The Youth Board of Cyprus (YBC) set up a Youth Working Group with the aim to develop and promote youth work in Cyprus. This group consists of representatives of the YBC, the Ministry of Education, Sport & Youth, the Foundation for the Management of European Life Long Learning Programmes and the 2 coordinating youth organisations – the Cyprus Youth Council and the Cyprus Youth Clubs Organisation.
The group’s objective is the formulation of an action plan towards the development and implementation of quality youth work in Cyprus based on the recommendations of the team of experts of the Council of Europe during their visit in Cyprus.
Moreover, the group will have an advisory role to the YBC on matters related to youth work. It is noted that the empowerment of young people through youth work is one of the three main pillars of the new EU Youth Strategy (2019 – 2027) and is reflected in the National Youth Strategy (2017-2022).
In order to ensure a holistic approach towards youth work and its development, the Working Group will deal with the following thematic fields:
- Understanding of the idea of youth work & Recording the current situation
- Utilisation/Designing of places for young people
- Validation of skills acquired through youth work
- Acquisition of professional qualifications – Education, training and specialisation
- Recognition of youth work as a profession
- Support Youth NGOs in implementing and developing youth work
- Skills mapping and skills development
- Political and legal framework
- Youth work decentralisation (development of actions and partnerships on a local level)
The report of the CoE experts ‘FINAL REPORT OF THE ADVISORY MISSION DELEGATION- Recommendations for Development of youth work in Cyprus’ that resulted from their visit in Cyprus in April of 2019, will serve as the basis of the work of the said Working Group.