The European Youth Parliaments’ Councils are working groups of the network on different tasks and topics set by the Governing Body. Considering their importance for the EYP network we talked with one of the members of the Development Council – Dora Dimitrova – and asked her about what motivated her to join the Council. To find out more about the Councils go here.
Dora Dimitrova (SE) is a student of European Social and Political Studies in London. She is originally from Bulgaria but got involved with EYP in Sweden in 2014, when she attended her first Regional Session as a Delegate. After that, she started attending sessions in various NCs, as well as getting involved locally as a regional board member and Head-Organising a Regional Session in her hometown of Malmö. She decided to join the EYP Councils to learn more about EYP organisation from within, and contribute to its development.
What motivated you to join the Development Council (DC)?
I was part of the Council last year and thus had the opportunity to realise the importance of getting more members involved in the international governance of the EYP network as a whole, to foster the democratic nature of the organisation at all levels. Working on the Council has given me the privilege to witness first-hand the wonderful diversity amongst all the EYP’s National Committees, something we should pride ourselves on and tirelessly work to preserve. My initial motivation for joining the Council was to give back and contribute to the development of a community that has given me so many resources and chances to grow as an active European citizen, in order to hopefully provide the same platform of opportunity that I was given to a newer generation of young people.
My initial motivation for joining the Council was to give back and contribute to the development of a community that has given me so many resources and chances to grow as an active European citizen.
Considering your work is voluntary, can you tell us more about where you get your motivation from?
The best thing about working on the Development Council, and the aspect of the work that keeps me motivated, is that I get to constantly collaborate with competent and motivated individuals who are just as eager and enthusiastic about developing their NCs as I am about supporting them in the process. The international perspective of our work has given me access to the wealth of knowledge and tools present in the organisation, and I think each country has a lot to benefit from more extensive and intensive inter-NC communication and cooperation.
Can you tell us something about the DC’s plans for this year? What are your goals? Something you would like to emphasise?
Without spoiling too much, something we want to really emphasise this year is how to make more apparent the link between a National Committee’s strategic development and the day-to-day work of its members. We hope to achieve this through our work with National Strategies, wherein we want to encourage NCs to treat their long-term strategy documents as dynamic projects to be periodically evaluated and reviewed. The main purpose of the DC is to provide a support helpline for NCs when they need advice on a specific issue or simply want someone to brainstorm with who will offer a fresh, external perspective to their ideas.
