Participating in the decisions which affect young people, especially girls and young women

Citizenship is a key issue for Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting and directly linked to the mission of WAGGGS

‘Active citizenship’ is also an important idea for politicians and policy makers in the European Union and the Council of Europe, as a way of addressing some of the issues affecting young people living in Europe today.    

Within the European Union, active citizenship education has been identified as one of the common goals of European educational objectives to be achieved by 2010; active citizenship for young people was one of the key messages to emerge from the White Paper on Youth produced by the European Commission, and participation of young people is one of the common objectives for EU Member States as a result of the White Paper process.

In consultation with young people, in 2003 the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe adopted the Revised Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life.  The Charter identifies ways in which young people can become more involved in the democratic life of their local community, and the social and cultural conditions necessary to empower young people to participate on their local communities. 

The Europe Region WAGGGS advocates for greater recognition of the role of participatory youth organizations such as Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting, and actions which encourage the equal participation of girls and young women at all levels of decision-making.

The Europe Region WAGGGS in partnership with the WOSM European Region produced a Position Paper on Active Citizenship in 2005, to support the advocacy work of our Member Organizations on supporting the active citizenship and participation of young people.

A Joint Seminar on Youth Participation in April 2008 was an opportunity to educate young Guide and Scout leaders on youth participation and to enable them to take action by developing projects at local or national level to promote youth participation within their Association or in their wider society.