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Recommendation 2015 (2013) Final version
Young people's access to fundamental rights
1. The Parliamentary Assembly is
firmly convinced that unhindered access of young people to fundamental rights
is an essential element in building a culture of human rights, democracy
and the rule of law, and is concerned that youth policies in the
Council of Europe member States do not sufficiently safeguard these rights.
2. The Assembly therefore reiterates its call for a binding
legal framework at European level in order to secure young people’s
access to fundamental rights, including socio-economic rights.
3. Conscious of the challenge that the preparation of a binding
instrument in this field will involve, the Assembly calls on the
Committee of Ministers to prepare as a first step a recommendation
on improving young people’s access to fundamental rights, instructing
the European Steering Committee for Youth, the Advisory Council
on Youth and the Steering Committee for Education Policy and Practice,
in co-operation with the European Committee for Social Cohesion,
to draft this recommendation. This should bring together and complete
the acquis of previous Committee
of Ministers recommendations, also building on the following texts: key
proposals put forward by youth sector representatives at the Conference
of Ministers responsible for Youth held in St Petersburg from 24
to 25 September 2012; the text adopted by the Youth Assembly held
in Strasbourg from 5 to 7 October 2012; and relevant resolutions
and recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly.
4. The Assembly welcomes the launch, in February 2013, of the
Council of Europe campaign “Nurturing human rights” with a view
to promoting rights and freedoms enshrined in the European Convention
on Human Rights (ETS No. 5), with an emphasis on young people. It
believes that the campaign should be further widened to encompass
also the rights enshrined in the European Social Charter (revised)
(ETS No. 163).
5. The Assembly also recommends that the Committee of Ministers
take action to enhance member States’ capacity to evaluate young
people’s access to rights, prevent violations of these rights, provide
adequate follow-up and redress, and consider innovative ways to
empower young people in accessing their rights. To this end, the
Assembly invites the Committee of Ministers to:
5.1. reinforce the cross-sectoral
and rights-based approach to youth policy throughout the Organisation,
asking different Council of Europe bodies to give careful consideration
to young people’s rights in the development of standards, programmes
and monitoring activities, and to explore measures to improve the
access of young people to these rights;
5.2. instruct specifically the Steering Committee for Human
Rights (CDDH) and its Gender Equality Commission to pay due attention
in their work to the situation of young people in each and every
Council of Europe member State;
5.3. reinforce the programme of international reviews of national
youth policies, under the responsibility of the European Steering
Committee for Youth (CDEJ), paying particular attention to the establishment
of mechanisms ensuring effective access of young people to their
rights, and taking corrective action as necessary;
5.4. urge the Joint Council on Youth (DJS/CMJ), in co-operation
with other sectors of the Council of Europe, to conduct a thorough
study concerning young people’s access to rights, to identify difficulties and
good practice in this area and to prepare a handbook of instruments,
programmes and policies on youth rights;
5.5. instruct relevant bodies of the Council of Europe to
intensify the promotion and implementation of the Revised European
Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional
Life;
5.6. make use of existing platforms, particularly the European
Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (North-South Centre),
to promote, facilitate and improve co-operation between educational institutions,
youth organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from
the European Union/European Economic Area (EU27/EEA) and other members
of the Council of Europe and neighbouring countries, including southern
Mediterranean countries;
5.7. initiate a project to develop transversal policies aimed
at fostering intergenerational dialogue and supporting the effective
exercise of social and economic rights by young people, in line
with the results of the 2nd Council of Europe Conference of Ministers
responsible for Social Cohesion “Building a secure future for all”,
held on 11 and 12 October 2012 in Istanbul, and to invite the European
Union to participate in such a project;
5.8. consider the appointment of an ombudsperson at the Council
of Europe level to ensure that the rights of young people are respected
and protected;
5.9. recommend to the governments of the member States of
the Council of Europe to closely monitor the compliance with the
basic rights of young people to freely express their political differences,
including through non-violent protest, and to prevent subsequent
detention for political reasons.