What can youth work do for access to social rights? (2018)

Impact and lessons learned from the ENTER! project on access to social rights for young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods (2009-2015)

The Council of Europe has introduced the Enter! project in 2009 to mobilise youth work responses to violence, exclusion and discrimination affecting young people in Europe, especially in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. As a result of this project the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted in 2015 the Enter! Recommendation on access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights. The recommendation proposes the development of policies taking into consideration the specific situations and needs of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Such policies should aim at preventing and eradicating the poverty, discrimination, violence and exclusion faced by young people and have a strong dimension of youth participation and agency. This study highlights the impact of and key lessons learned from the experience with two long-term training courses for youth workers. It identifies and analyses the results achieved in four main areas: educational impact; policy impact; impact on access to social rights of young people and the impact on communities of young people or communities experiencing disadvantage. In praise of the value of youth work for human (social) rights, the study provides also inspirational examples of action, with testimonies from youth workers and youth policy actors active on issues of access to social rights.