Democratic Activation of Youth

ended

The general objective of the proposal DAY – Democratic Activation of Youth is to create and institutionalize a mechanism of youth participation in the democratic life at the local level. The rational inspiring the project is to consider children the experts in their own lives and the importance of their participation in the decisions that affect them. This proposal is a call to action for youth, schools and policy makers to establish a sustainable, meaningful, inclusive and safe local child participation mechanism that contributes to the quality of decision-making as well as to the children/young people‘s holistic development. The DAY proposal is set in the city of Naples and involves youth (14-18), schools, local public authorities, and policy makers at local, national and European level and CSOs. The specific objectives identified are: - To pilot a child participation mechanism in the metropolitan city of Naples - To increase youth soft skills and awareness on children rights to participate in the policy making process - To advocate for Youth participation in the decision-making process - To facilitate connections and integration with EU level child participation mechanism and peer to peer mutual learning DAY sets the enabling conditions to realize a youth participation mechanism in three districts of Naples. Policy makers and public authorities are sensitized through information and awareness raising sessions; youth are empowered to become active protagonists of the local democratic life. Three Local Youth Advisory Boards are constituted with the aim of implementing the 10-month pilot. During the pilot youth participates to districts councils and organizes meetings with city councillors. After the evaluation of the pilot, a Youth Participation Model is launched for a local scale up and transfer of practise at EU level. The Municipality of Naples supports the action as associate partner.