OBESSU and Structured Dialogue – Lithuanian Presidency
Structured Dialogue is a continuous process which includes consultations and open dialogue between policy-makers and youth in the European Union. The process in organised in all Member States by National Working Groups and across the EU by the International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations. The trio Presidency – Ireland, Lithuania and Greece – together with the European Commission and the European Youth Forum have agreed on social inclusion as the overarching theme of the Structured Dialogue for the 18 months from January 2013 to end of June 2014.
The focuses of the Lithuanian Presidency are the possible solutions for the social inclusion of young people with a special emphasis on those who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs). The ultimate aim at the end of the 18-month dialogue between young people and policy-makers is the Council Resolution on social inclusion of young people.
EuroSD
Even during the summer OBESSU and 12 other international non-governmental youth organisations (INGYO’s) continue their work on the Structured Dialogue. Working towards cooperation amongst INGYO’s at the European level, 13 INGYO’s and two National Youth Councils met in Zaragoza, Spain from 4th to 6th of July.
In the short period of time, we managed to learn about each other’s work on social inclusion and Structured Dialogue, shared best practices and experiences. We also discussed how we see the process of the Structured Dialogue developing and how INGYO’s should be involved in this.
In order to ensure the most effective ways of reaching young people in Structured Dialogue and to establish a good cooperation between National Working Groups andINGYO’s, representatives of the National Youth Councils of Portugal and Cyprus presented the ways in which their National Working Groups work with and in the process.
AEGEE Zaragoza, the host of the event, organised a press conference at the Rectory of the University of Zaragoza. The press conference spoke about the Structured Dialogue and one current issue affecting the Spanish youth: – the closing down of the Spanish National Youth Council (CJE).
Next steps
Our work with this phase of the Structured Dialogue is now completed but we are not done at all! OBESSU was selected as one of the 8 INGYO’s to take part in the EU Youth Conference which takes place in Lithuania from 9th to 12th September. Additionally, OBESSU will take part in the Ad-hoc taskforce meeting on Structured Dialogue organised by the European Youth Forum. It will take place in Mollina, Spain from 25th to 28th September.
We would like to thank all the organisations that submitted their comments to the consultations for the second phase of the process on the topic of social inclusion of young people. The report will be compiled from all the consultations submitted and will serve as a basis for the EU Youth Conference. You can read the OBESSU’s final report here.
Interested to learn more? Check out also the results of the OBESSU consultation on Structured Dialogue.
