Strasbourg

Between the 13th and 16th of March, 26 young people of different nationalities, aged between 16 and 29, gathered in Strasbourg, France, as representatives of the VOICE and PARTICIPATION of ALL young people in the definition of European policies in the area of Youth.

The mobility consisted of 16 young participants, who came from neighborhoods that are typically marginalized. They brought with them the VOICE of their colleagues who are deprived of liberty. There were also 10 young team-leaders from the partner organizations. The nationalities of the Youth ranged from Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, British, Lithuanian, Romanian and Dutch.

The mobility started with the first viewing of the Project’s Documentary, where some of the participants were featured, as well as their colleagues, followed by a visit to the European Parliament, and in the remaining days, young people met with various people and representatives of European entities, including three Portuguese, two Dutch and one Spanish MEPs! These meetings were extremely important, as there was an opportunity for young people to share their visions for the future of Europe, and to debate with MEPs the most recurrent problems in the criminal justice system, as well as discrimination and the impoverishment of the most vulnerable population. The group also met with Mr. Babis Papaioannou (European Commission), Ms. Magdalena Starostin (European Parliament), Zeynep Usal Kanzler (Committee on the Rights of the Child, Council of Europe), as well as visiting the Youth Express Network, the European Youth Centre, and of course, the city of Strasbourg.

The feedback from the team-leaders was very positive, as well as the feedback from the participants. For them, the favorite parts of the mobility were the parliament visit, the opportunity to see the voting in action, and the guided visit to Strasbourg, as well as the meeting with the Portuguese MEP João Albuquerque.

It was a full week, with lots of learning, new experiences but also fun.

As the project comes to a close, we look forward to gathering on the 8th and 9th of May, this time in Cascais, to celebrate The VOICE with a final conference!