rule of law, and to youth participation and are interested in taking further action;
• motivated and able to take in the entire training course and be involved in the project
follow-up;
• able to work autonomously in the English language;
• are resident in one of the state parties to the European Cultural Convention; exceptions
can be made if justified.

The Council of Europe welcomes applications from all candidates who fulfil the specific profile
of the activities, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or
social origin, colour, religion, belief or sexual orientation.

Application, procedure and selection of participants

All candidates must apply on-line at http://youthapplications.coe.int. In addition to
completing their application form online, they should send a support letter from their sending
organisation via email at youthdemocracy@coe.int.

The Council of Europe will select up to 30 participants on the basis of the profile outlined above.
It will try as far as possible to respect the organisations’ priorities, but also to ensure a balance
between genders, geographical regions, different types of experiences, cultural backgrounds
and organisations, institutions and projects. A waiting list may be established. Candidates will
be informed whether their application has been accepted or rejected, and if they have been
put on the waiting list, by 11 December 2024.

The full application form including the support letter from sending organisation must be
submitted on-line before 14:00 (CET), 3 December 2024.

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Financial and practical conditions of participation
Travel expenses
Travel expenses and visa fees for the training seminar in Strasbourg will be reimbursed
according to the rules of the Council of Europe. Only the participants who attend the entire
training seminar can be reimbursed.
Participants are expected to arrive to the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg on Saturday,
26 January 2025 and depart on Saturday, 1 February 2025.

Accommodation
Board and lodging for the residential training seminar will be provided and paid for by the
Council of Europe at the European Youth Centre Strasbourg. Participants will be
accommodated in twin rooms. The European Youth Centres are accessible to people with
disabilities and can take measures to accommodate for any access needs of participants in
this respect. Please provide the necessary information in your application form.

Working languages
English will be the working language of the training course, both for e-learning and the
residential training seminar. Participants are required to be able to express themselves
autonomously in English.

Further information
For any questions, please contact us at youthdemocracy@coe.int.