Celtic League - promoting an agenda for young people in Scotland and Wales

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Celtic League - promoting an agenda for young people in Scotland and wales

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This item courtesy of the Celtic League:

The General Secretary (GS) of the Celtic League has written to the
Scottish and Welsh Government's to ascertain what the position in
these respective countries is with regards to how youth organisations
are structured, organised and in particular how their rights are represented
at a European level.

Currently in Europe the rights of 90 European national youth councils
are represented by the European Youth Forum (YFJ) – an European umbrella
youth organisation and the biggest regional youth platform in the
world. Members of the EYF also include some of the biggest international
non-governmental youth organisations like the Scouts and the Young
Women's Christian Organisation (YWCA). However there is no national
youth organisation from any of the Celtic countries, with the exception
of the Republic of Ireland, who are members of YFJ. The rights of
young people from the other Celtic countries on the Forum are therefore
only represented by the Youth Council of France and the British Youth
Council.

National youth councils can be represented in the YFJ if they are
voted to become members, which they can do after spending at least
one year as an 'Observer' and then 'Candidate Member'. This has therefore
not excluded some non-state national youth councils from becoming
full members of YFJ, such as the Flemish National Youth Council (Belgium)
and the Catalan Youth Council (Spain). Consequently the rights of
young people from both Flanders and Catalonia are therefore directly
represented at a European level and do not have to go through the
youth councils of their host states.

In the light of various reports from both Scotland and Wales (e.g.
Kathleen Marshall's report into the quality of life of young people,
due to be published this week and 'Extending Entitlement: supporting
young people in Wales') it is clear that improvements need be made
in both countries. It should not be left to the British or French
youth council's to represent the rights of young people in the Celtic
countries in Europe, who have by all accounts failed to prevent a
poorer quality of life in these countries, than in those countries
where the centre of their own power lies (i.e. London and Paris).
Young people in the Celtic countries need their own direct voice at
all levels, if issues that affect them uniquely are to be dealt with
adequately.

The full text of the letter from the GS to Minister Fabiani in Scotland
can be found below. A similar letter to Jane Hutt AM, Minister for
Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, in Wales has also
been sent. Both the Scotland and Wales Government's are responsible
for the priority area of 'social inclusion', which includes young
people, on the British Irish Council.

"Linda Fabiani
Minister for Europe, External Affairs & Culture
scottish.ministers@scotland.gsi.gov.uk


Dear Minister Fabiani

Representation of Scottish Youth

I am writing to you in order to make an informal assessment for our
organisation of the current situation in respect of how the rights
of young people are coordinated/upheld in Scotland and at a European
level in particular.

Specifically, I am interested to discover if Scotland has its own
youth council in much the same way that there is a Catalan National
Youth Council in the state of Spain or a Flemish National Youth Council
in the state of Belgium. If this is not the case I would like to know
why this isn't an area that has been developed previously and how
the various youth organisations in Alba/Scotland liaises with each
other.

In addition I would also like to determine how Scotland is represented
on/by the British Youth Council (BYC), who are full members of the
European Youth Forum (YFJ) - the main umbrella organisation that represents
the rights of young people at a European level. Moreover, I would
like to know if Scottish youth currently have a direct link with the
YFJ and if so, through what organisation/channel?

I would be further interested to know, if the current Scottish Government,
is willing to foster and encourage the creation and/or participation
of a national youth council for Scotland in the YFJ in the future.
The Celtic League believes that direct involvement in such organisations
as the YFJ, rather than relying on a third party (in this case the
BYC it would seem) is the best means for young people to lobby for
the rights they want and need.

In the light of the report to the United Nations, due to be published
this week by Scotland's Children's Commissioner, Kathleen Marshall,
which highlights a number of areas where the quality of life of young
people needs to be improved, it would seem that a national youth council
for Scotland, with full membership of YFJ, would be beneficial in
directly lobbying for the rights of Scotland's young people at a European
level.

Many thanks in advance for your time in answering my questions and
look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely

Rhisiart Tal-e-bot
General Secretary
Celtic League"

European Youth Forum

http://www.youthforum.org/

'Extending Entitlement: supporting young people in Wales'

http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/childrenyoungpeople/publications/reports/extendingentitlement?lang=en

J B Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League

09/06/08


The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works
to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a
broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights
human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on
socio-economic issues.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at:

http://celticleague.net
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/