The Youth Forum gives young people a strong voice on rights at lobby mission in Strasbourg

The European Youth Forum led a successful lobby mission on the subject of youth rights during a meeting with 12 Permanent Representatives to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, on the 7th October.

The series of meetings with permanent representatives were held in lieu of the Recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on "Young people's access to fundamental rights.”

PACE's recommendation is twofold. First, it highlights the need for member states to commit to improving young people’s awareness of and access to their rights. Second, it proposes several innovative measures through which this can occur. In order to signal a strong commitment to ensuring young people’s access to fundamental rights, the Forum stressed to member states the need for a positive political response to the recommendation.

All 12 member states — including Greece, France, Belgium and Spain, to name several — were eager to engage with the Forum. They were open to hearing the voice of young people as well as exchanging positions on the recommendation, the subject of youth and access to rights as a whole.

This mission enabled the voice of youth to be clearly heard by decision makers. The Forum expects a strong reply from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to the PACE document. This would enable a positive step forward in ensuring that young people are empowered to access the rights they, as well as the rest of society, are due.