Our Rights, Our Lives! (2020)

The "Enter! Youth Week, Nos droits, notre vie", associated young people and youth workers to review the process of the implementation of the recommendation on the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights by the member states and other partners. The week was also an example of young people’s participation in the Council of Europe’s mission and work.

Every human being automatically has rights entitling them to live with dignity: human rights, which are translated into safeguards and guarantees incorporated into legal provisions and policies, to be complied with by state authorities. Social rights are part and parcel of human rights. Social rights are all about the basic necessities for leading a dignified life and about living and working together. Social rights are based on the notion of equality and seek to guarantee that people have access to goods, services and opportunities from a social and economic viewpoint. These should be adequate, affordable, accessible and adapted to people’s needs. States have an obligation to make efforts to fulfil social rights and ensure that they do not undermine rights already gained.

Back in 2015, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a Recommendation on the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights – CM/Rec(2015)3, also known as the Enter! Recommendation. It called upon governments of member States to take steps to prevent and eradicate the poverty, discrimination, violence and exclusion faced by many young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

From 7 to 11 July 2019 the Enter! Youth Week brought together more than 300 participants in Strasbourg – young people, youth workers and institutional representatives – from 43 Council of Europe countries as well as Canada, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Tunisia. Five years after the adoption of the Enter! Recommendation, the event aimed to involve young people in the process of reviewing its implementation. During the week, the young participants shared experiences from their lives and the impact social rights had on them. They also shared their aspirations and demands for the future of social rights and the role of the Council of Europe in the current context compounded by the environmental and climate crisis.

This report looks back at the week’s highlights and the conclusions its young participants reached in a Message to the Council of Europe which reflects a “common vision for a life in dignity in an inclusive Europe and on a sustainable planet.”

The week-long event was part of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe and featured on the programme of the French Presidency of the Committee of Ministers.