Young people have published a manifesto calling for action to strengthen democracy across Europe, developed at a Council of Europe youth event held in Strasbourg in June.
The document, titled “Youth visions for a European democracy in 2049”, was written by 120 participants and sets out their shared vision for the continent’s democracy in 2049, when the Council of Europe will mark its 100th anniversary, the organisation informed on Wednesday.
It opens by saying: “Young people are often told that we are the future. Yet many of us struggle to trust that future,” the Council of Europe said.
The manifesto lists 15 measures for governments, international organisations — including the Council of Europe — and civil society.
Issues covered include local youth participation, democratic accountability, education, healthcare, the jobs market and basic income, inclusive democratic participation, power-sharing across generations and housing.
Youth participation in Council of Europe decision-making
The Council of Europe said it has involved young people in its work since its foundation in 1949, and cited the European Cultural Convention in 1954 as the starting point for its engagement with youth organisations.
An experimental European Youth Centre was launched near Strasbourg in the 1960s, later leading to the European Youth Foundation and a permanent European Youth Centre in Strasbourg in 1972, and another in Budapest in 1995.
Since 1972, youth organisations and governments have had an equal say in certain youth-related decision-making through a co-management system, with 30 young people and representatives of youth ministries from 48 countries taking decisions collectively on youth policies and programmes.
The manifesto’s opening heading reads: “Dear democracy, our youth is yours.”
