Albania is the seventeenth country to have undergone an international review of its national youth policy, a series which was started by the Council of Europe in 1997. The review was performed in 2009 during two one-week visits by a team of international experts working on the basis of the Albanian National Youth Strategy, published in 2007.
The report focuses on three issues identified by the Albanian government: the law, delivery mechanisms and youth participation, and three issues identified as important by the review team itself: youth information, leisure-time activities and youth crime and justice. While reviewing the youth policy in Albania with special attention to theses issues, the international team came across a number of specific or cross-sectoral subjects (education, health, minorities, etc.) which helped depict a broad picture of the situation of young people in the country.
Recommendations made by the international team cover not only government action, but address steps to be taken by those who take part, at all levels, in the shaping of youth policy in Albania.
Youth policy in Moldova, is the latest in the Council of Europe series of youth policy reviews. As Moldova is the 16th country to be reviewed since 1997, this report has been enriched by the experience gained from the previous reviews of countries in western and eastern Europe and one in the Commonwealth of Independent States (Armenia). These reviews have nurtured the development of an informed way of thinking about youth policy and strategies for implementation.
The report is based on a cross-sectoral understanding of youth policy, it focuses on youth policy structures, education (formal and especially non-formal), transition to the labour market and entrepreneurship. There are overviews of policy related to social security (health and social protection, childcare), juvenile justice and sport. Particular attention has been paid to questions such as migration, urban—rural divisions and the Transnistria issue. There is also a chapter dedicated to cross-cutting issues, including youth information, youth participation and social exclusion.
Youth work is a polyvalent and multi-faceted practice. It takes place in a wide range of settings, varies from unstructured activities to fairly structured programmes, reaches a diverse array of young people, touches upon many different themes and cuts across several other disciplines and practices. This versatility is one of the strengths of youth work, but at the same time it may lead to fragmentation and product vagueness.
In this book, we take a historical perspective that aims to identify the close links between youth work developments and broader social, cultural and political developments. What are the beliefs and concepts that underpin youth work? How do they relate to the recurrent youth work paradox, that youth work produces active and democratic citizens but at the same time seems ineffective for young people who are excluded from active citizenship? Tracing back the roots of youth work and identifying different evolutions within and between countries help to initiate a fundamental discussion on modern-day youth work identity and to cope in a constructive way with the recurrent paradoxes of youth work.
The different authors highlight the youth work policies in Belgium (Flanders), Germany, England, Poland, Malta, France and Finland.
What is youth policy, and what major elements should a national youth policy strategy include? How can young people be consulted and otherwise involved in developing youth policy? How do institutions such as the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations address youth policy, and how can this work be concretely linked to the efforts of a national government to develop a youth policy agenda?
These are some of the essential questions addressed in this publication. The Youth Policy Manual should be considered a resource, a tool and a helpful guide both for policy makers in the youth field and for non-governmental organisations and other stakeholder groups who advocate for improved youth policy at the national level.
This manual proposes one possible model for how a national youth policy strategy can be developed. It is based on the author's observations from the countries of South-eastern and eastern Europe, as they gain experience in addressing youth policy in a transversal and cross-sectorial manner and with the active involvement of young people.
Modern societies are inconceivable as isolated and mono-cultural entities. The interaction of various cultures is not only a fact of life for most Europeans, it also enriches our societies. However, we also witness tensions between cultures. Intercultural dialogue is therefore one of the political priorities of the Council of Europe, as shown most prominently by the adoption of the White Paper "Living Together as Equals in Dignity" in May 2008.
Higher education, by its history and contemporary practice, is a natural partner in and promoter of intercultural dia¬logue and understanding. Higher education institutions and campuses are themselves multicultural societies, and as such are the focus of the present volume. A second volume will examine the role of higher education in furthering intercultural dialogue and understanding in broader society.
