A positive atmosphere and lively conversation were the hallmark of this evening event in the attractive venue of the Akademie der Künste in the heart of Berlin. Even before the panel discussion began, attendees mingled with members of Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. At the stands set up by the specialist and funding agencies, interested guests chatted to each other and picked up valuable information. Ahead of the actual talks, which took place on the upper level of the building, invitees flocked to the terrace to enjoy the remarkable views across to the Brandenburg Gate and the cupola of the Reichstag, home of the Bundestag.
International youth work instrumental in promoting democracy
“We’re concerned” is how Daniel Poli, Director of IJAB and Frauke Muth, head of JUGEND für Europa welcomed the guests of the Parliamentary Evening on behalf of the specialist and funding agencies for European and international youth work. Together with the members of the Bundestag, they discussed the contribution of international youth work to promoting democracy today, and how the potential of international youth work can be fully leveraged. The agencies jointly voiced the following demands:
- Demand 1: European and international youth work activities must be considered in all initiatives to promote democracy.
- Demand 2: Young people’s international engagement requires strong youth work. Sufficient, long-term funding must be made available to Federal Government’s Child and Youth Plan, state and municipal budgets and European funding programmes.
- Demand 3: European and international youth work must be adequately funded.
Uwe Finke-Timpe, head of division at the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, underlined the strong significance of youth and expert exchanges when it comes to promoting democracy. He expressed gratitude towards youth organisations and associations for the work they were doing in this field. It was worth pursuing the effort, he said, to ensure its full potential could be leveraged. Every young person should have the opportunity to participate in an international project. It was now important to extend the target groups, he continued, also in light of the results of the Zugangsstudie (access study), and to design activities accordingly.
A strengthened Child and Youth Plan is key
Daniel Poli and Frauke Muth then moved on to an interview-style conversation on stage with Bundestag members Silvia Breher (CDU) and Chantal Kopf (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) about the potential, the challenges and the solutions associated with international youth work in the context of strengthening democracy long-term. “A structural vacuum invites right-wing organisations to move in and plug the gap in youth work,” proposed Daniel Poli. If they were re-elected, what would Breher and Kopf do to address that?
Silvia Breher felt that the Child and Youth Plan was key. What was needed, she said, was stable structures along with a strengthened CYP. She also mentioned how important it was for association representatives to object to the cuts in the CYP budget. The associations, she continued, needed to reach out to the target groups that are currently not in scope.
As for young people embracing more right-wing positions, Chantal Kopf said it would be unfair to judge them prematurely. What is more, she said, the data provided by the Shell Youth Study, which were published that very day, did not call for it. It was important to invite young people to participate, and to provide answers to their justified questions about the future.
The takeaway? Three hashtags
What were the Bundestag members’ key takeaways from the talks? Expressed in hashtags, they would be #engagement, #europe and #youth for Chantal Kopf and #CYP, #associationstructures and #future for Silvia Breher.
Following the panel debate, the child and youth services representatives engaged in small-group conversations and discussed the demands, posters of which had been hung up around the venue.
An initiative by
- ConAct – Coordination Center for German-Israeli Youth Exchange
- Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO)
- German-Greek Youth Office
- German-Polish Youth Office (GPYO)
- Deutsch-Türkische Jugendbrücke
- IJAB - International Youth Service of the Federal Republic of Germany
- JUGEND für Europa
- Foundation for German-Russian Youth Exchange
- Tandem – Czech-German Youth Exchange Coordination Centre
