C 184/8
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
25.5.2023
3.7.
Data collection needs to be improved for youth in nearly all areas of external action.
The roll-out of the YAP needs to focus on this challenging area, as recognised in the mapping and gap analysis of international data on youth that was recently undertaken by the European Commission.
It can be hard to disaggregate outputs and outcomes and to distinguish the precise contribution of any given programme or initiative to an outcome.
Therefore, all interventions with youth need longitudinal analysis.
3.8.
The EU and all its institutions should work with the United Kingdom (UK) to ensure that the spirit of cooperation and intercultural learning and developed experience from Erasmus+ and all other forms of cooperation is not lost to young people and youth organisations in that country.
Every opportunity for optimising the potential for rebuilding relationships with CSOs in the UK should be explored, and conceiving and fostering new ones (6).
Leadership and participation 3.9.
The YAP focuses to a considerable degree on leadership and participation.
This is welcomed and very much in line with best practices in working with young people.
The EESC believes however that a very thorough and deliberative approach will be needed in further rolling out such an approach in EU external action.
Even within the EU and its Member States, we have a long way to go on participative practice despite strong efforts.
Youth leadership generally arises from good grassroots work in a supportive environment.
This in turn gives rise to young people who can speak up, but based on connections with their peers and experience of local issues like environment, transport, education, mental health, social assistance and many more.
This work is often facilitated by CSOs.
We hope the thematic programmes on Civil Society and Human Rights and Democracy can focus on these needs.
3.10.
A number of associated factors therefore need to be present for good practice in this field.
The Erasmus+ programme still seeks to prioritise young people with fewer opportunities, effectively recognising that a leading programme still has much to do in this area.
In the field of People to People Contacts and Mobility, administrative aspects such as visas play a decisive role in ensuring a smooth experience for the participants, and there is a need for a common approach here.
Applying these challenges to developing countries, fragile states or even totalitarian countries will clearly ramp up the challenges.
At the end of the day, all the envisaged leadership and participative work must be built on grassroots and community-based experience.
3.11.
We must be careful not to invert the process of working with ‘leaders’ first in the absence of any real grassroots traction.
Funders and international non-governmental organisations can’t create this leadership, and quality grassroots linkages need to be ensured.
Therefore, we need transparent selection, open and inclusive methods and safeguards against capture by states and others, particularly in fragile states.
Engagement, participation, and leadership skills are crucial and our approach must build an infrastructure to make it real.
Long term support for youth organisations and civil society must be prioritised over short term project based approaches.
Engagement with youth leadership also needs strategies to deal with a constantly changing group who are transient, who grow and develop and at some stage will need or want to move on.
3.12.
Meaningful support to grassroots organisations that operate on the ground should be provided so they can develop internally and become relevant actors in their local communities.
We hope the work of the Youth Sounding Board (YSB) on international partnership in this regard, and the dialogue platform with youth organisations as part of the Policy Forum on Development (PFD), will address this.
In addition, support to trade unions and trade union youth organisations can help to encourage and support young people to participate democratically in their workplace.
National Youth Councils can provide a good infrastructure to decide who to work with in partner countries, as long as they are independent, as can initiatives such as the Big 6 Youth Organisation’s Global Youth Mobilisation initiative (7).
(6) (7)
EESC Information report on ‘The implementation of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland’.
https://globalyouthmobilization.org/