The external work of our association is as important as the internal one. Since the number of international organisation is very high, AEGEE-Europe has appointed some members, called Liaison Officers to maintain a link between AEGEE and the international organisations they work with. Currently AEGEE has six Liaison Officers, namely Diego Antončić, Liaison Officer towards the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC); Marije Arentze, Liaison Officer towards the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe); Burcu Unluturk, Liaison Officer towards the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Alba Laguna, Liaison Officer towards the United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP); Adela-Mihaela Militaru, Liaison Officer towards The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Paul Smits, Liaison Officer towards European Youth Forum (YFJ). We asked some questions to Marije, Burcu and Diego to better understand their work.

Please, describe yourself.

 
Diego: My name is Diego Antončić and I have been a member of the AEGEE family since December 2013. I am 22 years old and I am studying European Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana. As a member of AEGEE I participated in numerous events and conferences organised by our organisation. I am very communicative and I can easily adjust to new situations. I love to travel and to learn about different cultures. Besides that, I love reading and I enjoy sports.

Marije Arentze, Liaison Officer towards the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe)

Marije: ​My name is Marije Arentze and I have been a member of AEGEE-Leiden for six years. I am studying Eastern-European studies in Amsterdam, with a main focus on transitional societies in former Yugoslavia. My number one hobby is travelling and I also love music and literature. My AEGEE history includes a few very active years within AEGEE-Leiden and my work as Content Manager for European Boards’ Meeting (EBM) Lublin 2014. At this moment I spend the major part of my free time with AEGEE Election Observation, the project I am part of for over a year and a half now, and where I fulfill the position of External Relations manager. It gives me a great deal of inspiration every day!

Burcu:  I am Burcu Ünlütürk from AEGEE-Ankara, currently trying to survive living around -30 degrees in northern Sweden where I am doing my masters degree in mining engineering and working on sustainable use of natural resources.

 
Which is the international organisation you are responsible for? And what is its main purpose?
Diego: I am a Liaison Officer towards the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in the EU. This is my second mandate as the Liaison Officer towards the CoR and my first mandate towards EESC. The CoR is the European Union’s Assembly of Regional and Local Representatives, which gathers 350 members from 28 member states of the EU. The CoR is an advisory body of the EU and it must be consulted by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU throughout the EU decision-making process on the issues that are relevant for cities and regions. The CoR members prepare and present opinions about the new European legislative proposals. One of the main functions of the CoR is to represent interest of regions and cities in the EU and to support better communication between them. In order to promote better cooperation on regional and local level, the CoR hosts numerous conferences, events and workshops, which are organised by local and regional associations. The EESC is a consultative body of the European Union that gives representatives of European civil society and economic interest groups a formal platform to express their opinions on the current EU issues. Like the CoR, the EESC can issue an opinion regarding a certain topic and it needs to be consulted by central EU institutions. The committee’s main goal is to strengthen the democratic legitimacy and effectiveness of the European Union by enabling and encouraging participation of civil organisations from the Member States in the processes taking place at the European level.

Marije: I am the Liaision Officer towards the OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. ​It is the world’s largest intergovernmental organisation with a mandate to secure arms control, human rights, fair and free elections, and other issues that are central to free and democratic states. It was founded during the Cold War and is mainly occupied with conflict prevention and post-conflict rehabilitation in its member states. As part of this they have permanent offices or missions in Ukraine, Kosovo, Tajikistan and Armenia to name just a few. The OSCE Chairmanship changes every six months to a new member state, just like the chairmanship of the European Union. As of January 2016, the presidency is occupied by Germany. Our main focus lies with OSCE’s sub-division ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights), which works on the so-called “human dimension” of security; free elections and democratization, minority issues, hate speech prevention, etc. 40% of ODIHR’s annual budget goes to the Elections department, which organises Election Observation Missions and which is seen as the “golden standard” for election observation methodology in the world.

Burcu: I am the Liaison Officer towards the Organisation for Economic Cooperation And Development (OECD). Its mission is to promote policies which will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

Why did you apply to cover such a position?

Diego Antončić, Liaison Officer towards the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

Diego: My academic experiences and different events, in which the topics regarding the European Union and AEGEE were discussed, shaped my ideals and my main interests, which I want to realize in my personal career. As a student of European studies and an AEGEE member, I am a great supporter of the processes, which are taking part in the united Europe and I am very motivated to give my contribution to the improvement of our multicultural continent. I applied to cover such a position, since I wanted to make a contribution to the functioning of our AEGEE community and since I was quite familiar with the structure of the CoR and the EESC. I am honored to be the Liaison Officer towards the CoR and the EESC and I am proud to be a part of our beautiful AEGEE story.
Marije: ​My first thought was that it would make a lot of sense for me to succeed Julia Krebs as Liaison Officer because of my position as External Relations of AEGEE Election Observation. Our project has generated quite some interest within the OSCE over the past two years, so it would be mutually beneficial for both AEGEE-Europe and AEGEE Election Observation to combine these two images towards the OSCE. Next to that I realised that an inside look into the OSCE would be complementary to my academic field of interest, namely post-conflict societies.

Burcu: I have experience in representing the organisation, creating positive public image and establishing cooperation with possible partners. Also, since my current academic work requires me to do research on OECD’s reports, I am acquainted with the work of OECD and want to learn more, which , in my opinion, will enable me to widen the communication bridge between the organisaton and AEGEE. I am strongly motivated to work as Liaison Officer and contribute as much as I can to AEGEE.

What are your main tasks? 
Diego: I represent a link between AEGEE and the CoR and the EESC and I inform the Comité Directeur and the whole Network about new opportunities and events offered by these two committees. I endeavor to involve our AEGEE members in different happenings of the CoR and the EESC in order to encourage political participation. I exhaustively analyzed the CoR’s and the EESC’s goals, policies, tasks, structure and activities, which helped me to gain deep understanding of their role and their importance for the EU. Occasionally, I follow (plenary) sessions of the committees to stay informed about the latest happenings. In addition, I am continuously up-to-date with all CoR’s news and events and I subscribed to the CoR’s newsletter.

Burcu Ünlütürk, Liaison Officer towards the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Marije: ​According to the CIA (AEGEE-Europe’s legal framework) it is my task to “maintain a constant flow of communication” between AEGEE-Europe and the OSCE and to represent AEGEE-Europe towards the organisation. ​​In practice, it is my ambition to raise interest within AEGEE-Europe for this organisation, as I see it becoming more and more relevant in European geopolitics in the coming years. AEGEE could benefit much more from the OSCE, and especially ODIHR, because they are working on a lot of issues we are dealing with as well. I am seeking ways to connect certain thematic “bodies” of AEGEE-Europe (in absence of a better word) to relevant ODIHR departments. For AEGEE Election Observation’s project team meeting, I visited ODIHR’s office in Warsaw in January, and I hope that AEGEE as a whole can benefit from the good relations we made there with ODIHR.

Burcu: LOs main tasks are to build, to continue and to ensure the relationship with the organisations and to manage the communication between them. I am the person who is responsible with Comite Directeur to secure this relation while figuring out where AEGEEs priorities and initiatives overlap with OECD and where close cooperation can be established.

 
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

2015 will be the year of Cluj-Napoca, the city in the heart of Transylvania that has just become “European Youth Capital” of this year – and its AEGEE antenna will be involved in a very active way throughout this project, as Raluca Radu, President of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca, explains.

If you have been an AEGEE member for some time, you must have heard before about this city, as it is home to one of the most active AEGEE locals in the Network. Cluj-Napoca, the second major city in Romania, is just over 400 km away from the capital Bucharest, but also other European capitals such as Budapest or Belgrade. It is probably the biggest student city in Romania: out of a population of around 400,000 inhabitants, more than 60,000 of them are students, since it hosts several universities and academic centers.

It is therefore one of the cities with the most foreign students in Romania, which makes it a very dynamic and multicultural city – and, what’s more, local inhabitants are positive about it. According to a 2013 survey of the European Commission, 91% of people in Cluj-Napoca think that the presence of foreigners is good for the city.

But you might be wondering – what is exactly a European Youth Capital? It is an award given by the European Youth Forum (YFJ) every year to one European city, in order to show and strengthen its youth-related cultural, social and leisure aspects, and to foster the cooperation between European and local institutions. Since it was created, in 2009, these European Youth Capitals have launched several projects in terms of youth engagement and local participation in society – therefore, this means that Cluj-Napoca’s streets will be filled of projects, events and initiatives that will boost youth participation in the city’s cultural and social life.

“Share” and AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca’s involvement

Raluca Radu

In December 2012, Cluj-Napoca was selected as this year’s European Youth Capital by the YFJ. The candidature was driven by the ‘Share Federation’, which gathers 36 youth organisations from Cluj-Napoca. Representatives from each organsiation meet twice a month to discuss several aspects related to youth associative culture. This federation will be the one in charge of coordinating all the activities that will take place throughout the year. Therefore, it is no surprise that the theme of Cluj-Napoca’s Year as European Youth Capital is “share”: sharing cultural and inter-generational diversity, the culture and customs of the city and enhancing friendship and understanding between Europe’s young people.

Moreover, our antenna in the city contributed to Cluj-Napoca’s candidature from the very start: “AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca is one of the founding members of the Share Federation, so we wanted to be involved in this even before we knew the city was going to win this title”, explains Raluca Radu, President of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca. The involvement in the candidature started back in 2011, lead by the former president of the antenna, Anca Gliga, and was followed by Ioana Duca, current Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe and President of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca in 2012, who told The AEGEEan that she was in charge of collecting the signatures and letters of support to make the Share Federation happen and, as a result, Cluj-Napoca’s candidature as European Youth Capital.

AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca has lately been focused in organising European events, so there will be many lucky AEGEEans that will get to discover the brand new European Youth Capital with them, ranging from the Summer University Project School, from 5th to 12th March, to their Summer University in August. However, they also plan several local events: “we are organising a graffiti event, called GRAFFITIart Youth @ Cluj-Napoca 2015, in cooperation with a dear company of ours from Cluj-Napoca, and we want to involve not only our members, but the entire community. With this event, which will take place in May, we want to make the city more colorful and happier. Other that this, we also would like to cooperate with all the youth organisations from Cluj-Napoca in organising something big and nice!”. So stay tuned for what it is about to come!

A very youthful and cultural city

We asked Raluca about which places in the city she would recommend: “well, the city itself is full of culture and history. The medieval part of the city is simply great – it’s located two minutes away from the city centre, and when you get there, it’s like you are in a different world. But I will let you discover more when you come to Cluj-Napoca this year!”.

That’s how Cluj-Napoca welcomed 2015, in the city’s main square.

When you get to the city, one of the first things you will see is surely Matthias Corvinus on his horse in front of the Gothic style St.Michael’s Church, one of the most famous sights of Cluj-Napoca, located in the city’s main square, Piața Unirii (Union Square). In the past New Year’s Eve, the city got totally crowded by thousands of young people who celebrated the beginning of this promising year for the city.

Then, take a walk around the Heroes’ Avenue (Bulevardul Eroilor), one of the most vivid and colourful spots in the city. Get lost in its Central Park, which is absolutely every bit as beautiful as some of the most famous parks in Europe, with its windmills on the trunks, the cute and small bridges, the large lakes and sculptures. And make sure you don’t miss Cluj-Napoca’s fortress hill at night – the astonishing views and the city lights will surely amaze you.

Looking forward to getting to know the brand new European Youth Capital? For 2015, it is counted that there will be over 1,500 events and happenings in Cluj-Napoca throughout the year – you have no excuse to miss it! You have time until the end of the year, when Cluj-Napoca will pass the torch to Gəncə (Azerbaijan), the awarded European Youth Capital of 2016.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Luis Alvarado Martínez, former president of AEGEE-Europe 2012-14, is running for Vice President of the European Youth Forum. He discovered a lot through AEGEE and wants to discover even more through a bigger platform. The AEGEEan asked Luis some questions in order to find out if there is life after AEGEE.

The AEGEEan: It’s been a few months since you are no more the president of AEGEE-Europe. How did you feel leaving the House and everything after two years of intense hard work?

Luis Alvarado Martínez: Well, of course you feel a little sad when closing such an amazingly intense and such a passionate chapter in your life. Many memories or moments come to mind why it has been so worth it to live such an experience, and the great things you take with you after it. Now that I have had a little time to reflect, I am very happy and thankful for having been given such opportunity, and especially to have shared it with such a special group of people (each and every one of them in their own particular way). Then of course you have the feeling of calmness, no calls, no emails, and some time to think about yourself and future plans which is always nice. Last but not least you feel uncertain. Has my passing by AEGEE left a mark? Did we actually have an impact and change something? Have I contributed? What will happen with our work? All of the normal thoughts of an end of cycle, and which every Comité Directeur (CD) member has once he/ she finished his/her mandate. But having the great CD which we have coming after us, I can happily sleep at nights knowing that we have people who know how to get the job done.

What have you’ve been up to in the last months?

During the lasts months I have tried to spend as much time at home with my parents, my sister, my girlfriend and my friends back in the Canary Islands. Lots of quality time and recharging batteries in order to be able to come back to the fullest. Also from the end of August, I have started my Master’s Degree in the College of Europe, in the city of Bruges (Belgium), which is the oldest Institute for EU Postgraduate studies in Europe, established back in 1948, after the Second World War, in the famous Hague Congress together with the Council of Europe and the European Movement, and even before the European Union itself, by legendary personalities such as Winston Churchill, Salvador de Madariaga and Paul H. Spaak. So I am very happy to have this opportunity to learn from the very “foundational and federalist” European center in the continent. I am not the only AEGEEan this year. I think it is the perfect post AEGEE environment for all of us who truly believe in the united Europe that our organization supports, so I would recommend any AEGEEan interested to approach me in case they are interested.

Now you are running for Vice President of the European Youth Forum (YFJ). What made you take this decision?

After being more than two years involved in the different processes of the European Youth Forum, working on a daily basis with its other Member Organizations (MOs) on different projects, and trying to improve the lives of young people in Europe, I felt the confidence to make such a step. During the last months, we have been able to gather a lot of support and back-up in order to have a strong candidature, representing the interests not only of AEGEE but of many other organizations. We think we can help bring the platform to a whole new level, and we hope that with my experience and the support of everybody we will make it happen.

How did AEGEE influence you in the decision of running for Vice President of the YFJ?

As mentioned before, after a long period of constant work with the Forum’s reality, its projects and initiatives representing AEGEE, you realize how much potential the platform has. If you imagine the Forum like AEGEE, but much bigger, being a platform composed of almost 100 organizations like AEGEE, you can imagine how powerful the impact can be. Being in the CD and representing AEGEE on a daily basis allows you to learn, grow, develop and be in contact with different realities. Unlike in AEGEE, the Forum is composed of many different ideologies, beliefs, ways of working, expectations, which makes it even more diverse than AEGEE, and sometimes very hard finding compromises and agreements. I guess that’s also the challenge and the magic of the Forum. Seeing the positive impact which we could have in a platform like AEGEE, of course was a big motivator to run for the Board of Directors of a bigger platform with more strength and more resources and even more challenges. If we are able to harmonize our efforts in the Forum, we can be extremely influential in the EU institutions, the Council of Europe and in the United Nations.

Do you think that being the winner of the “Young European of the Year 2014” will bring you some benefits in order to become  the Vice President of the European Youth Forum?

Hopefully the recognition of “Young European” by the Schwarzkopf Foundation will be a good flagship in the elections, also showing how much AEGEE members are prepared in terms of skills, content and leadership, and how much having AEGEE as Vice President of the Forum could be a big added value to the platform.

You are a great example for AEGEE members and you will always have our support! Are you planning to still keep in touch with what happens in AEGEE, maybe taking part in some events?

Well those who know me, know very well what was my policy back then when I was in the Comité Directeur. I strongly believe that AEGEE’s leadership and strength lies in the youth, freshness, idealism, energy and certain level of nativity of its generations. So no, I will not be having an active involvement in the organization nor any official positions. I will of course come to Autumn Agora Cagliari to give our final report, and be around supporting the CD as much as possible, being a member of the Advisory Board, and available for members for whatever help and advice anybody might need. It will always be my pleasure to help AEGEE, in return for changing my life. But I believe that having older members (no matter how long their experience is) staying too long, and more than needed in the organization, covering positions, spotlight and taking active involvement in the internal “politics” of AEGEE, is very counterproductive and harmful. It is not healthy for the person itself (because it is also our responsibility to learn how to let go), nor for the organization. It is the young generation who must decide, dare to try things out and make their own mistakes. Older members and alumni, should be there to give advice and support whenever requested, and not when they think they should do so, and we should gather at the bar with mojitos remembering good old times. I will happily become member of Les Anciens d’AEGEE-Europe, our official alumni organization.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

For most young people, internships are the first step towards the labour market during or right after their degree. It is counted to be around four and a half million interns in the EU per year, from which -and this is the most striking part- 59% are unpaid, 40% have no contract (meaning, short social protection and no clarity of the tasks to be carried) and 30% have no learning content, whereas internships are acknowledged to be a crucial learning experience instead.

Youth organisations such as the European Youth Forum (YFJ in their acronym) have been advocating for long on youth rights and on quality internships. Some influential publications on the topic have been released so far, such as the booklet Quality jobs for young people and, more recently, the European Quality Charter on Internships and Apprenticeships, a charter with the basic guidelines for internships that are of quality and valuable for young people. Moreover, with the help of several partner organisations, the YFJ organised the first Europe Interns’ Day, taking place on July 18th in Brussels and which gathered over 200 people, according to the official figures by the YFJ.

Protesting under sunny Brussels for quality internships

Hence, the day started with interns and members from the European Youth Forum’s member organisations took over Place Luxembourg (the square right next to the European Parliament, also known as ‘Plux’ by the euro-bubble inhabitants) to protest against unpaid and unfair internships as a “modern way of slavery and exploitation”.

Under the (mostly unexpected) Brussels’ sun, the protesters could hear the voices of representatives of several youth organisations, such as InternsGoPro, Generation Europe and also AEGEE, which was represented by our Projects Director, Miguel Gallardo Albajar. We could also hear the words from the leaders of Génération Précaire, a French youth organisation that successfully pushed for changes in the law for internships and apprenticeships in France.

The discussion moved forward to the European Parliament, with a panel discussion that was firstly welcomed by Léa Hannaoui-Saulais, member of AEGEE-Lille and the Eastern Partnership Project who also presides EPSA, the European Parliament Stagiaires Association, which aims to empower the interns at the EP. “I have done five internships; four of them have been unpaid. I had done this because I was sure that would be useful for further professional experience”, she aknowledged, and she pointed that unpaid internships are indeed undervalued in tasks and salary and increases the risk of labour abuse. “We should start believing in ourselves”, she said, “but also companies must play their part”.

 Commissioner Vassiliou: “interns are not to meant make coffees”

One of the highlights of the day was the address of the Commissioner on Education and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou. She was clear on the role internships play on an individual’s learning process: “internships are a learning experience, but not in an abstract way. Interns are not volunteers”, she said. “And, foremost, interns are not there to make coffees”.

She recognised internships as “more than just a supplement to formal education” and that a quality assurance is needed in order to make a good transition towards the job market. Commissioner Vassiliou also stressed the role of internships in order to gain “soft and interpersonal skills”.

In the question round, the Commissioner was asked about her term in office, which will soon come to an end, and the legacy that she has left to her successor. “My legacy will be built on the transition to the labour market”, she stated. “I did my best in order to bridge the gap between education and employment and between skills mismatch”. Her successor, Vassiliou said, “will build their work on that”.

The launching of the European Label of Quality Internships

The importance of taking fair internships with a strong learning content was stressed throughout the event, but is there any method that can be used to evaluate the quality of internships? Well, one of the aims of the event was actually the launch of the European Label of Quality Internships by the organisation InternsGoPro. With this rating method, InternsGoPro enable interns to rate their company’s practices according to a specific criteria, and also gives visibility to the best employers that ensure that their internships bring an added value to their interns.

The label rates which are the best employers by the following seven criteria: Learning content, Remuneration, Supervision & Mentorship, Contract & Clarity of Tasks, Networking, Working Atmosphere and Career development. Each criterion corresponds to a certain number of points which determine whether an internship offer is eligible for a Label. Furthermore, there are three types of labels according to the  punctuation: Gold, Diamond and Platinum.

Therefore, not only interns themselves can benefit from checking which are the best places to take up an apprenticeship, but also employers and companies are interested. Acording to Régis Pradal, co-founder of InternsGoPro, this is a label that “can give high visibility and reputation”, through employer branding, e-recruitment of new talents and consulting.

Through bottom-up initiatives like this, the partner organisations believe that a light will be shed on the conditions under which many interns are, “a modern way of work exploitation” as it was mentioned in Place Luxembourg’s protests. If you wish to take a look at InternsGoPro’s project and even rate your own internship, you can check their website.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Pictures by the European Youth Forum and Project 668

Last week, some really good news came to all the AEGEEans. It was during the COMEM (Council of Members) of the European Youth Forum (YFJ, which stands for ‘Youth Forum Jeunesse‘) in Brussels.

AEGEE-Europe had just been elected to be one of the 30 organizations inside the Advisory Council (AC) on Youth of the Council of Europe, representing the European Youth Forum Member Organizations.

A great privilege, but also a big challenge. This is a big step forward for AEGEE in order to advocate for youth rights, and The AEGEEan team has spoken to Marko Grdosic, Liaison Officer towards the European Youth Forum, Luis Alvarado Martínez, President of AEGEE-Europe, and Mirosław Krzanik, Board member of the European Youth Forum, in order to know their priorities and expectations after the election.

Luis Alvarado and Marko Grdosic during the Spring COMEM in Brussels

What does it mean for AEGEE to be representing the European Youth Forum in the Council of Europe, and how can it benefit?

Marko Grdosic: AEGEE members should see our newest enrolment within the Advisory Council as a great privilege but as well as a big task. Given the perfect example of co-management Council of Europe gives to Youth through the Advisory Council, this shows the great role it has and how much it can actually influence policies of the CoE.

Having its seat in the AC, AEGEE will directly represent all the members, same as the members of other youth organizations, member organizations of the European Youth Forum. Therefore, AEGEE will now be able to strongly advocate for democracy, human rights and educational policies within the work of the Council of Europe.

Luis Alvarado Martínez: It means that AEGEE-Europe will be one of the 30 organizations inside the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe (CoE). This Advisory Council has co-decision or co-management power inside the Council of Europe to all the initiatives and policies related to youth. We will make sure the needs and interest not only of AEGEE, but of all the Member Organizations of the European Youth Forum are always taken into account.

Mirosław Krzanik: First of all we can directly influence priorities and decisions of the Council of Europe in the field of youth. At the same time let’s not think only about how AEGEE can benefit from it but let’s be happy that we can contribute and help in developing new policies, strategies and projects!

What are the main issues and priorities that AEGEE-Europe is going to deal with?

Marko: This of course will depend on the agenda that is in our world changing very often. If we are to talk nowadays, it will for sure be human rights, as a follow-up of the event organised by AEGEE this week in Strasbourg. Of course, education is as well an ongoing focus.

Mirek: That depends strongly on the people who will directly represent AEGEE in the Advisory Council and on the decisions of the CD and the members.

Luis: We as AEGEE have always showed a particular focus on Non Formal Education, its recognition, validation etc., but lately we have also done a lot regarding Youth Rights and Youth Participation. These topics will be in a core focus, as well as promoting the co-management power which exists in the Council of Europe in other institutions.

Miroslaw Krzanik is currently Board Member of the European Youth Forum

And which are the expectations you are holding?

Marko: I wish to see a strong AEGEE inside the Advisory Council, AEGEE with a good input, making sure to respond to all the challenges this role might bring. It would also be interesting to see if the experience we gain from this co-management system can give us a push when advocating for the same with the EU Institutions.

Luis: We expect to bring AEGEE to a whole new level of expertise, and advocacy action as well as much more involved in the work of the Council of Europe. AEGEE will develop very much and will use all the potential of this new position.

Mirek: I hope the AC will continue its strong focus on developing youth-related policies and advocating for youth rights in particular in regions where the European Union is not present, in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, etc. This way the Council of Europe can complement the actions which are taken by the European Union and strengthen the presence of youth in political discourse in those countries.

As members of the Advisory Council on Youth, and after your experience striving for youth rights and representing students in Europe, what does it mean for you to advocate for young people, and how do you work on it?

Marko: Youth has always been the most unrepresented group and this makes the advocacy work much harder. In general, what is important is to know people, be in a good time on a good place, network and promote. Also, the agenda of the relevant stakeholders has to be followed. In order to create the biggest impact, we always have to act in time with the institutions and mobilize other civil society colleagues to increase the visibility.  In the end, a good advocate has to be trained, social, a great spokesperson.

Luis: Well now there is a much bigger responsibility. Before we were only representing AEGEE-Europe (which is also not the easiest task, but we have some common values and ideas). Now we have to represent all the Member Organizations of the Youth Forum, without forgetting all the points of views and needs of all the organizations.

Mirek: I guess it is very important for the entire Network of AEGEE to get actively involved in creating expertise inside the organization. For now a lot of ideas, experience and knowledge are gathered in the CD and around it, among people closely cooperating with them. The challenge is to make more members interested in political issues. First steps have been made, Policy Officers are developing our internal knowledge and continue inviting more and more members to join them, but the more events are organized, the more opportunities to discuss policies and politics are created, the stronger our voice will be. And I guess it has to come from the members directly, without waiting for an incentive from the CD. Whenever you have an idea of what should be changed, what can be improved or developed, simply try to invite other people who share the idea, discuss it and write a summary, share it with the CD and others in AEGEE. This is how the first steps are made in order to inspire others!

At the same time, when you think about inviting external guests you can make a great use of the fact that AEGEE is now present in the European Youth Forum and soon will be in the Advisory Council! Put in your promo materials; use it as an argument for external guests to join your conferences, meetings, trainings!

So, what comes next? Which are the next goals of AEGEE-Europe in terms of advocacy?

Marko: This depends of course on the Comité Directeur, as they are the ones setting up the political agenda of the organization. However, thinking of next steps here in Brussels, it is prominent that we will all be putting our strenghts into stronger funding for youth, co-management questions, development of education area, unemployment and innovation as a key to development.

Luis: This week we are present in Strasbourg first to attend the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and on Wednesday we also start our event in the European Youth Center also here in Strasbourg. During this event we bring members of 15 different International Youth NGOs and together with them we draft the Youth Rights Campaign which we will launch soon. This campaign is a follow-up of the 9^th Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Saint Petersburg, Russia, were AEGEE was present and protesting for the lack of youth rights and freedom of speech for young people.

After this we will have a conference in Brussels in June, calling the European Union to implement a co-management structure inside the EU for the youth sector. We want the EU also to take the example of the Council of Europe and give a co-decisive power to the youth organizations.

Mirek: I hope that the next step to follow will look back to the membership of AEGEE. Now we are present externally, we are good at it, let’s try all together to use it in our internal growth.

Written by Cosmina Bisboaca, AEGEE-Torino, and Anna Gumbau Martínez, AEGEE-Barcelona

Pictures by the European Youth Forum (flickr)

A few days ago the ICPD Global Youth Forum took place in Bali, Indonesia, where 1000 young activists from all over the world gathered to propose concrete recommendations to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon related to youth needs worldwide.

Luis Alvarado Martinez, President of AEGEE-Europe,  participated on behalf of AEGEE-Europe, and he answered a few questions to tell us what happened in Bali and why it has been important for AEGEE to be there.

The AEGEEan: What is the ICPD Global Youth Forum? What does it represent?

Luis Alvarado: The United Nations organized an International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, in 1994. One of the results of this conference was the creation of  the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Around 20,000 delegates from various governments, UN agencies, NGOs, and the media gathered for a discussion of many population issues, including immigration, infant mortality, birth control, family planning, the education of women, education, youth participation and protection for women from unsafe abortion services.

ICPD stands for the International Conference on Population and Development Beyond 2014. The ICPD is an initiative of the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) as a follow-up of all the work done from Cairo in 1994 onwards. It is also a preparation conference for the next conference which will happen in 2014 in Cairo again.

The ICPD Beyond 2014 provides a once-in-a-generation chance to define what needs to be done for a more equal, more sustainable world for the 7 billion people – and more – who share it. It identifies progress and achievements towards the goals set out in the landmark International Conference on Population and Development, when 179 governments committed to a 20 year Programme of Action to deliver human rights based development.

Evidence of what has worked and where challenges remain will be collected from governments, civil society organisations and partners using the ICPD Global Survey, civil society consultations and a series of thematic conferences.

The Beyond 2014 Review process will engage world leaders from governments and civil society and create a renewed consensus and global commitment to create a more equal and more sustainable world.

The Global Youth Forum as such is a conference which took place in Bali, Indonesia, gathering around 1000 high level youth leaders to draft concrete recommendations to be sent to the Secretary General of UN, Ban Ki Boon, and to Member States on the policies related and which affect young people.

How is/can AEGEE be involved?

It is necessary that our members can see the whole picture. Europe is only the first step. But there is a whole new and big world outside. This is why it is so important to encourage our members also to get involved and participate on a UN Global Level, taking their expertise and knowledge one step further.

We in AEGEE-Europe already count with an NGO consultative status inside UN. This means that we are often asked to give our input in several topics such as participation, civil society, education etc. But this is not enough. Our members must be more involved in UN activities by participating in the different conferences and initiatives organized throughout the year.

What has been AEGEE role in the conference?

AEGEE participated in the drafting of the final recommendations. It is an extraordinary document. They are the recommendations of the world’s youth towards national governments which tackle topics like Education, Health, Family and Sexuality, Employment, and Participation of Young people.

Even though we had lots of pressure from several national governments during the conference, specially the very religious ones, when drafting recommendations about the right to a safe abortion or against imposed marriages, finally we managed to get all the recommendations to pass through. A great job done by all the youth delegates.

Was there a preparation phase before? And what will be the follow up?

There were a set of consultations before the conference as a preparation phase. Now that the document has been approved, it will be sent to the Secretary General of United Nations, Ban Ki Moon himself. As you know, he has set Youth as one of his permanent priorities for the next years. After this, he will present this document to the General Assembly of the United Nations to be adopted and sent to all Member States.

Why was the participation of AEGEE granted by you and not the LO for the UN or a Policy Officer?

The Global Youth Forum is a high level youth meeting. I got an invitation as President to apply for the Conference. After discussing it with the CD we decided that it was appropriate and necessary for AEGEE to get involved further on the global level and influence even more.

There were very few delegates from Europe compared to the numbers from Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Together with the European Youth Forum and organizations like IFMSA (International Federation for Medical Students Association), EFIL (European Federation for Intercultural Learning), with whom we cooperate often in Brussels , I think we did a great job advocating and pushing for the rights of young Europeans.

Did this trip considerably affect the budget of AEGEE-Europe?

It is the policy of the UNFPA to cover the costs of this kind of events for all delegates, so participation on this event did not have an impact on the AEGEE-Europe budget. If we had needed to cover the costs from AEGEE-Europe budget, we would have declined to participate in spite of how relevant the participation can be. We receive plenty of open calls and we always evaluate the cost/benefits of attending each one of them, in terms of economical and time investment.

Did the participation in the event open up for new opportunities / ideas to develop as AEGEE?

Of course. As you can imagine, being a global platform with activists from all over the world gives you possibility to meet a lot of people and brainstorm about many ideas on future cooperation. After this I definitely see the need of AEGEE to get involved not only on the high European level, but also on a more global scale and United Nations level. There are many things which we can influence, as we did during Bali. If you check the recommendations you will see a lot of influence of AEGEE and the European Youth Forum who advocated very much for the presence in the document on things such as Non-Formal Education (NFE), recognition of the role of civil society and youth organizations, youth guarantees, improvements of education systems, co-management structures in governments and institutions for young people, more accessible and inclusive democratic processes for young people to participate, strengthening and supporting financially the National Youth Councils (NYCs) and International Non-Governmental Youth Organizations (INGYOs) like AEGEE and a very long etc.

The European Youth Delegation was very much prepared and experienced to this kind of consultation/conference. This allowed us to be much more efficient in our ideas and proposals.

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno

Mirosław Krzanik, former Audit Commissioner, former member of Comité Directeur and former Liaison Officer toward the European Youth Forum, has been elected as board member of the European Youth Forum by its General Assembly in Maribor in December 2012, representing AEGEE in the European Board. The European Youth Forum (YFJ, from Youth Forum Jeunesse) is the biggest representative youth platform in our continent. It strives for youth rights in international institutions. In its daily work the European Youth Forum represents the views and opinions of youth organisations in all relevant policy areas and promotes the cross-sectoral nature of youth policy towards a variety of institutional actors. In this interview, Mirosław talks about the current projects of the European Youth Forum, his main goals for the upcoming term, as well as the role that his involvment in AEGEE played in reaching the goal of becoming a board member.

Please enjoy!

During the last General Assembly held in Maribor, Slovenia, the European Youth Forum (YFJ) elected the new board to lead the platform for the upcoming two years. In the new team there is also Miroslaw Krzanik, experienced member of AEGEE and former member of the Comité Directeur!

Together with the best congratulations for the great success, the AEGEEan interviewed Miroslaw (better known as Mirek) to get to know a bit more about him and his experience.

The AEGEEan: What has been your experience with YFJ? How did you get there?

Mirek: The first time I came across the European Youth Forum YFJ myself was in June 2010 when I attended the 1st European Convention on Youth Work that was organised by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. After that, already as a CD Member, I was working with YFJ on multiple occasions. In the beginning of 2011 I was also selected to be a member of an Expert Group on Youth in Action. That was the first time I became a member of any working structure of the Forum and also when I became familiar with all the processes and most of opportunities that are provided by the platform. For the past two and a half years I have been working on different issues and contributing to different processes. Most significantly I was involved in the new Youth programme debate, education, volunteering and the Structured Dialogue. But the first and most important aim was to increase visibility of AEGEE in the Youth Forum, and I guess we managed!

What does it mean for you being a YFJ Board member?

On personal level I can say that it is some sort of a final step in my life-long journey through different youth organisations. On the other hand, hard work only starts now and for the next two years, because my mandate will last for 24 month, I will have to do a lot to prove that the support I received in Maribor was what I deserved. On a more professional level it is a chance to achieve my political agenda which I drafted over the past months. YFJ provides a wide range of opportunities to lobby for young people. My plan is, first of all, to focus on mobility issues, most importantly, visas and residence permits for young volunteers, pupils, students or trainees coming to the European Union. I hope that together with my colleagues from the Youth Forum and Member Organisations we will manage to convince politicians and policy-makers that young people deserve better! Secondly, I would like to work on education, both modes of it, meaning formal and non-formal, and also everything that is in between them. Thirdly, I wish to happily conclude the process of establishing a new Youth programme for the years 2014-2020. All in all, it is a challenge but also a chance to achieve a lot.

What will be your tasks?

As a Board Member I will be working on the political agenda of the Youth Forum. Unlike in AEGEE, in YFJ functions of the Secretariat and the Board are separated. Thus, Board Members are focused on setting up an agenda, preparing political ground, representing the whole platform and making sure that the Workplan is implemented. Precise tasks will be assigned to each one of us only in the beginning of the mandate, which starts on the 1st of January.

What can be the benefits for AEGEE?

First of all AEGEE can become more visible and what bothers us, would be also delivered to a higher level. I hope also that by having me in the Board of the Youth Forum we will rise a little bit awareness of the political importance of our work and maybe more  people will become interested in it. It is also important that what I strive for in the Board of YFJ is directly linked to my experience in AEGEE. All the problems with visas are particularly visible in our network which reaches far beyond boundaries of the European Union. Similarly, the Youth programme is crucial for our existence and provides us with a significant part of our income. I hope that through delivering these issues to YFJ and further to politicians, I will manage to improve environment in which AEGEE and similar organisations function.

How can AEGEE members support your work in there?

In the Youth Forum we will be working in the next two years on many issues that AEGEE deals with, including mobility, formal and non-formal education, employment, next EU Parliamentary elections and so on. I hope that we will remain active in those fields as an organisation! Furthermore, I hope that AEGEE will become an expert in those domains and I will be able to relay on the knowledge of our members whenever I need some more in-field information!

You have been on the stage at the Agorae presenting yourself several times: is there any difference in doing the same on the stage of a General Assembly of YFJ?

I think AEGEE is friendlier. In the Youth Forum there are a lot of political discussions happening behind the scene and each time you take the floor you need to be aware of them and careful of what you say to make sure you would receive necessary support for your claims. In AEGEE we know each other better, we all share the same story and only rarely somebody has a completely different stand on an issue. But the stress associated with public speaking is just the same…

Thanks to the European Youth Forum & Léa Charlet, AEGEE-Paris for the photos.

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno