On 23 January 2020, the Council of Europe adopted a new Youth Strategy. The strategy puts youth issues at the very centre of the organisation.

Youth is back at the core of the work of the organisation. This happens after a difficult year where the entire youth sector was questioned within the organisation. With this new strategy, running until 2030, the Council of Europe aims at strengthening democracy through youth engagement.

Under the great initiative of the Georgian Chairmanship of the organisation, the first ever Informal exchange of views on youth issues at the Committee of Ministers was organised. Present were Ministers’ Deputies, representatives of all Member States, the Secretary General and youth organisations. Overwhelming support has been shown by the political representatives of Member States, which gives to the youth sector of the Council of Europe a stronger mandate to continue engaging with young people and youth organisations across the continent. The new strategy is very much aligned with the recently adopted strategic plan of the European Youth Forum, which has been contributing to its development in the last two years. We are convinced that the work of the European Youth Centres in Strasbourg and in Budapest, as well as the support provided by the European Youth Foundation to youth organisations and the co-management system in the youth field, constitute an irreplaceable support to youth work and the entire youth sector in Europe. 

Looking back and seeing all that has been achieved for young people and youth organisations thanks to those instruments in the last 50 years (year of creation of the European Youth Foundation) should be an additional reason to celebrate and to look ahead to achieve even more in the future with this new strategy. We are ready to take our role in the implementation of the strategy.

The Council of Europe has long championed the rights of the most excluded and marginalised young people, including young LGBTQI+, Roma and other ethnic and religious minorities, refugees and those from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. This strategy will allow the organisation to keep up the good work.

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