[ERASMUS-YOUTH-2022-CSC-OG] - [Civil society cooperation in the field of Youth]
ESPOLITICA EU
Effective participation of young women and girls is essential to building a healthy, inclusive and democratic society. This is especially true given the context of the decline in young people’s participation in conventional political processes. Young women and girls from disadvantaged groups have considerable potential for inuence in the public and political spheres, which can and should be enhanced through new, interactive forms and teaching methods. Young women are the least represented amongst political leadership. IPU data on youth participation in parliaments show that only 2.2 per cent of parliamentarians are under 30, and less than 1 per cent are young women.
The exclusion of young women from the adoption of laws, negotiation of budgets and mechanisms to hold governments to account undermines the valuable contributions they make for the good of future generations. Equality between women and men is one of the European Union’s founding values. In the last years it has been talked a lot about promoting equal economic independence for women and men, closing the gender pay gap, advanced gender balance in decision making, ending gender based violence and promoting gender equality beyond the EU. All equally important issues especially taking into consideration the lived realities of women all over member states.
The gender issue in Europe varies between countries but at the bottom line women are less present in the labour market than men. The gender employment gap stood at 11.7% in 2019, with 67.3 % of women across the EU being employed compared to 79% of men (EU27 data). The gender pay gap in the EU stands at 14.1% and has only changed minimally over the last decade. It means that women earn 14.1% on average less per hour than men. The reasons for the gender pay gap go beyond the simple issue of discrimination. They are a consequence of various inequalities women face in access to work, progression and rewards (Source: European commission webpage). According to the latest report by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the EU as a whole scored 68 points out of 100 in 2021. This marked an improvement of just 0.6 points over 2020, and just under 5 points in the past 11 years. "With gender equality inching forward by only one point every two years, it will take nearly three generations to achieve gender parity at the current pace," the report said.
We see a big need in our local community for higher empowerment and involvement of young women in the participation in democratic life, for more awareness and youth participation in EU actions, for more awareness of European policy agendas in youth (for example EU Youth Strategy including the European Youth Goals) and a need for a direct conversation between young people, in this case young women and public authorities that implement policies and reforms, especially in areas relevant for young people.
With the project we have commited to the EU parliament’s campaign # DondeEstánEllas with the intention of making visible women experts in European or international current affairs, counting the percentage of women experts participating in institutional debates and searching for possible difficulties that may have arisen from the participation of women, in parallel to an effort to avoid presentations in which only men participate.
The goal was (and continues to be) promoting active citizenship, young people’s sense of initiative supporting their communities, empowerment of young women and strengthening their key competences and basic skills. In the phase of inscription we have concluded a questionnaire directed to our direct target group (young women between 15-19 years) and among the questions we have asked them what kind of topics they would like to talk about, how they feel the formal educational system is supporting them in getting these answers etc. According to the results we have adjusted the topics and have received very positive feedback and outcomes. We have created 8 online classes, focusing on topics such as communication skills, digital skills, activism and how to get more involved in democratic life as a young person, European opportunities, political system in Spain, women in science etc. To each class we invited various experts and we followed the methodology where the experts would introduce the topic briefly and then actively include the participants in debates, giving them different tasks where they could put the theory.
Our first group of 15 future change makers have finished the course successfully, creating their own local projects that will generate a positive impact in their communities, and boost their involvement in different areas of public life. After the course some of them, thanks to the class we had on European opportunities, participated in youth exchanges offered by the Erasmus+ program and enrolled in Erasmus+ study exchange program. At the end of the project the participants visited Injuve where they met with the general director, María Teresa Pérez and David Lafuente (Deputy Director General for Internal and External Cooperation) where they could present their local project ideas, talk about the needs they have as a target group of Injuve and how they could be more involved in the decision making processes. The results in the form of a report of the project can be seen on this link: https://bit.ly/3oGlAfx. They also had an opportunity to share their opinions in the European Commission in Spain, where they met with Teresa Coutinho, Head of Education and Youth at the Office of the European Parliament in Spain, to talk about the project and the future of youth, European opportunities and how we see the role of youth in achieving the ODDS goals. Empowered by their active involvement and by meeting these influential people where they could talk and be heard, the first participants decided to start with a new online edition of Espolitica where they would, following the methodology of the first edition, continue with the project. The second edition organised by the first participants is starting in January, on a national level, focusing on topics, that them, as young women, find necessary and are often ignored in formal learning environments (sexual education, European opportunities, digital skills etc.).
IMPACT:
In our impact strategy we put emphasis on 4 different target groups:
Participants in our activities, their families and friends. We aim to create a more inclusive, participative and active community of young people, encouraged to take part in activities and events by making them very interactive, interesting and relevant. Our goal is to raise awareness about European projects and initiatives where they can take part, learn new skills and improve their future labor opportunities. We aim to activate the youth and consequently their families and friends by actively including them in the civic society, to invite policy makers and influential people to events where the youth can express their opinion and be heard.
Local communities. We promote participation in activities and events and involve local communities as main characters of their personal and social development in the society. The local community can benefit from a more active, employable youth that has a space to learn, grow and participate in different extra scholar activities, creating a more emphatic, solidarity community with a good sense of others.
Organizations and institutions directly and indirectly involved. By creating a successful network on a local, regional, national and international level we create a community where we can exchange good practices, ideas, gain experience, volunteers and create a meaningful, solidarity, community, where we can raise awareness about different local, regional, national and international projects, promote the European values and be more active in the civic society.
Members of each organization involved, including youth workers, teachers and trainers. By participating in different national and international projects the members gain experience in learning in a diverse environment, which has a positive impact on their skills (management skills, communication skills, digital skills, graphic design etc.), learn new languages and overall improve their future employability. By learning new good practices and skills they can also improve their work in the organization/institution where they work.
We would like to thank you for honouring us with her presence H.E. President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca at the final international conference in Malta and sharing her story with us. We admire what she is doing to help the children, as she has well said, the children are the future.
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