How to engage marginalised young people in politics?

0:00 partnership between the European 0:02 Commission and the Council of Europe in 0:04 the field of youth hosted a symposium 0:06 the future of young people's political 0:09 participation questions challenges and 0:12 opportunities at the European youth 0:14 center in Strasbourg from 18 to 20 0:16 September 2019 young people's 0:19 participation is central to our work but 0:21 who are the young people that 0:23 participate in politics and who would we 0:25 like to engage 0:28 Marcus Faustine II from agency of youth 0:31 networks in Brazil helped us to think 0:33 about this question Marcos works with 0:35 young people in the slums of Rio de 0:37 Janeiro encouraging them to learn more 0:39 about their rights and opportunities for 0:41 political participation and creative 0:44 expression young people living in 0:46 vulnerable areas of large cities across 0:48 the world are frequently perceived by 0:51 governments media and society as 0:53 deficient or dangerous for many years 0:56 this view has brought about a scarcity 0:58 of opportunities and frequent violations 1:00 of these young people's rights some 1:03 young people in particular black LGBTQ 1:06 young women and foreigners coming from 1:09 poor communities have no access to 1:11 education they're injured or killed in 1:13 armed police operations and don't have 1:15 any access to funds these are the young 1:18 people we need to prioritize when we 1:20 talk about political participation civil 1:23 society activists are working to reverse 1:25 the situation by promoting innovation 1:27 and entrepreneurship but this often 1:30 reaches only middle class youth young 1:33 people from poorer areas of big cities 1:35 are still suffering from increasing 1:36 inequalities in political participation 1:38 and limited access to education and 1:41 professional development what can be 1:44 done 1:46 the methodology of the agency of youth 1:48 networks was created from the work 1:50 developed with young people in 40 1:52 favelas and Rio de Janeiro and 1:54 underprivileged neighborhoods in the 1:56 United Kingdom in order to support young 1:58 people to take a stand and change their 2:01 status in contemporary society this 2:04 starts by placing underprivileged young 2:06 people and their personal desires ideas 2:08 and dreams at center stage hearing them 2:11 and giving them the power to turn their 2:13 ideas into reality this is the 2:16 foundation that makes real dialogue 2:17 possible 2:20 over the last decade through the agency 2:22 of youth networks methodology more than 2:24 100 innovative ideas coming from young 2:27 people have been turned into cultural 2:29 social and political actions led by 2:31 youth this was only possible because 2:34 actions were guided by three principles 2:37 young people are treated as creators not 2:40 just as pupils the only way to address 2:42 the systemic social inequalities is to 2:45 bring in underprivileged young people as 2:47 co-creators of the projects and cultural 2:49 social and political actions it's not 2:52 possible to change structures of society 2:55 without working with young people who 2:57 are suffering from poverty we have 3:00 confidence in young people and their 3:02 ability to lead actions for change and 3:05 we offer all our networks in the city to 3:08 be their partners young people need to 3:10 have access to support systems 3:12 professional networks and public budget 3:14 in order to implement their projects by 3:18 treating young people as co-creators 3:20 believing in their power to change their 3:22 circumstances and providing them with 3:24 support systems and resources we can 3:27 witness how they are transforming their 3:29 lives and their communities for more 3:33 inspiring stories questions and thoughts 3:36 on political participation of young 3:38 people visit our website and follow us 3:40 at you co e youth