Youth participation is backed by the relevant national and international legal acts adopted by UN, EU, CoE and various states. Some of them has obligatory or binding statues some just recommendation one or soft low status. In both cases this kind of documents emphasizes the importance of the topic in national and international politics.

In general, participation is a fundamental right and is one of the guiding principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that has been reiterated in many other Conventions and Declarations. The term youth participation is not specified in the UN declaration or in the convention on civil and political rights, instead, it used the work all peoples, all persons, everyone, each etc., which includes youth as well. There are no specific convention on Youth within UN but there is a convention on child that specified the age limit in its first Article and sets it under the 18.

A bit different interpretation of youth participation could be find in the Council of Europe legal documents. A revised European charter on the participation of young people in local and regional life adopted by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is one the main legal documents that promotes youth participation in decision-making process at local and regional level. 

The EU has confirmed its interest and importance of youth participation through the strategic document the EU Youth Strategy which is the framework for EU youth policy cooperation for 2019-2027. According to it, at least two goals out of eleven is refer to participation issue. In the theoretical part, we will discuss the each of them in details and will give some insight about the youth participation right and legal documents refer to it. 

Theoretical material

Human rights are the rights that everyone is entitled to, regardless of who you are or where you are born and live, meaning they are universal in nature. UN legal documents provides a set of rights related to participation. Those includes the rights that are directly means participation or indirectly connected to the participation. Below is given non-exhaustive list of the rights derived from the UN legal base refer to the participation issue.

• The right to take part in the government and free elections
• Freedom of opinion and expression
• The right to peaceful assembly and association
• Everyone has duties to the community
• Freedom of thought
• Right to participate in the cultural life

While Council of Europe does not emphasis, the specific right on youth participation or participation in its Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, but has separate charter on youth participation at local and regional level where is reflected all the means and ways, where, what and how to engage young people in the decision making process. The Revised Charter is divided into 3 parts on: sectoral policies; instruments for youth participation; and institutional participation by young people in local and regional affairs.

EU foster youth participation in democratic life, in line with Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. Currently it has been running youth policy through Youth Strategy 2019-2027 document, the recent one that was adopted in 2018 by the Council of European Union based on the respective resolution. According to the document the … European Youth Policy and all actions undertaken within the European Union Youth Strategy 2019-2027 should be firmly anchored in the international system of human rights… One of the principles of the document state directly on participation.

… Participation: recognising that all young people are a resource to society, all policies and activities concerning young people should uphold young people's right to participate in the development, implementation and follow-up of policies affecting them by means of meaningful participation of young people and youth organisations. In this context, policies should be built in recognition of the changes brought about by digital communication affecting democratic and civic participation…

Document also has European Youth Goals totally eleven, out of which three refers to participation topic. Those are the followings:

#1 Connecting EU with Youth - Foster the sense of youth belonging to the European project and build a bridge between the EU and young people to regain trust and increase participation.

#4 Information and Constructive Dialogue - Ensure young people have better access to reliable information, support their ability to evaluate information critically and engage in participatory and constructive dialogue.

#9 Space and Participation for All - Strengthen young people’s democratic participation and autonomy as well as provide dedicated youth spaces in all areas of society.

EU is implementing the policy reflected in the document mainly through Erasmus Plus program. Through active participation, young people are empowered to play a vital role in their own development as well as in that of their communities, helping them to learn vital life-skills, develop knowledge on human rights and citizenship and to promote positive civic action. To participate effectively, young people must be given the proper tools, such as information, education about and access to their civil rights.

Useful resources and links, additional literature

EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C:2018:456:FULL&from=EN

Universal Declaration of Human Rights https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

Convention on the Rights of the Child https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights -https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx

http://www.youthgoals.eu/

Video links

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTlrSYbCbHE

Human rights in two minutes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew993Wdc0zo

The Story of Human Rights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXGF_V8_7M

EU Youth Strategy: Investing & Empowering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_zCQNhiwTQ

The EU's Structured Dialogue with young people - what it is and how it works! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IspKFDRGfd8

Open ended questions

Which rights refers to the participation? Please provide at least three.

Through which program EU implements its youth participation policy?

What does space and participation for all goal means in case of EU strategy?

What is the main legal tool of the Council of Europe regarding youth participation?

How many youth goals does EU strategy on youth has and how many refers to participation?