Empowering youth organisations through policy development training

The Youth Forum held a training on developing policies from youth work and youth organisation perspectives in Vienna, Austria, from 15th to 19th September.

During the five-day workshop, 23 representatives ­— comprising primarily board and secretariat members of National Youth Councils (NYC) and International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations (INGYO) — shared and learned best practices for policy development with a focus on why, when and how to do so.

An objective of the training was to empower youth organisations to develop policies on topics that they work on as well as set quality standards and processes.

“I have learned that the evaluation and revision process of a policy document is very important, and actually not many organisations do it,” said Daša Koribaničová, board member at Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU).

Croatian Youth Network (MMH) Board Member Karlo Kralj added that the training “supports our work, especially those of us who are board members or volunteers in our organisations.”

Activities took place at a Vienna Trust project’s house, a volunteer-led facility where different collectives such as arts and bicycle repair shops take place. The training was part of the Forum’s youth work and policy capacity-building efforts under work plan chapter 2: strong youth organisations. All of the Forum’s capacity-building activities aim to empower its members to be more sustainable, stronger and recognised actors in society.