EU Youth Goals
The EU Youth Strategy focuses on three core areas of action, around the three words:
Engage, Connect, Empower
The 11 European Youth Goals summarise the issues that affect young people in Europe and the political priorities that are important to them.
The Youth Goals show in which areas change still has to happen so that young people in Europe can use their full potential.
The EU Youth Dialogue works on the implementation of the Youth Goals. At European, national and regional level, the EU Youth
Dialogue works with the Youth Goals to shape policy in the interests of young people.
#1 Connecting EU with Youth
Foster the sense of youth belonging to the
European project and build a bridge between
the EU and young people to regain trust and
increase participation.
- Guarantee meaningful youth involvement and dialogue in all stages of EU decision making by improving existing
participatory mechanisms and creating new ones. - Ensure equal access to quality impartial and youth-friendly information about how the EU works, how to engage in it
and what opportunities it offers. - Introduce and increase education about Europe and the EU in formal and non-formal settings.
- Guarantee fair representation of all member states in political and administrative EU bodies, in line with the principle
of equal citizenship. - Increase the budget and the impact of the EU youth programmes.
- Build young people’s trust in the EU project by addressing the democratic deficit, lack of transparency and visibility.
- Institutionalise the assessment of youth-friendliness, impact and effect of EU policies.
#2 Equality of All Genders
Ensure equality of all genders and gender-sensitive approaches in all areas of life of a young person.
Tackle discrimination and ensure equal rights for all genders in cultural, political and socioeconomically life.
Achieve universal awareness of gender-based inequality and discrimination, particularly in the media.
End gender-based violence by addressing and tackling it effectively in all its forms.
Eliminate stereotypical gender roles and embrace diverse gender identities in education systems, family life, the workplace, and other areas of life.
End gender-based structural discrimination in the labour market and ensure equal rights, access and opportunities.
Ensure equal pay for equal work and the equal sharing of the responsibilities of care work.
Ensure equal access to formal and non-formal education,
#3 Inclusive Societies
Enable and ensure the inclusion of all young people in society.
Provide legal protection and enforce international legal instruments to fight against all kinds of discrimination and hate speech, recognising that young people are subjected to multiple forms of discrimination.
Strengthen outreach of information to marginalised young people, to ensure they are aware of spaces, opportunities and experiences available to them.
Ensure that all marginalised young people have equal access to formal and non-formal learning environments addressing all the dimensions of inclusion.
Strengthen the capacities of educators to work with marginalised young people.
Provide more spaces, opportunities, resources and programmes to foster dialogue and social cohesion, and combat discrimination and segregation.
Strengthen social support by implementing the right to a living wage, fair work condition, universal access to quality health care, and ensure specific measures for marginalised young people.
Ensure that marginalised young people are participating in all decision-making processes and are key players, particularly in processes concerning their own rights, wellbeing and interests.
#4 Information & Constructive Dialogue
Ensure young people have better access to reliable information, support their ability to evaluate information critically and engage in participatory and constructive dialogue.
Empower young people to be critical and responsible users and producers of information.
Ensure young people have the ability to recogniseand report repeatedly misleading news and verify the accuracy of news sources used.
Ensure young people have the ability to recognise and report hate speech and discrimination online and offline.
Ensure young people can engage in respectful, tolerant and non-violent dialogue, online and offline.
Ensure easy access to understandable youth-friendly information that follows codes of ethics and quality standards.
Ensure parents and carers, and all those involved with educating and training young people are equipped with media and digital literacy skills and that they are reliable information sources for young people.
Downloadable Resources
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#5 Mental Health & Wellbeing
Achieve better mental wellbeing and end stigmatisation of mental health issues, thus promoting social inclusion of all young people.
Encourage the development of self-awareness and less competitive mindsets by fostering appreciation for individual skills and strengths.
Safeguard the rights to work and to study of people with mental health issues both during and after illness to ensure their ability to pursue their own ambitions.
Develop an inclusive intersectional approach to mental health provision for all, especially marginalised groups.
Provide all professionals working with young people as well as family and friends with quality mental health first aid training.
Provide inclusive, respectful and well-funded treatment by incorporating high quality mental health provision across all medical institutions.
Focus on prevention measures that ensure young people are equipped with the knowledge and the skills require for better mental wellbeing.
Fight stigma about mental health issues by developing awareness programmes.
#6 Moving Rural Youth Forward
Create conditions which enable young people to fulfill their potential in rural areas.
Ensure appropriate infrastructure in rural areas in order to provide equitable delivery of public services, data connectivity and housing opportunities for young people.
Ensure that sustainable, high quality jobs, accessible to young people are created in rural areas.
Ensure the decentralisation of different activities by, for and with young people in order to support their inclusion and to benefit local communities.
Ensure that young people in rural areas are actively participating in decision-making processes.
Ensure equal access to high quality education for young people in rural areas.
Establish a positive image of rural areas.
Ensure the protection of rural traditions.
#7 Quality Employment for All
Guarantee an accessible labour market with opportunities that lead to quality jobs for all young people.
Create quality jobs which guarantee fair working conditions, working rights and the right of living wage for all young people.
Safeguard social protection and healthcare for all young workers.
Guarantee fair treatment and equal opportunities for all young people in order to end discrimination in the labour market.
Ensure equal opportunities for all young people to develop the necessary skills and gain practical experience in order to smoothen the transition from education to the labour market.
Guarantee the recognition and validation of competencies acquired through internships, apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning, as well as volunteering and non-formal education.
Ensure involvement of young people and youth organisations as equal partners in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of employment policies at all levels.
Ensure equal access to quality information and adequate support mechanisms to prepare young people for the changing labour market and future of work.
#8 Quality Learning
Integrate and improve different forms of learning, equipping young people for the challenges of an ever-changing life in the 21st century.
Guarantee universal and equal access to quality education and life-long learning.
Ensure that all young people have access to adequately funded non-formal education at all levels, that is recognised and validated.
Promote open-mindedness and support the development of interpersonal and intercultural skills.
Create and implement more personalised, participative, and cooperative learner-centered methods in every step of the education process.
Guarantee that education equips all young people with life skills such as money management and health education including sexual and reproductive health.
Incorporate methods within formal and non-formal education settings that enable the learner to develop personal skills including critical and analytical thinking, creativity and learning.
Ensure that young people have access to citizenship education to provide them with solid knowledge on political systems, democracy and human rights, attained also through community-based experiences in order to promote active civil participation.
#9 Space and Participation for All
Strengthen young people’s democratic participation and autonomy as well as provide dedicated youth spaces in all areas of society.
Ensure young people can adequately influence all areas of society and all parts of the decision-making processes, from agenda setting to implementation, monitoring and evaluation through youth-friendly and accessible mechanisms and structures, ensuring that policies respond to the needs of young people.
Ensure equal access to everyday decision making for all young people from different backgrounds.
Increase youth participation and thus equal representation in the electoral process as well as in elected bodies and other decision-making organs at all levels of society.
Provide youth-led physical facilities and infrastructures called youth spaces defined by being autonomous, open and safe, accessible to all, offering professional support for development and ensuring opportunities for youth participation.
Ensure safe virtual youth spaces are accessible to every young person which provide access to information and services as well as ensure opportunities for youth participation.
Ensure sustainable funding, common recognition and development of quality youth work in order to strengthen youth organisations and their role in inclusion, participation and non-formal education.
Provide youth-friendly, relevant, comprehensive information, also developed by and with young people, in order to enable youth participation.
#10 Sustainable Green Europe
Achieve a society in which all young people are environmentally active, educated and able to make a difference in their everyday lives.
Ensure everyone including young people knows the effect of their actions on the environment.
Empower the entire society especially young people to act as agents of change for environmental and sustainable development.
Take into account the environmental impact of every policy and life decision while ensuring that young people are included in sustainable development policy-making on all levels.
Increase international cooperation to eliminate environmentally harmful production and consumption.
Support and strengthen opportunities for young people to volunteer in the environmental sector.
Ensure everyone especially young people has access to eco-friendly infrastructure for living a more sustainable lifestyle.
Expand research and innovation into eco-friendly solutions and technologies.
#11 Youth Organisations & European Programmes
Ensure equal access for all young people to youth organisations and European youth programmes, building a society based on European values and identity.
Ensure visibility and provide quality information on youth organisations and European youth programmes for all young people.
Ensure sufficient resources from EU programmes for youth organisations to develop projects and access structural support to carry out their missions and to support their work.
Ensure youth organisations and European youth programmes are better bridged with the educational systems and acknowledging them as actors fostering life skills and active citizenship.
Increase the accessibility of European youth programmes, ensure a youth friendly administration process and provide support and quality information for all participants and applicants.
Reach out to and support marginalised young people to be active in youth organisations, youth groups and EU youth programmes.
Increase resources, and widen the variety of grants and diversity of initiatives available for youth organisations and youth groups.
Ensure participation of young people in governance processes of European youth programmes.