Youth participation in Cyprus

Is there a national youth council, representing young people in your country? If yes, please provide the name, number of member organisations and number of young members.

YES, Its name is Cyprus Youth Board. In its governing board there is one youth representative of each political party and three members who are appointed directly by the Council of Ministers .In total seven members.

 

Is there a ministry dealing concretely with the youth affairs in your country? If yes, please provide the name of the ministry.

NO

 

Does the government in your country has a specific youth policy/youth strategy?

YES

 

From what age are young people allowed to vote in the elections? If different age for different elections (parliamentary, local, regional, etc.), please specify.

From the age of 18 years old which does not differ in different kind of elections

 

From what age are young people allowed to be elected in the elections to the representative bodies? If different age for different elections (parliamentary, local, regional, etc.), please specify.

For regional elections a candidate can be young even twenty years old but for parliament a candidate has to be mature enough close to the age of thirty years old.

 

Are there any youth participation initiatives at the local level (in municipalities), e.g. local youth parliaments/youth councils, meetings of young people with decision-makers? Please describe.

Yes, government of Cyprus tries to formulate a National Young Policy, to promote cooperation with the organised youth agencies and generally there is the belief that young people should give their opinion about important decision of the country. There are some youth centres which try to give motives to young people to take position when decisions have to be made. Also the goverment wants to support the participation through establishing Municipal and Community Youth Councils all over the country.

 

Are there youth participation/decision-making bodies at schools, e.g. school parliaments, student councils, etc.? Please describe.

Yes, there is the Students Commitee which has as a Chairman the chairman of Youth Board and two representatives of each Pancyprian students federation or organisation.

 

Are there are youth parliaments or other youth participation bodies on the national level? Please describe.

There is no Youth Parliament.

 

Is there any kind of education to youth participation/active citizenship included in the school curricula in your country, e.g. civic education? Please describe.

At schools are being some interesting efforts and the Council of Parliament wants to create a mobile information unit based on a national information programme that will be a part of Cyprus educations institutions.

 

Do media inform about youth issues? Are young people involved in media and their production, e.g. as journalists? Please describe.

Yes. There is also a programme where everyday they discuss important topics for young people and their problems.

 

Are there youth information centres, official youth websites or other sources of youth information available for young people? Please describe.

Yes there are being some important efforts from the Youth Information Centres all over Cyprus. And of course the websites youthboard.org.cy, www.cyprusyouthdialogue.org, www.un.int/cyprus/youth.htm, www.sit.edu/graduate/6519.htm, www.eryica.org/.../youth-board-cyprus-0, www.windowoncyprus.com/youth_hostels_in_cyprus.htm -and a lot others

 

Are young people in your country informed about the European youth policy and its priorities? What do you think can be done to make young people aware about this? Please describe.

Yes, there are the Youth Information centres a project that is not complete yet.

 

Author: Angeli Eleftheria
E-mail: rt_200473@hotmail.com

The surveys were submitted by the participants of the YouthVoice project from the respective EU Member States. The questionnaires were part of their preparation for the Youth Voice project and each national group had to undertake a small research about youth participation in their country. The organisers cannot guarantee correctness of the answers.