Sarah recently attended the European Youth Forum- Youth Event and the 8th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Youth, 8-11 October 2008 in Kiev, Ukraine.

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I recently attended the European Youth Forum- Youth Event and the 8th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Youth, 8-11 October 2008 in Kiev, Ukraine.

The youth event prior was attended by many young people representing different international Youth Non-Governmental Organisations and National Youth Councils. The event prior represented a great opportunity to network and work along side other organizations who promote youth work.

The Council of European meeting saw Ministers responsible for Youth from across the region set a declaration illustrating "The future of the Council of Europe youth policy: AGENDA 2020" which stated that they "are committed to actively promote, in all the member states of the Organisation, the development of youth policies which are likely to result in the successful integration of all young people into society."

The declaration listed priority headings such as:

• Human rights and democracy (with a new dimension added for promoting awareness education and action amongst young people on environment and sustainable development)
• Living together in diverse societies
• Social inclusion of young people

With this message, the young people were asking the Ministers for a co-management system to be considered, that young people be included in the development and implementation of policies for young people.

The Conference was an example of a lot of talking…so now we need to see that states follow up and are successful with the integration of the declaration. Many of the youth representatives asked how they [as ministers] were to follow up from this declaration…and the response was not clear. It was also noted that it's one thing to talk about integration and intergenerational dialogue, but it's an other to engage in it....

Pictures of the event

For more information from the Council of Europe