The Current Affairs Committee held a meeting covering a variety of topical challenges for local and regional authorities, on 28 June 2023 in Strasbourg, France.
Following communications by the Chair of the Committee, Thomas Andersson (Sweden, ILDG), and the Secretary General of the Congress, Mathieu Mori, the Committee members notably advanced on the preparation of Congress reports on local and regional media as watchdogs of democracy, ageing communities - quality social care as a matter of human rights and local and regional responses to major crises, and held an exchange of views with Helga Gayer, President of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)
The Committee furthermore engaged in an interactive exchange on current challenges concerning youth and youth policies between members and Congress youth delegates, with the participation of the Congress deputy Spokesperson on youth, Véronique Bertholle, and the representative of the Council of Europe Youth Advisory Council, Gianluca Rossino.
The exchange revealed the need for a more regular dialogue between local and regional officials and young people in order to increase the understanding of mutual expectations towards one another, and design policy measures that help young people more concretely, for example in their transition to working life and their involvement in politics at local and regional levels.
