Working seminar for representatives of the Visegrad Group ...blog.nohatespeechmovement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/V4-Ea… · Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group July 2016

Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group July 2016 – June 2017

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Young People for Human Rights

Working seminar for representatives of the Visegrad

Group and the Eastern Partnership countries

Warsaw, 22-23 February 2017

Report


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Table of contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Opening session ................................................................................................................................... 4

Study visits to local youth organisations ......................................................................................... 14

Working groups................................................................................................................................... 17

Panel discussion................................................................................................................................. 26

Evaluation results ............................................................................................................................... 31

Annex 1.Message adopted by participants .................................................................................... 33

Annex 2.Seminar programme .......................................................................................................... 36

Annex 3.List of participants ............................................................................................................... 39


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Introduction

The ‘Young People for Human Rights’ seminar was held in the frame of Polish

Presidency in Visegrad Group (V4). The main subject of the seminar was the

participation of young people in Human Rights activities. The main objectives of the

seminar were to present good practice from the represented countries and work on

possible future developments. The main target groups of the seminar were:

representatives of line ministries in the field of youth, national coordinators of the

Council of Europe No Hate Speech Movement (NHSM) and representatives of

National Agencies of Erasmus+ Youth programme and youth activists, especially

representatives of National Youth Councils. Participants came from V4: Czech

Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Eastern Partnership (EaP) Countries:

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The seminar programme included a number of welcome and opening speeches (by

representatives of the Ministry of National Education of Poland, the Foundation for

the Development of the Education System, the Council of Europe, and the Ministry of

Education of the Czech Republic) followed by working groups on three core topics:

human rights in the digital environment, participation of young people in the field of

human rights and cross-sectoral cooperation, study visits to local youth organisations

in Warsaw, presentations of Czech, Polish and Hungarian V4 Presidencies and their

priorities and a panel discussion on support tools for youth organisations in V4 and

EaP such as the Solidarity Fund (PL), Visegrad Fund, the partnership between

Council of Europe and the European Commission and SALTO EECA Resource

Centre. Additionally, the seminar provided a platform for a series of meetings of

NHSM Co-ordinators from V4 and EaP countries with the CoE Campaign Co-

ordinator.

The seminar allowed to formulate a Message from participants with their key findings

to be submitted to the 3rd Eastern Partnership Youth Forum to be held in Warsaw

(Poland) on 22-23 June 2017.


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Opening session

Mr Grzegorz Chorąży

Deputy Director

Strategy and International Co-operation Department

Ministry of National Education, Poland

Thanked all attendees and reiterated the importance of V4 co-operation and its youth

dimension, an important element of people to people contacts between V4 and EaP

countries. The Ministry appreciates the need to engage all stakeholders, and in a

similar fashion the Polish V4 Presidency aims reflect the interests of all countries

involved. For Poland making young people active citizens and empowering them is a

really important policy area and as it is an idea shared by all countries it was chosen

as a priority area. Mr Chorąży highlighted the importance of the Council of Europe’s

NHSM campaign as a shared experience to be built upon and thanked the Council of

Europe for their participation and input. Mr Chorąży highlighted Poland’s experiences

in the field of youth empowerment that the Ministry would like to encourage youth to

engage in all aspects of social life including volunteering at schools. Mr Chorąży

encouraged the seminar participants to use the opportunity to meet Polish NGOs

and forge future partnerships. The Ministry also hopes that the seminar will inform

the main EaP event in Poland this year – the 3rd Eastern Partnership Youth Forum

planned to take place in Warsaw in June 2017.

Dr Paweł Poszytek

Director General

Foundation for the Development of the Education System, Poland

Dr Poszytek welcomed all esteemed guests and thanked them for their attendance.

He underlined that the Foundation values and encourages co-operation across


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borders at regional and European level as it operates a number of programmes, not

only European but also bilateral – a very particular time to do so as the EU Erasmus

Programme celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Poland has a track record of

international educational co-operation since 1998 and even though it is a junior

partner compared with other EU countries, the learning curve was a great

experience and Poland now appreciates that the space for debate on Europe’s

challenges and the number of programmes is expanding. Mr Poszytek encouraged

the seminar participants to seize the opportunities of the new EU4Youth programme

for Eastern Partnership countries, notably the Eastern Partnership Youth Window

especially that its first deadline is fast approaching.

Ms Zdenka Maskova

Head of Youth Policy Unit

Youth Department

Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Czech Republic

Ms Maskova thanked all organisers and outlined the main events leading up to the

seminar. The cooperation was initiated by the Slovak V4 Presidency when a CDEJ

member from Georgia was invited as an observer to an annual V4 meeting in

Bratislava in May 2011. Afterwards, the Georgian Ministry of Youth and Sport invited

the directors of V4 ministerial youth departments to Tbilisi in July 2011 to discuss the

cooperation between V4 and EaP countries in the field of youth. All the annual and

thematic V4 and EaP events were further supported by: the partnership between the

European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth, SALTO

Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Centre and PL and CZ Erasmus+ National

Agencies. During the Czech V4 Presidency (2011-2012) the representatives of EaP

countries were invited to join the first annual V4 and EaP meeting in Prague (May

2012). During this meeting the participants agreed on developing cooperation

between V4 and EaP countries in the field of youth on three levels: among ministries

responsible for youth, Youth in Action national agencies and national youth councils.


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Under the succeeding Polish V4 Presidency (1. 7. 2012 – 30. 6. 2013) in Sulejówek,

Poland, in April 2013 the Comparative Study of the Situation of Youth in the

Countries of the Visegrad Group was introduced, covering areas such as

participation and decision-making, volunteerism, non-formal education as well as

employment and entrepreneurship (Ewa Krzaklewska; Council of Europe 2013).

In the annual V4 and EaP annual meeting under the Hungarian V4 Presidency (1. 7.

2013 – 30. 6. 2014) in March 2014, the V4 and Georgian participants evaluated the

results of the cooperation. It was for the first time when an idea of signing the

Memorandum of Cooperation between V4 and EaP Countries in the Field of Youth

was heard. Slovakia and Georgia took there their responsibility for drafting the text of

Memorandum. Under the subsequent Slovak V4 Presidency (1. 7. 2014 – 30. 6.

2015) Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministries of Countries of Visegrad

Group Responsible for Youth and the Ministries of Countries of Eastern Partnership

to European Union Responsible for Youth in Youth Field was signed in Bratislava in

June 22, 2015. The Czech Republic supported the Slovak V4 Presidency by

organising a thematic working seminar for V4 and EaP countries on volunteerism of

young people in Prague in September 2014 in a close cooperation with SALTO

EECA and the Czech Erasmus+ National Agency (Centre for International

Cooperation in Education).

The Czech V4 Presidency (1. 7. 2015 – 30. 6. 2016) organised “Youth Policy and

Youth Work: Working Seminar on Cooperation between Visegrad Group, Romania

and Eastern Partnership Countries" on October 6 – 7, 2015 which resulted in a joint

Action Plan of cooperation between Visegrad Group and Eastern Partnership

countries in the youth field 2015 - 2017.

The priority of the Czech V4 Presidency in the youth field was to enable Romania to

join the cooperation between V4 and EaP countries in the field of youth as an equal

partner in so-called V4+ format on request of the Romanian Deputy Minister

responsible for youth (a Romanian delegation took an active part in this seminar).

Later on, the annual V4 and EaP meeting (social inclusion) was organised in June

2016. Mr Maskova offered some tentative conclusions and taking points for future

V4-EaP co-operation: general discussions on the state of play of national youth

policies were changed to seminars on thematic fields of youth policy; presentations


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of national delegations on the same topic were changed to reflective discussions on

thematic aspects of youth policy and study visits; the V4+ format brings about new

challenges and opportunities, including the participation of new countries such as

Romania and Serbia.

Mr Hovsep Khurshudyan, Mr Grigor Yeritsyan

Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

Mr Khurshudyan summarised the activities of the EaP CSF including annual forum,

working group meetings and grant support system and the EaP Youth Conference

“Youth for Rights” held in Bratislava in 2016. The aim of the Conference was to

facilitate cooperation and networking between participants engaged in the

Conference so as to create stronger and trust-based bonds for the future, and create

synergies between EaP Youth Conference from one side and next EaP Youth Forum

2017 (Warsaw), EaP Civil Society Forum Annual Assembly 2016 (November,

Brussels) and the next Eastern Partnership Platform 4 meeting 2016 (December,

Brussels) from the other side, taking part in developing of priorities and an agenda

for both EaP events. The event brought together youth representatives of the civic

initiatives and civil society organisations working in the field of human rights and

youth rights advocacy in the EU and EaP countries, international experts,

representatives of the human rights movements from post-soviet countries, including

those from the EU. It involved 120 young people from both the Eastern Partnership

(15 people from each country: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and

Ukraine), Russia (10 people) and European Union Member States (20 people). Also,

international experts (5 people), trainers (5 people), facilitators (7 people) and invited

guests (15 people) from the EaP and EU, representatives of SALTO Youth,

European Youth Forum, V4 Youth Council and Youth Council of Slovakia, previous

EaP Youth Forums, as well as donors. One of the main outputs of the conference

were EaP CSF recommendations. The following recommendations to the EU were

developed:

- To create measures allowing youth CSOs, non-formal initiatives and civic

activists to be better included in decision making processes. Encourage a


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minimum youth presence in consultations over EaP programmes and bilateral

agreements.

- Create a watchdog mechanism for monitoring the spending of EU funding.

Involve youth CSOs in discussing how funds should be allocated and improve

funding mechanisms so that CSOs have greater access to funding.

- The EU should assist national governments in encouraging entrepreneurship

by prioritising education programmes such as Erasmus for Young

Entrepreneurs. The EU should continue to support exchange programmes

and research programmes and ensure that these target the most marginalised

groups.

- Introduce measures to discourage states from repressing CSOs and advocate

for fast and non-exclusive CSO registration. Call for the release of imprisoned

civil society representatives, activists, and other political prisoners. Assist civil

society in monitoring human rights situations free of persecution

- Engage in dialogue with CSOs, human rights defenders and youth activists

about support to civil society and ensure that youth activist can meet with EU

officials during visits. The EU must put pressure on national governments to

heed the policy recommendations of CSOs.

- The conference also resulted in producing recommendations to EaP

governments, notably:

- Encourage broader recognition of non-formal education, particularly on the

issues discussed (civic education, inclusion, democracy, environmental issues

etc.).

- Education should adopt both theoretical and practical methods with the option

of combining studies with work experience, volunteering or internships.

Through cooperation with Higher Education Institutions and employers, non-

formal education can be encouraged through career counselling and

mentoring programmes in cooperation with businesses and local

organisations

- National Governments should invest greater resources in modernising

education and adequately training teachers at all levels


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- National governments must strive for full and non-biased implementation of

Bologna process reforms

- Prevent discrimination in access to education and employment by allowing

this to be monitored by giving CSOs access to educational institutions and

national statistics. Promote and support the collection of data by independent

research institutions on issues related to inclusion, tolerance and diversity in

education and the workplace

- National EaP governments should create a friendly environment for SMEs

and start-ups for young people by establishing support mechanisms such as

tax reduction and preferential loans.

- National governments should launch transparent and independent anti-

corruption agencies on the national level, implement legislation about the e-

declaration of incomes of public officials, and develop systems of transparent

public procurements in the EaP states

- National governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus should refrain from

repressing CSOs and ensure fast and non-exclusive CSO registration. The

imprisoned civil society representatives, activists, and other political prisoners

should be immediately released

Mr Menno Ettema

Campaign Co-ordinator

No Hate Speech Movement

Mr Ettema thanked the organisers and praised title of this seminar Young People for

Human Rights is simple, clear and yet very engaging - it reads ‘yes, young people

care - they take action for a better world, so let’s get on with it’! Taking the No Hate

Speech Movement as a reference point illustrates just that. The Council of Europe

stands fully behind the conviction that youth can act for human rights, democracy

and rule of law in Europe. The CoE supports member states and civil society across

Europe to do just that through policy development, standard setting and capacity-

building programmes. The NHSM is a youth campaign of the Council of Europe. It


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mobilises young people to combat hate speech and act for Human Rights online

through: reporting with the relevant authorities and counter and alternative speech

promoting human rights and democratic values. The campaign is implemented

through national campaign committees in 44 countries across Europe. They bring

together national youth and human rights organisations, national authorities and

others involved in anti-discrimination work as well as 60 European campaign

partners and 80 online activists. The NHSM is a clear example of successful youth

participation. The campaign was initiated by the youth representatives in CoE

statutory bodies following the horrific terror attack on Utoya, Norway. They believed

that young people should be mobilised to uphold human rights and democracy online

through Human Rights Education (HRE). According to Mr Ettema, the main learning

points from the campaign are:

- Some hate speech should be taken down following clear transparent rules

and procedures if it breaches national legislation that protects human dignity

and forms an imminent threat to the people it targets.

- Most Hate speech should however be countered by challenging the

underlying hateful messages, misinformation and conspiracies

- Alternative narratives are needed to occupy the online space

- Alternative narratives provide young people with different points of view and

encourage them to promote human rights and democratic values online.

- Young people (and indeed older people too) need to gain the competences

(knowledge skills and attitudes) to identify hate speech and act on it. This

means being critical consumers of online content, reflecting on its meaning

and intentions, the narrative it promotes, being decisive on what to share

further, ignore or dispute.

In 2016, the Council of Europe drafted the Competences for Democratic Culture

framework1 to understand the various skills we all need to be able to include

democracy and human rights perspectives in our lives. Amongst the 20 or so

1 More on Competences for Democratic Framework here:

http://www.coe.int/en/web/education/competences-for-democratic-culture

http://www.coe.int/en/web/education/competences-for-democratic-culture


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competences some of them are: openness to cultural diversity, dealing with

ambiguity, critical thinking, self-reflection, conflict resolution, amongst others.

The NHSM supports young people to gain these competences and empower them to

combat hate speech through education and awareness-raising in schools, youth

centres, sports and online across Europe. To do so the campaign has two key

educational resources:

- Bookmarks2, the manual on combatting hate speech through human rights

education provides youth workers and educators’ information and educational

activities for youth to understand hate speech and the threat it poses to

human rights and democracy.

- The new manual ‘We CAN’ to be launched on March 20. As campaigners

have found it particularly challenging to work with youth on developing an

effective response to hate speech. This manual presents communicative and

educational approaches and tools for youth and other human rights activists

to develop their own counter and alternative narratives to hate speech. It is

designed for working with young people from the age of 13. Based on the

principles of human rights education and youth participation.

Combining these tools will provide hands-on guidance to address hate speech and

counter extremist narratives.

It is important to highlight that learning to do Human Rights and Democracy day to

day is a shared responsibility. HRE needs a comprehensive approach accompany us

in school, the youth centre, indeed community events like festivals that is sustained

over time. The strength of the NHSM campaign relays on the shared engagement of

youth and human rights organisations, national authorities and many others. In order

to achieve this, youth participation is a must. The recently adopted Recommendation

CM (2016)7 ‘on Young People’s access to Rights’ highlights clearly the need for fully

participation of young people. Only together with young people can the barriers be

identified and taken down that prevents them from accessing sufficient healthcare,

education, decent employment, housing and ensure their participation in social and

political live. Working with youth on their access to rights will address the ground for

discontent and disengagement among young people – it is this human rights

2 Find bookmarks online at: http://nohatespeechmovement.org/bookmarks

http://nohatespeechmovement.org/bookmarks


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narrative that needs to be more robustly propagated. True participation builds shared

responsibility for our society. True democratic participation entails debunk ill-

informed quick-fix solutions and populist discourses that flourish online because they

single out one group as the problem to be solved undermining the fundamental

values of pluralistic democracy. As mentioned before the Council of Europe believes

this means there is a need for adequate youth policy, good standards and education.

And indeed education for all, both local and national authorities and Youth need to

learn to work together. The Council of Europe’s recommendation on Youth

Participation in Local and Regional Authority and the Manual Have Your Say provide

clear guideline for all stakeholders in this process. Mr Ettema reiterated his belief in

youth wanting to act for human rights and Democratic Culture both off and online.

Ms Kasia Siemasz

Board Member

Polish Council of Youth Organisations

Ms Siemasz pointed to the great power of young people’s voices in today’s world,

quoting the examples of 160,000 young people protesting recently in Barcelona,

urging the Spanish government to take in more refugees, hundreds of thousands of

young Romanian citizens who took to the streets of Bucharest in the anti-corruption

protests, the largest since 1989 revolution, and a wave of demonstrations that

gripped Paris following accusations a police officer raping a young black man. All

these people decided to go out on the streets, articulate their dissatisfaction and stir

with the current events or the policies of their countries. And all this happened only

in the last 53 days, but last year was just as eventful, when protests have reached

countries represented at this very seminar. In some cases the protests were caused

by the concrete violations of the human rights, in other cases it is the broad

dissatisfaction with the policies and the decisions taken by the governments. In some

cases demonstrators made it clear that it is about the social inequalities and doubts

about the transparency and democracy. More and more people feel that the

decisions are taken behind closed doors, without the involvement of the society and


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also not necessarily in the interests of the society. That feeds and fuels the populist

and extremist movements, which often present themselves as the alternative to the

established and democratic parties.

The reasons for the protests are multiple. Many of those people are left with no

hopes for continuing their lives as they used to, are forced to flee, often risking their

lives when their fundamental rights are violated every day. Furthermore, many of

them face the reality of economic stagnation with unfair distribution of wealth. The

third crisis, a phenomenon particularly visible in the last months - the so-called post-

factual or post-truth politics and discourses, in which the facts have no value, truth is

falsified and given secondary meaning. Public political discourses become based on

an emotional approach and personal opinions, rather than statistics and facts. Or

people operate with “alternative facts” and the more often they repeat them, the

more often they will be picked up and quoted and embedded in the public discourse.

Youth organizations are where the democracy is being exercised. And that happens

without the parliamentary or presidential elections. Young people join youth

organizations voluntarily, they are active, they engage themselves for a various

societal causes and they also take part in elections by choosing their representatives

or representing the others. It is youth organizations, where young people become

conscious, engaged and responsible citizens, where they discuss about things they

care about, make decisions and take action. They are an important part of the civil

society and therefore vital to democracy. And they need to be supported.

Ms Siemasz called on all decision-makers to listen to young people, to hear their

vision and to react, when young people feel some borders are being crossed and

rights are being violated. Ms Siemasz further called on policy-makers to open

themselves for a dialogue with us and let it be an active dialogue. Ms Siemasz

further wished the seminar participants a fruitful event.


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Study visits to local youth organisations

1) Fundacja Centrum Cyfrowe

Centrum Cyfrowe was created in 2010 as a think-and-do tank with a focus on

fostering a digital civic society in Poland through the development of open models for

education, science, culture and public information. Its primary objective is the

introduction of policies and practices related to the open sharing of resources, with

particular focus on public resources. It also advocates the use of digital technologies

for the public interest, and the development of policies in support of this goal. Its

principal areas of work are policymaking and outreach with a focus on open


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education, openness of public resources and copyright reform. It also conducts

qualitative and quantitative research on the impact of technology on cultural and

educational practices in the society, which provides evidence base for our policy

work. More information: www.centrumcyfrowe.pl.

2) Stowarzyszenie Parafiada – Parafiada Association

A modern non-profit organisation, thanks to which thousands of young Poles can

gain sport achievements and open to the culture and faith. In addition to leisure

activities, it delivers valuable modern world values: respect, goodness and honesty,

which are the initiators of many special projects carried out in schools, sport clubs,

orphanages, clubs and campfires, always in accordance with parishes.

More information: www.parafiada.pl.

3) Fundacja na rzecz Różnorodności Społecznej (FRS) – Foundation for Social

Diversity

The foundation was established in 2007. Its main role is supporting integration of

society in terms of cultural, religious, ethnic, racial, national and world view. FRS

supports at the local level society development, openness and tolerance in the

context of cultural, religious, ethnic, racial, national and world view. Main activities

are implemented in four areas: education, research, publications and shaping public

debate. It supports the networks and coalitions operating on a national or

international scale, such as Coalition for Anti-discrimination Education or European

Grassroots Antiracist Movement. More information: www.ffrs.org.pl.

4) Fundacja Polskie Forum Migracyjne – Polish Migration Forum Foundation

The foundation was established in 2007. Polish Migration Forum is involved in

activities such as:

- Information (e.g. leaflets, public space campaigns, books for professionals,

meetings and lectures)

- Education – workshops (e.g. for professionals – school teachers, psychologist,

police, public officers, journalists; children and adults – Poles and foreigners)

- Initiatives aimed at integration (e.g. at school, local neighbourhood)

http://www.centrumcyfrowe.pl/

http://www.parafiada.pl/

http://www.ffrs.org.pl/


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- Psychological help for children and their parents affected by migration

It works a lot within communities where centres for foreigners including refugees,

asylum seekers and migrants are located. It implements projects in cooperation with

schools, libraries and other local institutions.

More information: www.forummigracyjne.org/en.

5) Młodzieżowa Rada m.st. Warszawy – Youth Council of the City of Warsaw

Youth Council of the City of Warsaw is a group of young people that serves as a

consultative and advisory body to the capital city council. It consists of

representatives of the 18 districts of Warsaw, delegated by the youth council districts

(2 persons) and 2 representatives of environmental special schools. Its task is to

promote youth initiatives, consult the decisions of the city authorities, and create

actions addressed to youth and express opinions on the most important issues for

young people in Warsaw.

More information: .

http://www.forummigracyjne.org/en


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Working groups

Participants contributed to three working groups, discussing the following topics:

1) Human rights in the digital environment,

2) Participation of young people in the field of human rights, within civil society,

especially youth organisations and

3) Cross-sectorial cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of

human rights.

Human rights in the digital environment

Facilitator – Nelli Gishyan (Armenia)

Group description:

The social media and the internet in general play a significant role in the life of young

people. Day by day digital environment becomes an integral part of their activities. In

recent years, human rights and violations of human rights online are becoming more

challenging, as things happening offline have their impact in online activities and

actions. Online acting in accordance with human rights is even more challenging

because in many cases we do not know whom we are dealing with and the digital

environment of human rights perspective becomes unclear and not always safe.

The objectives of the group were:

- To exchange the opinions and experiences (from local, national, international level)

on the needs and challenges of young people in the digital environment;

- To come up with common proposals and solutions to face them.

A summary of key issues discussed by the group is presented below (word cloud).


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Human rights in the digital environment – word cloud

The group also discussed a number of issues pertinent to human rights in the digital

environment. The group felt that consistent law and policy approach to Hate Speech

was needed, accompanied by support from law enforcement agencies in enforcing

them – all within the HR framework. There was also a strong drive to raise

awareness through education, training those working with its victims (police) and

with youth using digital influencers and open online courses (including HRE

programmes). Other suggestions included: Increasing media literacy through non

formal education at grassroots level, strengthening regional cooperation to

strengthen protection of human rights of young people, using media literacy as an

instrument to enhance critical thinking to deal with ‘fake news’, addressing political

correctness that feeds populist movements and radicalisation among youth and

providing positive constructive solutions to hate speech – ‘make fun not hate’.

Participants of the working group drafted the following messages:

1. Addressing human rights challenges both online and offline requires support

for youth organisations’, youth councils’, public bodies’ and the educational

sector’s initiatives for Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship education,

including through international engagement and co-operation.


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2. Empowering young people to think critically and act to protect human rights

calls for strong European, national and regional co-operation, stakeholder and

tool mapping as well as synergy between stakeholders at all levels.

3. Building a common approach to protecting human rights online and creating

space for youth participation necessitates the involvement of young people in

internet governance processes including through human rights and media

literacy education.

Participation of young people in the field of human rights, within civil society,

especially youth organisations

Facilitator – Kateryna Zeziulina (Ukraine)

Group description:

The working group offered a space for sharing good practices and achievements as

well as problems and weaknesses of youth participation in the field of human rights.

Participants formulated suggestions and ideas how to encourage, activate and

strengthen involvement of young people in fostering human rights activities in V4 and

EaP countries. The objectives of the group are:

- To share achievements, good practices, problems and weaknesses of youth

participation in the field of human rights in V4 and EaP countries,

- To formulate suggestions on how to activate young people in fostering human

rights activities in V4 and EaP countries.



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Participation of young people in the field of human rights – word cloud

Sharing common understanding of youth participation and based on Right-Means-

Support-Opportunity-Space (RMSOS) approach of youth participation the group

worked out several challenges and problems of region they represent.

Those remarks were transformed into following messages:

1. Increasing the levels of trust among young people towards political processes

and actors requires their active participation in decision-making processes in

peaceful and tolerant societies.

2. Promoting youth participation is crucial in gaining better recognition of youth work

and voluntary work.

The group also discussed a number of other concerns in the field of participation of

young people in the field of human rights. They highlighted the need to recognise

importance of non-formal educational in the field of youth and to provide access to

young people to receive more understandable information on youth participation.

They also identified gaps in assisting young people to reach more practical skills in a

field of decision-making process and stressed the importance of meeting good

practises of different countries or communities. The group also felt that young people

need to be given concrete participation opportunities and build bridges between


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generations for better cooperation. Finally, the group discussed various ways to

increase the appreciation and recognition of the impact of youth work as an equal

and important field of youth development, learning and empowerment.





2. Promoting youth participation is crucial in gaining better recognition of youth

work and voluntary work.

Cross-sectoral cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of

human rights

Facilitator – Gergely Kiss (Hungary)

The aim of the working group was to explore and define key elements of successful

cross-sectorial cooperation in the area of human rights in relation to the youth field.

Participants will share their experience of already existing human rights actions in

the V4 and EaP countries and discuss how they could successfully be adapted in

their own environments. As an outcome they will formulate proposals for fostering

cross-sectoral cooperation in order to support young people actions in the field of

human rights. The objectives of the group were:

- To share best practices and challenges of cross-sectorial cooperation in the field of

human rights faced by different stakeholders active in this area in V4 and EaP

countries and

- To formulate proposals for fostering cross-sectorial cooperation in order to support

young people actions in the field of human rights.


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The group brainstormed on possible ways of inter-ministerial co-operation (see

below)


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The group also reflected on challenges in cross-sectoral co-operation and possible

solutions and responses of the youth sector (see below):


Cross-sectoral cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of

human rights – word cloud


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The group also discussed good practice and tried to identify specific measures that

help and improve cross-sectoral youth policy. Those measures included:

- Structured consultative processes (e.g. in Hungary: preparing renewed youth

strategy, Ministry of Human Capacities encompasses youth, sports, culture,

education, religion and health under one roof)

- Subcontracting and open call systems (e.g. in Czech Republic, ‘NGOs should

act where states fail’: core functions should be kept in house, state has to ensure

equal access of provided services to all young people, what is not guaranteed

when subcontracting to NGOs; Ukraine: open calls work well, delegating nation-

wide assignments to NGOs)

- Subsidiarity; in Ukraine, local issues dealt with at local level by local authorities;

respectively national should be addressed at national and international at

international levels

- Project cycle sustainability; in Slovakia, a 3-year funding guarantee is provided

for major youth organisations, every year recalculating grant based on given

formula (that means funding security and quality assurance at the same time -

plus points are given for higher standard in educational programs and compliance

to Youth Strategy)

- Mobilising partners – the NHSM strategy is a good example of that

- Addressing power issues: political cycle, PR, funding issues

- Regular experience-sharing: in Poland, the NHSM NCC is a coalition of 70+

NGOs; in Belarus, CoE democratic citizenship pilot projects; In Azerbaijan: IDP

community activities - 198 settlements built)


1. Supporting and empowering young people to be engaged in the field of

human rights should build on maintaining and further development of existing

cross-sectoral co-operation.


25

2. Mainstreaming the access of young people to human rights should be

reflected in all relevant strategic and programme documents in all policy fields

and at all levels.

3. Fostering co-operation and partnership in youth policy requires thorough

identification and development of new trust-building mechanisms between

civil society and the public sector.


26

Panel discussion

Mr Andrij Pavlovych, Foundation for the Development of the Education

System, Eastern Europe and Caucasus SALTO RC

Mr Pavlovych introduced SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Centre

and other SALTO instruments, including SALTO website, European Training

Calendar, OTLAS and Trainers Online for Youth. Mr Pavlovych also outlined the

main components of the new EU4Youth Programme, including the recently launched

Eastern Partnership Youth Window.

Ms Katarzyna Zakroczymska, Solidarity Fund PL

Ms Zakroczymska introduced the Solidarity Fund and its activities in the field of

international co-operation, including examples of its support for democratic

transformations especially in countries where democratic voices are stifled. She also

outlined the Fund’s financial support structure (Poland’s MFA funding - forty million

EUR in the last five years). Ms Zakroczymska also shared details of the Fund’s

geographical coverage including local offices in Moldova and Ukraine as well as co-

operation with USAID and EuropeAid. Ms Zakroczymska also shared her thoughts

on youth participation, focusing on five key elements:

- Openness of the school system, in connection with local authorities

- Experience of the school as the first ‘fair’ and democratic environment in our

life, respecting social rules and human rights;


27

- Learning by doing – how democracy can become a way of life for students

and teachers alike; experience of activity and changing the world

- Role of the media in civic education

- Importance of methods used (the role of informal education in closed

societies)

Ms Beata Jaczewska, International Visegrad Fund

Ms Jaczewska briefly presented the activities of the Fund and shared a number of

examples of its work, notably in the field of youth and co-operation with Eastern

Partnership countries – both areas of great importance in the Fund’s work. Ms

Jaczewska noted great enthusiasm and high activity levels of civil society actors in

the Eastern Partnership region.

Ms Marta Mędlińska, the partnership between the European Commission and

the Council of Europe in the field of Youth

Ms Medlinska presented the partnership and its work in the youth field. She further

shared a number of principles for successful youth participation and guidelines on

how it should be fostered, developed by the partnership:

1 - Understanding participation of young people: participation takes place in various

forms and arenas!

2 - Learning to be a democratic citizen is a key factor for participation

3 - It takes a whole society to rear a democrat!

4 - There are many good examples and approaches - make use of them!

5 - A few things yet to know - we need a better knowledge of the participation of

young people


28

Ms Medlinska invited the seminar participants to use the partnership’s products and

services including its Training Kits and youth policy reviews and encouraged them to

attend its youth policy events.

Mr Ville Majamaa, European Youth Forum

Mr Majamaa thanked the Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group and the

Foundation for the Development of the Education System for inviting the European

Youth Forum to this event. The European Youth Forum is an umbrella organisation

bringing together 103 non-governmental youth organisations in Europe, Europe of

course understood as covering also eastern partnership and Council of Europe

members. EYF’s mission is to advocate for the rights and interests of young people

and youth organisations. Although human rights apply to everyone, certain groups of

people face particular barriers in accessing and enjoying their rights. The

international community has recognized this for specific groups including women,

children and persons with disabilities, for example. We must acknowledge that young

people moving between two stages of life – childhood and adulthood – can also be

particularly vulnerable to discrimination in various forms such as difficulties in

accessing education, quality employment, social protection or civil and political

rights. Seen from this perspective, addressing challenges like high youth

unemployment or poor representation of young people in national parliaments is not

a matter of choice but of necessity. The conversation changes from “it would be nice

if you paid me a decent salary” to “I have a right to quality employment”. Finally,

even though youth organizations are often not considered human rights

organizations, when working with these different topics the main focus is on young

people’s rights and consequently, on human rights. EYF do this in two ways. First,

through advocacy towards European and international institutions and second,

through building the capacities of our member organisations. Our advocacy work can

be both noisy and visible, such as the social media campaign over the last couple of

days for shaming the European External Action Service for using unpaid internships,

or it can be more long term and subtle, like when after years of lobbying the


29

Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe finally adopted a Recommendation

on Young People’s Access to Rights in September last year. And of course, this

work does not stop at the European borders. We are currently pushing for the United

Nations to pay more attention to young people’s human rights situation through such

instruments as the Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights Council.

EYF also provide capacity building for youth organisations and other stakeholders. If

any of you is interested in knowing more about the Rights-Based Approach, that is

how to implement the youth rights perspective, we are more than happy to come and

discuss it with you. Excitingly, as soon as next week we will launch an interactive

online tool called ‘Promoting youth rights – how to harness the power of human

rights instruments’ (http://www.youthforum.org/youth-rights-info-tool/). This tool will

not only provide the user an introduction to youth rights, focusing on the processes

and mechanisms available to highlight violations but also information on how to

engage with human rights processes on UN, CoE and on the national level. I hope

that many of you will find this tool useful and I encourage you to be in touch with me

with both positive and constructive feedback so that we can improve it further.

When browsing the news these days, it sometimes feels as if talking about human

rights has fallen out of fashion. And yet solutions to the challenges of our

increasingly interconnected and interdependent world cannot be found in the past

when the world was different. The fact that this event is dedicated for human rights

and does so in partnership between the state and civil society representatives

demonstrates this. It shows we are all on the same side, we all are working for youth

rights. This is hugely important, something we should cherish and take advantage of

- but never take for granted.

Closing remarks

Mr Grzegorz Chorąży

Deputy Director


30

Strategy and International Co-operation Department

Ministry of National Education, Poland

Mr Chorazy remarked that seminar participants have used their time very well both in

terms of learning for themselves and producing outputs – messages - that will be

picked up by EaP Youth Forum participants to be hosted in Warsaw in June 2017.

He encouraged participants to seize the opportunities presented by the various youth

support structures showcased during the panel discussion. Mr Chorazy also

expressed his hope that seminar participants will return to Poland for other events

and purposes and will venture outside its capital city. Mr Chorazy finally thanked all

involved in the seminar organisation for their efforts.


31

Evaluation results

Question 1 – participation in working groups

Question 2 – participation in the whole seminar


32

Question 3 – support tools

Question 4 – Learning outcomes


33

Question 5 – social media outreach

Annex 1.

‘Young People for Human Rights’ Working seminar for representatives of the Visegrad Group

and the Eastern Partnership countries


Message from the participants

We, the participants of the working seminar titled „Young People for Human Rights”

held in the framework of the Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group, have gathered

in Warsaw to strengthen and develop further the cooperation, dialogue, outreach and

impact of the work in the youth field between the Visegrad Group and the Eastern

Partnership countries.


34

We represent the ministries for youth, national youth councils, national coordinators

of the Council of Europe No Hate Speech Movement Campaign, national agencies of

Erasmus+ programme and youth activists.

We welcome the holding of this seminar in Warsaw and underline the exemplary

cooperation existing between the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership

countries in the youth sector which offered us a forum to discuss and exchange

experiences on the following issues: human rights in the digital environment;

participation of young people in the field of human rights, within civic society,

especially youth organisations; cross-sectorial cooperation for supporting young

people actions in the field of human rights.

Bearing in mind the need to enhance the communication and exchange between

organisations, institutions and governments across borders and inside countries on

best practices and build future regular partnerships, particularly between civil society

NGOs, youth organisations, community-based groups, opinion-formers and policy-

makers at all levels we identify the following key findings as results from our work:

1. Addressing human rights challenges both online and offline requires support

for youth organisations’, youth councils’, public bodies’ and the educational

sector’s initiatives for Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship education,

including through international engagement and co-operation.

2. Empowering young people to think critically and act to protect human rights

calls for strong European, national and regional co-operation, stakeholder and

tool mapping as well as synergy between stakeholders at all levels.

3. Building a common approach to protecting human rights online and creating

space for youth participation necessitates the involvement of young people in

internet governance processes including through human rights and media

literacy education.





35

5. Promoting youth participation is crucial in gaining better recognition of youth

work and voluntary work.

6. Supporting and empowering young people to be engaged in the field of

human rights should build on maintaining and further development of existing

cross-sectoral co-operation.

7. Mainstreaming the access of young people to human rights should be

reflected in all relevant strategic and programme documents in all policy fields

and at all levels.

8. Fostering co-operation and partnership in youth policy requires thorough

identification and development of new trust-building mechanisms between

civil society and the public sector.

We hope that our contribution will be taken into account in discussions and meetings

of the 3rd EaP Youth Forum and in future planning of the European Commission

activities.


36

Annex 2.

Agenda

Young People for Human Rights Working seminar for representatives of the Visegrad Group and the Eastern

Partnership countries Warsaw, 22-23 February 2017

Hotel Mercure Warszawa Grand, Krucza 28, Warszawa

21st February 2017

Arrivals of participants Optional sightseeing of Warsaw at 16.00 Registration starting at the hotel from 17.00 19.00 Dinner at the hotel

20.00 Welcome activities

22nd February 2017

8.30 Registration

9.30 Opening of the Meeting – Plenary session:

Welcome by Mr. Grzegorz Chorąży, Deputy Director, Strategy and

International Cooperation Department, Polish Ministry of National

Education

Welcome by Mr. Paweł Poszytek, PhD, Director General, Foundation

for the Development of the Education System, Polish National Agency

of the Erasmus+ Programme

Seminar Programme Presentation (moderator)

10.00 Summary of the Czech Presidency of the Visegrad Group by Ms. Zdenka

Maskova, Head of Youth Policy Unit, Youth Department, Ministry of

Education, Youth and Sports of Czech Republic

10.15 Presentation of the results from the Youth for Rights conference, Bratislava,

October 2016 by Mr. Hovsep Khurshudyan and Mr. Grigor Yeritsyan, Eastern

Partnership Civil Society Forum


37

10.30 Keynote speech by Mr. Menno Ettema, No Hate Speech Movement campaign

coordinator, Council of Europe Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group July

2016 – June 2017 10.45 Keynote speech by Ms. Kasia Siemasz, youth

representative from the Polish Council of Youth Organizations

11.00 Coffee break

11:30 Introduction to the topics of the working groups (moderator/facilitators)

1) Human rights in the digital environment

2) Participation of young people in the field of human rights, within civil society,

especially youth organisations

3) Cross-sectorial cooperation for supporting young people actions in the field of

human rights

11.45 Working groups

13.30 Lunch

14:30 Meeting in the plenary, division into the study visit groups

14.45 Visits to the premises of non-governmental organizations in the area of human

rights (Warsaw city)

17.00 Back to the hotel (optional)

18.45 Meeting in the hotel lobby and walk to the restaurant (optional)

19.00 Social event and formal dinner "Po Prostu" ZACHĘTA, pl. Małachowskiego 3

23rd February 2017

9.30 Meeting in the plenary hall


I session – Summary of the visits at the premises of non-governmental

organizations and possibly developing recommendations based on the results

of the working group

11.15 Coffee break


II session – finalization of the results to be presented in the plenary Polish

Presidency of the Visegrad Group July 2016 – June 2017


38

13.00 Lunch

14.00 PANEL DISCUSSION on Supporting tools for youth participation in civil

society

Mr. Andrij Pavlovych, Foundation for the Development of the Education

System, Eastern Europe and Caucasus SALTO RC

Ms. Marta Mędlińska, Partnership between the European Commission and

the Council of Europe in the field of Youth

Ms. Katarzyna Zakroczymska, Solidarity Fund PL

Ms. Beata Jaczewska, International Visegrad Fund

Mr. Ville Majamaa, European Youth Forum

15:30 Coffee Break

16.00 Presentation of priorities of the up-coming Hungarian V4 Presidency

16.15 Presentation of the results of the working groups in the plenary

17:45 Closing session

19.00 Dinner at the hotel

24th February 2017

Departure of participants


39

Annex 3.

Young People for Human Rights Working seminar for representatives of the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership countries


List of participants

No. First name Last name Country Institution

1 David Hayrapetyan Armenia Director, Youth Events Holding Center under the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs

2 Lia Hayrapetyan Armenia Head of the Finance and HR department, Youth Events Holding Center under the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs

Member of National Campaign Committee of No Hate Speech Movement

3 Artur Najaryan Armenia President, Gyumri Youth Initiative Center

4 Tamara Torosyan Armenia Head, Youth Policy Department, Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs

5 Tatevik Abrahamyan Armenia Psychologist, Ayb educational Foundation

6 Faraim Akbarov Azerbaijan Chairman, Association of Young Azerbajani Friends of Europe - AYAFE

7 Ilhama Gasimzade Azerbaijan International Relations Offices, National Assembly of Youth Organizations - NAYORA

8 Mushfig Jafarov Azerbaijan Head, Youth and Sport Department, Ministry of Youth and Sport

9 Nadir Bayramov Azerbaijan Head, Department of Shusha region, Ministry of Youth and Sport

10 Ulvi Ahmadov Azerbaijan Project director, ELSA Azerbaijan - The European Law Students' Association

11 Elnara Mammadova Azerbaijan Third secretary, Embassy of Azerbaijan in Poland

12 Aliaksandr Burda Belarus Chairman, Public Republican Student Council under the Ministry of Education

13 Darya Miron Belarus National coordinator, No Hate Speech Movement in Belarus

14 Dzmitry Kukso Belarus Member, Belarusian Committee for children and youth associations

15 Maryna Minova Belarus Deputy Dean, Academy of Postdiploma Education

16 Maxim Malatok Belarus Belarusian Committee of children's and youth associations in Belarus.

17 Aleš Sedláček Czech Republic President, Czech Council of Childern and Youth

18 Michaela Duchackova Czech Republic Erasmus+Youth officer (Key Action 3), National Agency, Centre for International Cooperation

19 Zdenek Zalis Czech Republic Chairman of the Board, Narodni Centrum Bezpecnejsiho Internetu (NCBI)

20 Zdenka Maskova Czech Republic Head, Youth Unit, Youth Department, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport

21 Barbara Koleckova Czech Republic youth activist

22 Gubaz Koberidze Georgia Director, Human Rights Association

23 Kartlos Karumidze Georgia Chief specialist, Youth Research and Analysis Division, Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia


40

24 Nino Tsereteli Georgia Chief specialist, Department of International Relations and European Integration, Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia

25 Nora Gigineishvili Georgia Chief Specialist, Youth Programs Division, Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia

26 Ivett Karvalits Hungary Eurodesk national coordinator, Tempus Közalapítvány - Tempus Public Foundation

27 Kristóf Papp Hungary Vice President, National Youth Council of Hungary

28 Peter Paczuk Hungary Strategy oficer, Ministry of Human Capacities

29 Lilla Nedeczky Hungary President, No Hate Speech Campaign Committee

30 Ágnes Dóka Hungary youth activist

31 Constantin Turcanu Moldova Deputy Heat, Youth Department, Ministry of Youth and Sport

32 Ana Indoitu Moldova National coordinator, No Hate Speech Movement in Moldova Vice president, National Youth Council of Moldova

33 Roman Banari Moldova Lawyer, Non-discrimination Coalition

34 Tatiana Chebac Moldova Human Rights Defender, "Promo-LEX"

35 Svetlana Savitchi Moldova Consultant, Youth Department, Ministry of Youth and Sport

36 Grzegorz Chorąży Poland Deputy Director, Strategy and International Cooperation Department, Ministry of National Education,

37 Tomasz Racławski Poland Deputy Chairman, Polish Council of Children and Youth

38 Jan Dąbkowski Poland National Coordinator of the No Hate Speech Movement in Poland, Young Journalists Association 'Polis'

39 Małgorzata Łatkiewicz-Pawlak

Poland 1st Adviser, Eastern Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

40 Rafał Jewdokimow Poland Ministry of Foreign Affairs

41 Andrej Bencel Slovak Republic NCC Slovakia - No Hate Speech Movement in Slovakia

42 Dean Res Slovak Republic Director, Institute of non-formal education

43 Eva Masarova Slovak Republic Director, Youth Department, Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic

44 Lukáš Michal Slovak Republic Erasmus+ Project manager, IUVENTA - Slovak Youth Institute

45 Tatiana Petríkovičová Slovak Republic Project manager, Slovak National Youth Council

46 Iryna Bieliaieva Ukraine Director, Youth policy department, Ministry of Youth and Sport

47 Maryna Bohuslavska Ukraine Project manager, NGO 'European Youth Community' Activist, No Nate Speech Movement in Ukraine

48 Andriy Kolobov Ukraine Head, National Youth Council of Ukraine

49 Iuliia Bartienieva Ukraine International Secretary, Ukrainian Youth Forum

50 Iryna Turetska Ukraine Deputy Head, Division of International Cooperation, Ministry of Youth and Sport


41

List of experts

No. First name Last name Institution

1 Menno Ettema Coordinator of the No Hate Speech campaign, Council of Europe

2 Marta Mędlinska Partnership manager, Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of Youth

3 Beata Jaczewska Executive director, Visegrad Fund,

4 Hovsep Khurshudyan Eastern Partnership Civil Socety Forum

5 Grigor Yeritsyan Eastern Partnership Civil Socety Forum

6 Kasia Siemasz Polska Rada Organizacji Młodzieżowych (PROM)

7 Ville Majamaa Board Member, European Youth Forum

8 Katarzyna Zakroczymska Deputy Head of the Board, Solidarity Fund PL

9 Paweł Poszytek PhD, General Director, Foundation for the Development of the Education System

10 Andrij Pavlovych Main specialist, SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Center, Foundation for the Development of the Education System,

Team of facilitators and organisers

No. First name Last name Country Institution

1 Giorgi Kakulia Georgia Academy for Peace and Development

2 Maksymilian Fras Poland CoE Pool of Trainers

3 Nelli Gishyan Armenia Youth Events Holding Center under the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of RA

4 Kateryna Zeziulina Ukraine Dnipropetrovsk regional youth NGO "MIKS"

5 Gergely Kiss Hungary Egyesek Youth Association

6 Anna Łysik Poland Ministry of National Education

7 Joanna Mazur Poland Ministry of National Education

8 Stefania Wilkiel Poland Ministry of National Education

9 Karolina Suchecka Poland Foundation for the Development of the Education System

10 Agata Nowacka Poland Foundation for the Development of the Education System

11 Agata Marczak Poland Foundation for the Development of the Education System

12 Liliana Budkowska Poland Foundation for the Development of the Education System

Documents

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