The ‘Youth and the
Future of Europe: Role, Opportunities and Challenges’ event was organised
jointly by the NGO Oxygono and the Cyprus network of the Anna Lindh Foundation,
with the supported of ONEK. It was hosted online on Friday, 10th of September,
at 6pm.
Four speakers took
part in the discussion; Ms Alexandra Attalides, Member of the House of Representatives
with the Green Party; Ms Maria Miltiadous, Deputy Executive Director of the
Youth Board of Cyprus; and Mr Antonis Kourras, President of the Cyprus Youth
Council. In addition, Ms Themis Christophidou, Director-General for Education,
Youth, Sport, Culture at the European Commission, participated through a pre-recorded
video.
The discussion was
structured around four main topics: the role of youth in shaping the future of
Europe, opportunities for youth in shaping the future of Europe, the challenges
of inclusiveness and the challenges of the administration in dealing with youth
problems.
The event followed
Oxygono’s rules which are based on a structured dialogue. These were aligned to
the main topics of discussion and each speaker had 5 minutes to develop a
position in each thematic area.
Following the opening
remarks from Mr Javier Esteban from the Cyprus Network of the Anna Lindh
Foundation, the event began with a pre-recorded video message from Ms Themis Christophidou,
who outlined the main challenges facing the youth from a European perspective,
as well as, a number of initiates pursuit at the EU-level in addressing these
challenges. She referred to the EU Youth Dialogue and the European Solidarity
Corps as some of the best youth opportunities for participation at a
multinational level.
The discussion
between participants began on the topic of how youth in shaping the future of
Europe. Ms Miltiadous expanded on the national policies that are currently
taking place, and which grant opportunities for the youth in Cyprus. She outlined
several opportunities for young people that can be utilised to make their
voices heard. Specific reference was made to Erasmus+, the European Solidarity
Corps, the EU Youth Dialogue and the EU Youth Conferences. She also mentioned
that the participation of the youth in decision making at a national level is a
main priority for the Youth Board of Cyprus and a basic principle of the
national youth strategy. Nevertheless, Ms Miltiadou signalled that there is still
space for improvement and that everyone should commit to using consultations
with the youth for all decision-making processes.
A counter-argument
was offered by Ms Attalides, when referring to the youth’s participation in
democratic processes in Cyprus. She expanded on her view that, by and large, the
youth is neither heard in Cyprus, nor in the European Union, since institutional
corridors do not promote the voices of the youth and their opinions cannot be easily
integrated in national and European strategies. An additional problem she
touched upon was the one of active participation by the youth, namely that the majority
of young people in Cyprus refrain from stating their opinion and most of them do
not engage in democratic processes, such as participations in elections.
A dialogue between Ms
Attalides and Mr Kourras ensued. The latter offered a few examples in favour of
the participation argument, stating that the young people in Cyprus are active
in the political scene of the island. In his contribution he outlined a few
initiatives currently being pursued at the national level and by NGOs in the
field.
During the second
thematic area, focusing on opportunities given to the youth, Ms Miltiadous mentioned
the opportunities created by the wide use of technology. However, she stated
that additional ways in which the youth would be able to shape the future are
needed. Mr Kourras agreed that this generation has been given more
opportunities to participate in democratic processes within the European Union
than previous generations, while Ms Attalidou emphasised the fact that the
society should be responsible for encouraging young people to participate in
democratic processes and express their opinion more openly.
The discussion turned
to the challenges facing the youth today. When assessing whether the Cypriot
community is inclusive, Mr Kourras answered with an emphatic “no”. He explained
that people with disabilities, people belonging to a religious minority and LGBTQIA
community, are not granted equal opportunities for participation, compared to the
other parts of society. He stated however that equality is something that the
Cyprus Youth Council is fighting for. In turn, Ms Miltiadous said that in
theory Cyprus is an inclusive society, but in practise things are very different.
She identified the limited budget as one of the main constraints in creating an
inclusive society with organisations that will ease participation constraints.
Finally, Ms Attalides re-emphasised the fact that religious minorities, women,
members of the LGBTQIA community and the youth of Cyprus are often not heard by
the policy-making community and that more need to be done in this direction. Another
issue mentioned by participants is the role of political parties in
exacerbating the participation of some parts of the population against other
parts.
In the final leg of the
discussion, Ms Miltiadous referred to the challenges that the recent pandemic
created for the youth, but she remained optimistic that the youth will increase
their participation in policy-making processes in the near future. Ms Attalides
stated that the pandemic was a watershed in terms of change, both for the
Cypriot youth and in Europe as a whole. She emphasised the need to promote
policies that tackle climate change, the need for increased funding in for the
mental health issues and called upon the youth to stay active, engaged in the
processes and demand changes from politicians. Lastly, Mr Kourras specified the
need for a resolution to the Cyprus Issue, as a pre-condition for an overall
change in the Cypriot society.
