Recommendation CM/Rec(2015)3of the Committee of Ministers to member Stateson the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights

Social cohesion is important for the sustainability of democracy and human rights (as codified in the European Convention on Human Rights and the Revised European Social Charter); it implies an acceptance of shared responsibility for the welfare of all members of society, especially those who are at risk of poverty or exclusion. In line with this, the youth policy of the Council of Europe aims at providing young people with “equal opportunities and experience which enable them to develop knowledge, skills and competencies to play a full part in all aspects of society”. The Council of Europe’s youth sector is running the Enter! project aiming at the development of youth policy and youth work responses to exclusion, discrimination and violence affecting young people, particularly in multicultural disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

The project was set in response to the growing concern and attention of the European Steering Committee for Youth and the Advisory Council on Youth, the governmental and non-governmental partners of the youth sector of the Council of Europe, to matters of social cohesion and inclusion of young people. The experiences of the Enter! project are at the origin of the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to the member States of the Council of Europe on the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights adopted in January 2015.

​In this recommendation, the Committee of Ministers recognises that young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, especially those living in poverty, are more vulnerable to all kinds of risks, including poor physical and mental health, substance abuse, self-harm, violence, discrimination and exclusion. The Recommendation proposes measures in various fields of youth, education and social policy. Furthermore, the text is accompanied by guidelines for its implementation by public authorities, including local or regional providers of youth work and social policies, which should help making it a truly useful instrument for the social inclusion of all young people.

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