In 1999 in Rio de Janeiro, the Member States of the EU, Latin-America and the Caribbean held its first meeting with the aim of establishing a birregional strategic partnership, followed by biannual Summits to follow up the Action Plan and the Declaration adopted. The EULAC Summit is the place where the advances on economic cohesion and other key issues, such as Human Rights of the fight against poverty, are evaluated.
Madrid will be hosting the VI EULAC Summit in may 2010, which does not include the youth dimension in its official agenda, though the young population represent a high percentage of the total in the region and despite of the efforts made at similar events such as the Iberoamerican Summit or the Africa-Europe Summit, which fostered the inclusion of youth in the debates. Taking this into account, there may be an adequate background to claim for joint initiatives from the EULAC countries, that may lead to strengthen the youth cooperation and participation as well as to the establishment of financial tool to guarantee its sustainability.
The key partners of the youth EULAC cooperation, and with the experience of FEULAT (Euro - Latin-American Youth Forum) in mind, express therefore their will to make the I EULAC Youth Summit possible, in order to adopt a common strategic and a renewed framework for the youth cooperation between both regions. This effort should empower youth as key actors of the sustainable development.
The I EULAC Youth Summit, within the EU Spanish Presidency, aims to make visible the challenges young people face, and to reinforce the role of youth cooperation as a useful tool to undertake global issues, bearing in mind the principle of multilateralism in the partnership between youth organizations and institutions.
It is foreseen to bring together up to 260 participants from Europe, Latin-America and the Caribbean. The organization of the I EULAC Youth Summit is already under way and it is supported by several youth organizations and institutions, which are members of the established Preparatory Committee.
· North South Center – Council of Europe (NSC – CoE)
· Iberoamerican Youth Organization (OIJ)
· Spanish Youth Institute (INJUVE)
· European Youth Forum (YFJ)
· Spanish Youth Council (CJE)
· Latin American Youth Forum (FLAJ)
· Iberoamerican Youth Space (EIJ)
· Commonwealth Youth Program Caribbean Centre
· Caribbean Federation of Youth Revitalization Committee
