European Youth Forum: A new Board and new priorities for the European Youth Forum
Over the last four days, during its General Assembly, the European Youth Forum elected its new leadership and adopted a Work Plan for the next three years, laying out a direction for the Forum ensuring the rights of young people by working on youth participation, developing strong youth organisations, sustainable development and the social and economic inclusion of young people.
The Youth Forum’s biennial General Assembly took place from the 16th to the 20th of November 2016 in the European Youth Capital 2017 Varna, Bulgaria and brought together 250 delegates from the Youth Forum’s members.
During the meeting, which is the highest decision making body of the platform, the Youth Forum’s members elected its new Board (2017-2018), which will be composed of Luis Alvarado Martinez (President), Dejan Bojanic and Carina Autengruber (Vice-Presidents), Kristen Aigro, Tina Hocevar, Zuzana Vaneckova, Mari Stromsvag, Andrea Casamenti, Sebastian Rood, Nafsika Vrettaki and Ville Majamaa (Board members).
The members also adopted a work plan which lays out the work of the Youth Forum for 2017-2019. Under the new work plan, the Youth Forum will continue to focus on its strategic priorities: greater youth participation; stronger youth organisations; and youth autonomy and inclusion, under the framework of youth rights. There is a new focus, however, on sustainable development and young people’s and youth organisations’ role in creating environmental, economic and social sustainability for both the future of the planet and for generations to come. Through the new work plan the Youth Forum also resolves to work on the grossly unfair situation young people today face.
Two policy documents were also adopted: a motion for recognition on the Declarations of the University of Youth and Development and a Resolution on the EU Youth Strategy, setting out our expectations of how European Union should include the views of young people by having a strategy that cuts across policy areas.
During the meeting the National Youth Council of Ukraine and the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award became observer members of the European Youth Forum and National Youth Council of Serbia as well as the European Union of Deaf Youth upgraded their memberships status to respectively full member and candidate member. The Youth Forum counts now 103 members organisations from across Europe.
