EUROPEAN YOUTH FORUM

A European Platform for youth organisations Entirely run by young people and independently established by youth organisations, it brings together tens of millions of young people from all over Europe, organised in order to represent their common interests.

Values Representation, internal democracy, independence, openness and inclusion are among the main principles for the functioning of the European Youth Forum and its Member Organisations.

When Established in 1996, as a result of the merging of three European platforms.

Mission The Youth Forum works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives, by representing and advocating their needs and interests and those of their organisations.

Strategic Priorities ( ) For , the European Youth Forum established 5 Strategic Priorities to drive its work and advocacy towards the European Institutions, the Council of Europe and the United Nations: // EDUCATION // EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS // HUMAN RIGHTS // PARTICIPATION AND YOUTH POLICY MAINSTREAMING // YOUTH WORK DEVELOPMENT

Our new Strategic Priorities ( ) What we want to achieve_goals - Youth Participation - Strong Youth Organisations - Youth Autonomy and Inclusion How we want to achieve it_means and methods - Youth Forum as an Agenda-Setter on Youth Affairs - Empowered Member Organisations - A Rights-based approach in all our work

Our current Work Plan ( ) - Young Volunteers: Builders of European Society - A Rights-Based Approach for an Inclusive and Participatory Europe - Strong Youth Organisations for Stronger Civil Society

Governance (Board) Elected for a two year mandate, the governing board is made up of 11 young volunteers (all aged 18-35). The elections take place during the General Assembly, and each Full Member Organisation has right to vote.

Governance (Statutory meetings) The General Assembly is held every 2 years. The next one is going to be in Maribor (Slovenia) in November The Council of Members (COMEM) is held every 6 months, when there is not a GA. Both the COMEMs and the GAs focus in policy-making and voting on the direction of the platform.

Governance (Secretariat) 25 young professional working full-time to support the Board and the Member Organisations in their daily work. Specialised in the areas of expertise of the European Youth Forum (youth policy, volunteering, education, employment...) Based in Brussels, Belgium.

Working Structures FCC (Financial Control Committee) Elected by Member Organisations at the GA, with a mandate of 2 years; responsible for advice on the financial matters. CBMA (Membership Applications Committee) Elected by Member Organisations at the GA, with a mandate of 2 years; responsible for overlooking the membership application/revision procedures.

Working Structures Working Groups (Non-Formal Education, Volunteering, Youth Work Development) Expert Groups (Youth Rights, Youth in Action, Pool of Facilitators and Trainers

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Membership The European Youth Forum is made up of 97National Youth Councils and International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations, which are federations of youth organisations in themselves. Members contribute to the platform through consultation, participation to trainings/seminars, representation to external meetings.

Membership There are three categories of membership (observer, candidate and full) within the European Youth Forum and the criteria for these depend on the nature of the organisation.

Observer Membership NYCs have to satisfy the following specific criteria: * be the national co-ordinating body of non-governmental youth organisations in a European country; * be open to all democratic youth organisations at national level. INGYOs have to satisfy the following specific criteria: * either have at least 3000 young members in six European countries but no less than 100 young members in any one of these countries; * or have a justified recommendation from: - the Secretary General and the Bureau of the European Youth Forum; or from - the Consultative Body on membership applications which advises the Bureau on membership applications.

Observer Membership Most applicants join the European Youth Forum as observers, because it gives them room to develop and become eligible for the next stage of membership, which is…

Candidate Membership NYCs have to satisfy the following specific criteria: * be the national co-ordinating body of non-governmental youth organisations in a European country; * be open to all and represent most of the main democratic youth movements and organisations at the national level in that country. INGYOs have to satisfy the following specific criteria: * either have at least 5000 young members in ten European countries and under no circumstances have less than 300 young members in any one of those ten countries; * or have a justified recommendation from: o the Secretary General and the Bureau; or from o the Consultative Body which advises the Bureau on membership applications.

Candidate membership Finally, candidate members may apply for full membership but only after they have maintained their candidate status for two years.

Full membership NYCs have to satisfy the following specific criteria: * be the national co-ordinating body of non-governmental youth organisations in a European country; * be open to all and include most of the main democratic youth movements and organisations at the national level in that country. INGYOs have to satisfy the following specific criteria: * either have at least 5000 young members in ten European countries, and under no circumstances have less than 300 young members in any one of these ten countries; * or have a motivated recommendation from: - the Secretary General and Bureau; or from - the consultative body which advises the Bureau on membership applications.

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