Courier

Please don't forget that we encourage you to post information on your activities, projects and publications in the courier.
In order to do so, you simply have to send an email to courier@youthforum.org

THANK YOU!

News from Partners

Council of Europe : Training course for Living Library Organisers - Bringing human rights to a wider public
European Year of Intercultural Dialogue: Newsletter - Flagship Projects Special Edition
SOLIDAR Weekly Round-Up
AGE Press Release: 2nd European Demography Forum hightlights need to improve solidarity between generations and greater cohesion by meeting the social needs in an ageing society
Ombudsman investigates Commission's Early Warning System
Housing Ministers meeting 24 November Marseille: CECODHAS contribution
Eurpean Anti Poverty Network Flash November
Support the European Women’s Lobby 50/50 Campaign “No Modern European Democracy without Gender Equality!
Newsletter of the SALTO-YOUTH South East Europe RC 11/2008

European Youth Forum General Assembly 2008
Election Results

Please find below the results of the elections held during the YFJ General Assembly in Rotterdam, from 13-15 November.

May we express thanks to all the candidates who stood in the elections in Rotterdam, and congratulate all those elected; we look forward to the contribution and service they will give to the youth movement in the coming years.

YFJ Bureau 2009-10

Name	Position	Nominating Organisation(s)
RADINJA, Tine	President	MSS/WOSM
CONSTANTINOU, Xenia	Vice President	YEPP
GRØNSTAD, Christoffer	Vice President	LNU
EKMAN, Johan	Bureau Member	Allianssi
JANSONE, Agnija	Bureau Member	WAGGGS
KADERA, Michal	Bureau Member	EFIL
MUONA, Marianne	Bureau Member	ECOSY
OHANYAN, Hamlet	Bureau Member	NYCA
SCARPIELLO, Luca	Bureau Member	FNG
VANEM, Kadri	Bureau Member	ACTIVE
VANPEPERSTRAETE, Ben	Bureau Member	VJR/CRIJ

YFJ Financial Control Commission 2009-10

Name	Nominating Organisation(s)
RAVNIKAR, Aljosa	WOSM
TORP MADSEN, Peter	EEE-YFU
LEHEMETS, Sven	ENL
MARTINEZ GONZALEZ, Loli	CJE

YFJ Consultative Body on Membership Applications 2009-10

Name	Nominating Organisation(s)
ILIEV, Vesselin	EBCO
ISRAEL, Olga	EUJS
TURCAN, Marianna		CNTM
WEURO, Jaakko		ALLIANSSI

Advisory Council on Youth (mandate period 2009-11)

Name	Nominating Organisation(s)
ASANIDZE, Vakhtang	NCYOG & EEYC (CNTM/RADA/NYCOG/NYCR/NYCA/ NAYORA/UYF)
BARINOV, Denis	NYCR & EEYC (CNTM/RADA/NYCOG/NYCR/NYCA/ NAYORA/UYF)
BINGELYTE, Greta	LiJOT
CUMMINGS, Kie	YMCA
GANTENBEIN, Nicole	CSAJ
GENET, Etienne	CNAJEP
IREN LEA, Tove	WAGGGS
JOVANOVIC, Aleksandar	FYEG
KUHN, Roman	ALLIANCE
NILSSON, Imse	LSU
NOWOTTNICK, Lucy	IGLYO
O'CALLAGHAN, Yvonne	IUSY
PARDAL DA SILVA,André Tiago	EDS
PEREZ, Alberto Mogio	YEE
RUYTER, Hanh Nha	EEE-YFU
SENKUTE, Loreta	WOSM
SKOTKOVA, Dominika	ESN
SPASOVIC, Jelena	IFLRY
URB, Jaan	ENL
WULFF, Antonia	OBESSU

Briefing note on the lowering of the voting age

URGENT REMINDER: Vote@16! Grab the opportunity of the European elections for lobbying your MEPs!

Dear members,

In the frame of the current Work Plan, one of the objectives of the European Youth Forum, together with the Member Organisations, is to lower the voting age to 16. The context of the upcoming European elections appears a unique opportunity to raise this issue and draw attention to the political and demographic changes that require a reform of the voting age.

Currently the European Parliament is discussing an initiative report* by MEP Andrew Duff (ALDE- UK) on a modification of the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage of 20 September 1976 that proposes the lowering of the voting age to 16 and the eligibility age to 18**. The Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) of the European Parliament will discuss this draft proposal on 1 and 2 December 2008. Many MEPs have expressed their opposition to lowering the voting age and an amendment deleting the proposal is expected.

Therefore we invite you to contact your MEPs, before 1 December, and express your support for Andrew Duff's proposal to lower the voting age to 16. Especially the support of MEPs in the Constitutional Affairs Committee is of importance. You can consult a list of the members of this Committee here, and find out which MEP from your country or your network sits on the Committee, and get access to their contact details.

You can use—and freely adapt or translate— this template letter. Picking up the phone also works!

Also should you have the recommendations on which MEPs to lobby for or on the contacts you can have regarding this issue, pleace contact Ewoud Roes or Emel Kaba at the Secretariat.

Jaakko Weuro

Vice-President

* Draft reform for a proposal on a modification of the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage of 20 September 1976 (2007/2207(INI). Consult the document here.

** “The minimum age to be eligible to vote in the European parliamentary elections shall be 16. The minimum age to be eligible to stand as a candidate shall be 18”.

DONOR SYSTEM - info for RECIPIENT NYCs

DONOR SYSTEM - LATEST NEWS!!
- deadline to apply to be a recipient NYC: 29th November

Dear Friends,

As informed at the General Assembly the deadline for NYCs applying to become a RECIPIENT NYC is the 29th November (15 days after the GA).

Who can apply to be a Recipient NYC?
• Full member NYCs;
• Not able to pay total membership fee;
• Have already solution for financial difficulties;
• Applicants for the 2% rule can also apply;

How is the application process?
• Application sent until 29th November
• Sent by traditional mail and fax
• Addressed to Secretary General

What is required for the application?
• Contact information
• Total amount of fee and support requested
• Final approved accounts
• Clarifications on the financial situation
• Other relevant information
• Application and documents in English and French

NB: This is just a resume of the information as referred in the Donor System Guidelines. For more detailed and more accurate information please consult the attached docs: Guidelines in English and French.

Please do not hesitate to contact the European Youth Forum Secretariat (Diogo Pinto or Agata Petcov) in case you need further clarifications.

DONOR SYSTEM - info for DONOR NYCs

DONOR SYSTEM - deadline for DONOR NYCs to confirm their contributions: 31st December

Dear Friends,

The Donor System of our organisation will continue in 2009. With this note, we would like to announce already at this stage that the NYCs willing to contribute to the Donor System (DONOR NYC) should inform the Youth Forum Secretariat until 31 December 2008.

This confirmation may be sent by e-mail, but it's better to receive an official letter. The amount of your contribution will be added to your membership fee for 2009 ( please note that the membership fees for 2009 will be adopted at the coming General Assembly). The total amount will be invoiced as Membership Fee 2009. In this way you can be sure you get a document representing your payment.

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
The final membership fees (for Recipients and Donors) will go for approval at the first Bureau Meeting of 2009.

The invoice for the membership fees will then be sent to all the MOs at the beginning of February.

You can find enclosed the Guidelines for the Donor System in ENGLISH, and FRENCH.

Please do not hesitate to contact the European Youth Forum Secretariat (Diogo Pinto or Agata Petcov) in case you need further clarifications.

Call for participants

Information Days on OMC Education, Brussels, 11-12 December 2008
EXTENDED Deadline Friday 28 November 2008 12.00 CET (noon)

Education is of vital importance to young people as they spend a lot of time learning in different setting such as schools; family and youth organisations to prepare for being a citizen in our society. Education has always been decided on national or regional level. In the last ten years, with the Lisbon Agenda and the Bologna process there is an increased policy field being developed at European Level.

Education has its own open method of coordination, the so called Education and Training 2010 programme. This OMC is being revised at the moment creating an opportunity for young people to help shape the future of education in the EU.

To fully use this opportunity, the YJF is organising Info Days on the OMC Education to inform the YFJ MO's, both international youth organisations and national youth councils, on how they can play a role in getting the opinion of young people in this process. The Info Days will therefore conclude with a panel discussion with European policymakers from the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Czech Presidency.

More info and the application form can be found in the call you will find on the intranet (1026-28). For any questions please contact Maarten Coertjens.

"Youth Employment: fostering the dialogue between the Council of the EU and young Europeans", Zlin Region, Czech Republic, 20-21 January 2009
Deadline: 2 December 2008

Dear Member Organisations,

The European Youth Forum , together with the Zlin Region is organising the event “Youth Employment: fostering the dialogue between the Council of the EU and young Europeans” which will take place prior to the Informal Council of Employment Ministers, on 20-21 January 2009, under the Czech Presidency of the EU.

Through an event prior to the meeting of the EU Ministers of Employment, young people will be able to bring their perspective on the issues being discussed. The possibility to present the outcomes of their deliberations to the Ministers themselves, would enable the voice of youth to be heard and it would be a concrete sign of the willingness of the Council of the EU to listen to what the young generations have to say on a matter that affect them directly: youth employment!

You will find the call for participants and application form on the intranet(1006-08).

For further information please contact Inês Alves - Policy Officer for Employment, Social Cohesion and the European Youth Pact at the YFJ Secretariat.

Call for applications to the 1% Solidarity Fund 2009

In line with the United Nations recommendations concerning development aid, the General Assembly of the European Youth Forum (Blankenberge, December 1996) decided that:

"1% of the Annual European Youth Forum Budget would be allocated to finance concrete development projects involving young people".

This call for projects sets the criteria and procedures as well as the priorities established, for the selection and implementation of the European Youth Forum solidarity fund.

The European Youth Forum is committed to promoting the experiences of youth organisations in the field of development co-operation towards the United Nations, the World Bank and other institutions on the global level and promoting representative, democratic and sustainable Regional Youth Platforms as models to strengthen youth work development in other continents. Moreover, the Fund aims to contribute to the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) , the Millennium Development Goals, the EU Sustainable Development Strategy, and the plan of implementation adopted at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development.

You will find more information and the call on the intranet (1029-08) Calls 2008. For further information, please contact Giuseppe Porcaro.

Vacancy

Call for an intern
Deadline 19 December 2008

The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is recruiting an intern for the Policy Development and Advocacy Department. This department deals with the policy areas in which the Forum works (employment and social affairs, education, training, health, youth participation, sustainable development, human rights and equality, mobility); the advocacy processes in which it is involved (with regards to the European Union, Council of Europe and the United Nations); and with youth work development.

The call has been uploaded on the intranet (Calls 2008/Vacancy).

News from Member Organisations

EFILife November

Dear EFILife suscribers,

Attached please find the latest edition of EFIL's monthly newsletter, updating you about our activities of the past month, including:

- Michal Kadera's election to the Bureau of the European Youth Forum ;

- the approval by the European Commission of the Final Report of the Comenius Individual Pupil Mobility Project , marking the end of the project;

- the last Steering Group meeting of the Worldoscope project in South Africa;

- two more European grants have been awarded to EFIL trainings;

- the latest developments at our Member Organisations' offices, in the Partner News section;

… and more, much more.

Enjoy reading!

Best regards from the team at the EFIL office in Brussels.

THANK YOU!

Council of Europe : Training course for Living Library Organisers - Bringing human rights to a wider public

When? 3 – 8 February 2009
Where? European Youth Centre Budapest
Deadline to apply: 7 December

For a presentation and information on how to apply, please click here.