Օn March 2-6 the Study Session entitled "Shrinking civil space and its effects on young people and their organisations" was held in Strasbourg, where FYCA members Ani Yeghiazaryan and Hayk Kalantaryan took active participation.
The study session was organised in partnership with two organisations The European Confederation of Youth Clubs (ECYC) and Rural Youth Europe (RYEurope), with the support of Youth Department - Council of Europe. The main purpose of the project was to empower youth and youth organisations through young people and activities done by them, as well as to expand the space for the civil society.
The project helped the participants to understand the problems and challenges facing the civil society, its impact on youth organisations and youth. The Study Session has been a good opportunity to exchange experiences, bringing together like-minded young people, who are currently engaged in similar activities. In addition, they reflected how to empower young people and youth organisations to engage in expanding the space for civil society through youth work and youth-led actions.
During the project, participants had guest speakers Anna Rurka from the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe and Leonie Martin from the Advisory Council on Youth, thanks to whom they explored the topic deeper.
At the end of the program, the participants presented their personal stories sharing their experiences of shrinking civil space and getting feedback from others to overcome all those problems. The Youth Sector of the Council of Europe has a dedicated page on Shrinking civil space where you can find more information about the past activities and existing standards.👉🔗https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/shrinking-space