14/11/2024 Secretary General of the Assembly
“For too long, the energy and passion young people bring to public life haven’t been fully matched by their representation in our political processes and institutions,” said PACE Secretary General Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis, at the opening ceremony of the Youth Space 2024 Conference in Berlin.
“Bringing the youth perspective to the forefront, harnessing the fresh ideas and energy you contribute - this is essential if we are to ensure intergenerational justice, and if we are to address the demands of the present without diminishing the promise of the future. Our task is to build a Europe that stays young at heart, where young voices aren’t just heard, but empowered,” she stated.
According to the PACE Secretary General, “the very ideas of economic and environmental sustainability, of social resilience, and of democratic security, cannot be conceived and implemented without taking into account the thoughts, needs, expectations and aspirations of future generations. After all, young people will be the ones more directly affected in the coming decades by the decisions that are taken right now by legislators and policymakers,” she stated.
The PACE Secretary General underlined the action taken by the Assembly to systematically integrate the youth perspective in its work with, amongst several measures, appointing Youth Rapporteurs in each committee of the Assembly to present a youth perspective in committee deliberations or organizing an annual debate devoted to a theme agreed between the Bureau of Assembly and the Bureau of the Joint Council of Youth. She announced a concrete calendar of events leading up to the Youth Ministerial Conference to be organised in Malta in October 2025.
“This is yet further proof of the commitment of the Assembly and its members to strengthen its focus on you, young people, drawing on your energy and aspirations! Together, we can make the Council of Europe a platform for dialogue that is not only intergovernmental, but truly intergenerational” she concluded.
At the end of the meeting, a reception was held in the presence of the President of the German Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, and the Chairperson of the German delegation to the PACE, Frank Schwabe. In her remarks on this occasion, the PACE Secretary Generally said that “promoting intergenerational dialogue and solidarity, and securing intergenerational justice will be a key factor for success for now and the next 75 years”. “When young people are involved in decision making processes and in policy implementation, it doesn’t just make our institutions more representative; it enriches their work, fosters trust, and helps break a cycle of growing disenchantment and disengagement,” she concluded.
The conference, on the theme ‘Celebrating 75 Years of the Council of Europe - Challenges and Opportunities in Shaping Europe's Future’, gathered around 50 youth representatives from member states of the Council of Europe and Belarus at the German Bundestag.
The Youth Space Berlin Conference is focused on encouraging the participation of young people in the work of the Council of Europe, as well as strengthening the Council’s youth policies. The event was organised by the German delegation to PACE in co-operation with the German Federal Youth Council and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
