The Partnership Programme on 
Euro-Mediterranean co-operation, Human Rights Education 
and Intercultural Dialogue

A brief history

It is often stated that the history of Europe has been shaped by exchanges and interaction between peoples and cultures across the Mediterranean Sea. Less obvious at present are the extent to which and the ways and spirits in which such exchanges will happen in the future. Young people often face obstacles to mobility and youth stemming from typical forms of xenophobia, prejudice and ignorance about each other. Yet young people are crucial to the future of Euro-Mediterranean co-operation.

The European Commission's Euro-Mediterranean Youth Action programme was started in 1999, based on shared concern to combat prejudices and stereotypes that prevail accross the Mediterranean and still determine mutual perceptioins. The Commission's resolve to increase dialogue and co-operation across the Mediterranean finds its roots in the Barcelona Process , which currently involves all 27 EU Member States and 10 Mediterranean partner countries.

For the Council of Europe, the promotion of human rights and the development of democratic forms of participation are objectives that are crucial objectives to its efforts to continue consolidating pan-European co-operation. The promotion of peace, co-operation and human rights within Europe, however, cannot be disconnected from the situtation in neighbouring countries, particularly those in the Mediterranean area.

It is within this framework that the Council of Europe and the European Commission agreed to develop a joint Euro-Med project encompassing human Rights Education and Intercultural dialogue.

The Youth Partnership's role is to explore new areas of co-operation, beyond those covered by the Euro-Med programme, one such area being youth policy. Since September 2005, the partnership has been playing a pioneering role in the field of youth policy co-operation.

In addition to this, one of the main objectives of the Euro-Med Partnership from the outset has been to ensure quality development and support to Euro-Med youth work with a view to increasing the quality and quantity of Euro-Med intercultural youth projects and developing youth workers' and leaders' skills and ability to deal with issues of common concern.

Partnership Sectorial Group (PSG) on Euro-Mediterranean co-operation, human rights education and intercultural dialogue

PSG MEETINGS     5th MEETING Centro Eurolatinoamericano de la Juventud, Mollina, Spain 14 September 2009 Report of the meeting   4th MEETING European Youth Centre Budapest, Hungary 9 September 2008 Report of the meeting   3rd MEETING European Youth Centre Budapest, Hungary 6-7 September 2007 Report of the meeting     2nd MEETING North-South Centre, Lisbon, Portugal 18-19 September 2006 Report of the meeting     1st MEETING European Youth Centre Budapest, Hungary  8 November 2005 Report of the meeting

This Group is composed as to achieve greater synergies between different sectors and to involve the most relevant partners in the youth field, bringing together researchers and youth policy experts as well as  practitioners and representatives of institutions directly concerned by the matters within the Group’s remit.   The Sectorial Group on Euro-Mediterranean Co-operation, Human Rights Education and Intercultural dialogue includes representatives from the European Commission, the Council of Europe’s Directorate of Youth and Sport and North-South Centre, the Euro-Mediterranean Youth Platform, the European Youth Forum, the SALTO-Youth Euromed Resource Centre, the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures, and the  League of Arab States, as well as a researcher and an independent expert in the field of Euro-Med youth co-operation.