The Council of Europe Launches a Youth Participating Campaign – Democracy Here | Democracy Now

22-03-2022

Manon Picard

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher, 

Global Human Rights Defence.

The Council of Europe (CoE) launched, on the 21st of March 2022, a campaign to revitalise democracy through youth participation called – Democracy Here | Democracy Now. The campaign aims to “revitalis[e] democracy and … strengthen mutual trust between young people and democratic institutions and processes”. The focus of the campaign is on youth participation, the access to human rights and the impact digitalisation has had as a factor of democratisation. Democracy Here | Democracy Now is part of the Council of Europe’s Youth Strategy for 2030 which was launched at the start of 2020. 

The launching of Democracy Here | Democracy Now has obtained the full support of the Committee of Ministers under the Italian Presidency and the CoE’s Deputy Secretary General, Bjørn Berge, stated that the campaign “could not be more fitting for what we see and experience in Europe today”. Mr. Berge went further in stating that: 

“If we are to stop democratic backsliding, we need young people to take a leading role in the fight back: to co-pilot our future, to share ideas and create opportunities, to play an active, meaningful part in decision-making”. 

In addition, the Permanent Representative of Italy to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Michele Giacomelli, also said that the “[r]ights of minors and youth policies are one of the priorities of our Presidency and we have therefore planned several initiatives around those themes”. This is a positive sign that further campaigns or actions specifically targeted towards youths will be taken by the CoE in the future. For those interested in participating, until the 16th of May 2022, youth organisations who are looking for funding for the Democracy Here | Democracy Now campaign can send their applications on this link. 

Sources and further reading:

Council of Europe. (2022, March 21). Democracy Here | Democracy Now - Reaching Out to Young People, Including in Times of Crisis. Newsroom – Council of Europe. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/democracy-here-democracy-now-reaching-out-to-young-people-including-in-times-of-crisis

Council of Europe. (2022, March 21). Democracy Here. Democracy Now. https://www.coe.int/en/web/democracy-here-now

Council of Europe. (2022, March 21). Youth Sector Strategy 2030. https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/youth-strategy-2030