Brussels, 30/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - Education ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday 3 May said than the fight against violent radicalisation required an “integrated and trans-sectoral” approach that goes beyond the key domains of education and youth. All efforts need to be mobilised across the board to help young people find a positive identity for themselves, added the ministers.
Discussion was divided into two sections. The ministers first adopted a conclusions document before discussing the role played by the youth sector in preventing radicalisation. Their discussions were based on a working document prepared by the Dutch Presidency and an address by Professor Stijn Sieckelink of Utrecht University.
Exchange of best practices. The Dutch Presidency says it is important for all those involved in education, including parents, the family, sports trainers, religious figures and others responsible for the informal sector, social and educational workers and play-leaders and teachers to work together to help young people build an identity for themselves. Every young person wants to be the hero of his life and this identity desire needs to be taken on board by investing in local relations with a policy framework based on the specific strong points, said Professor Sieckelink. The ministerial round table discussion was largely restricted to a presentation of national networking practices, such as the “National Citizens Programme” (a development programme for 15 to 17-year-olds in the United Kingdom), the future “Conseil d'orientation des politiques de jeunesse” (Guidance Council for Youth Policy) in France, the inter-ministerial youth policy group in Slovakia and the joint apprenticeship mechanism between Luxembourg and Latvia. When it was their turn to speak, Luxembourg and Austria both regretted the budget cuts in the youth sector in recent years.
Belgium and France took advantage of the opportunity to announce the signing on Monday 30 May of a joint statement to boost prevention of radicalisation in their youth policies. They say in a press release that the initiative will allow exchange of best practice to boost the expertise of professionals on the ground in terms of education about the media, supporting young people, inter-cultural dialogue, freedom of expression and citizenship. France called on the European Union to follow its lead and introduce a “youth impact clause” to ensure that young people do not suffer from new rules and regulations.
The ministers' conclusions. In their conclusions document, the ministers call on the EU28 to draw up an “integrated and trans-sectoral” approach at local, regional, national and European levels to combat violent radicalisation. They say this approach - which builds on the central role played by social and educational youth work - should involve the deployment of different strategies depending on the degree of radicalisation: generic prevention strategies at the early stages of radicalisation and a more targeted approach when the violent radicalisation process is actually at work. Concretely, they invite countries to cooperate, support and boost the youth sector and to encourage the role of social and educational animation. (Conclusions document: http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9041-2016-INIT/fr/pdf )
The European Youth Forum (EYF), which will publish a document on 1 June entitled “The role of the youth sector in preventing violent extremism,” welcomed the conclusions but said they could have been more concrete. The EYF says youth organisations, which provide a safe arena for young people's personal development, should be given stable funding. In terms of tangible action, the organisation recommends that a cooperation body be set up to develop a joint strategy and that one-stop-shops be established in vulnerable areas. It also suggests that priority be given to the most disadvantaged groups, with access to social security, healthcare and high-quality education. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)