Council of Europe – Youth Delegate Program 2020 (Fully Funded)

Deadline Date: January 3, 2020

The call for applications for young people to take part in the 2020 edition of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities’ “Rejuvenating politics” initiative (38th and 39th sessions and project preparation) is now open. Since October 2014, the Congress (Council of Europe) has invited young people from different backgrounds – youth activists, youth workers, students to take part in its sessions, to have their say in the debates and to exchange with Congress members on the issues on the agenda.

As part of its “Rejuvenating politics” initiative the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will invite one young person per member State to:

• • come to Strasbourg (France) to take an active part, as a youth delegate, in its 38th (17-19 March) and 39th (27-29 October) sessions

Travel, subsistence and accommodation are provided.

Participating in the Congress’ work for one year

Being a youth delegate for a year is a unique opportunity to gain international experience, become a part of a diverse group of young activists, network and make an impact by stimulating the debates from a youth perspective thereby highlighting and strengthening the Congress’ commitment to youth empowerment.

Participating as a youth delegate in the sessions:

The youth delegates will sit in the hemicycle alongside the Congress members for both sessions. A one-day preparatory session will be held prior to each session. This day is not intended as a training day, its purpose is to familiarise youth delegates with the Congress and its proceedings; delegates should already have the necessary public speaking skills, be able to prepare short speeches and capable of analysing policy documents.

Youth delegates must commit to taking part in the whole of the two 2020 sessions:

• From 15 March (18.00) until the debriefing session on 19 March (17.00)
• From 25 October (18.00) until the debriefing session on 29 October (17.00).

Developing and implementing projects between the sessions:

Furthermore, between March and October, youth delegates will remain involved in the work of the Congress. They will be required to develop a local or regional project related to the Congress’ priorities or to the session themes for 2020. For this, they will have the support of the trainers in the form of mentoring sessions to develop and assess their ideas. While the Congress will not provide funding for project development, it will provide youth delegates with an introduction letter to act as a visiting card in their dealings with local or regional authorities and may provide information material. There may also be possibilities for some of the youth delegates to participate in other events organised by the Congress outside Strasbourg such as its committee meetings, seminars or conferences.

Programme

The entire youth delegate programme is compulsory, youth delegates who do not take part in one or more of these aspects will be replaced by their national substitute delegate.

Compulsory activities include:

• • participation in online preparation with the trainers prior to each session;
  • full attendance during both sessions (which includeds the preparation day on the eve of each session and the evaluation meeting on the last afternoon of each session);
  • availability to hold several Skype meetings (April – September) with trainers to prepare the youth project;
  • implementation of the project between April and mid-September 2020.

Benefits

The youth delegates’ travel and subsistence expenses will be covered by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities according to the Council of Europe’s rules.

Accommodation will be provided and paid for by the organisers, in single-occupancy or shared rooms according to availability. The organisers cannot cover the cost of accommodation elsewhere.

Eligibility

All youth delegates should:

• be a citizen of the Council of Europe countries,
• be open, committed and motivated to develop and strengthen dialogue between young people and elected representatives at local/regional level;
• be between 18 and 30 years old;
• hold the passport of, and live in, the country they will represent;
• be active in youth work at local and regional levels;
• be available to engage in the whole of the activity including the preparation of grass-roots projects; have an interest in actively participating in policy making at local and/or regional levels but not be an elected representative;
• be able to multiply the information obtained during the session on their return home have good writing and public speaking skills be committed to working in an intercultural team; not have participated in the initiative previously;
• speak English fluently;

Application

Those wishing to apply to take part in the 38th and 39th Congress sessions must do so by means of the online application form . Participation in only one session is not possible.  

Applicants must also submit a short video, via YouTube, of no more than 30 seconds, to support their application. The link to the video (title should contain only the applicant’s name and country) should be sent together with the application. Please note that candidates should not present themselves on the video but answer the question that has been put.  This is an integral part of the application.

The deadline for submitting completed applications to the Congress of the Council of Europe is 3 January 2020, at the latest. Applicants will be informed of the results of the selection procedure by 31 January 2020.

Click here to apply.

For more information, visit Council of Europe.