On 22.06.2019, the European Youth Parliament launched a partnership with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to jointly address questions around sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, youth participation with a focus on leaving no one behind, as well as the role of non-formal education in reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
As a peer-to-peer educational programme that empowers young people from across Europe to be open-minded, tolerant and active citizens, the EYP very much welcomes the opportunity to partner up with the UN Population Fund. Working with the UNFPA will enable us to offer young people spaces for debate on topics such as sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and youth participation. By discussing these topics with their peers, as well as with experts from the field, we believe the EYP’s participants and volunteers will get equipped with knowledge and skills to positively shape the world around them.
Bringing youth from different backgrounds together
“With this new partnership, we are happy to bring topics to our participants that have a political angle, but at the same time also have a clear relevance to their daily lives. The partnership is an excellent opportunity for us to make the European Youth Parliament even more diverse, involving more participants from hard-to-reach groups in our work.” – says Lukas Fendel, EYP Executive Director. By bringing young people from different backgrounds together, the EYP fosters intercultural understanding, an appreciation for diversity, and friendships across borders.
The European Youth Parliament is active in 11 of the programme countries of UNFPA’s EECARO office. In the scope of this partnership, the EYP will therefore be able to leverage its broad geographic reach and diversity – both in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, but also across its entire European network.
What the partnership means for the EYP network
With the partnership, we will be able to organise events on both a national and an international level with the support of the UNFPA – from regional up to international sessions of the European Youth Parliament. This will include support for bringing previously hard to reach groups to the EYP and involve them in our work.
The partnership will also seek to integrate the opinions that EYP participants develop into UNFPA consultative processes. That will help us in giving EYPers a meaningful role in international discussions on youth and participation. Moreover, EYP and UNFPA will jointly reflect on how to leverage non-formal education formats for enhancing youth participation and active citizenship.
Finally, the partnership will also give EYPers opportunities to get to know the work of the UNFPA – experiencing first-hand the work and procedures of a UN agency, e.g. through placements or internships, or other participatory formats.
