EEHYC in images
General Assembly of the European Youth Coalition on Environment and Health
Bonn, Germany, 11-12 November 2013
Released on: 10 November 2013
Young people should be involved in decisions taken about their health and the environment. So say European Ministers of Environment and Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) Ministerial Conference held in Parma Italy in 2011. The European Environment and Health Youth Coalition (EEHYC) is formed as a result of this decision.
At the Conference, Ministers recognised the need for young people to participate in the policies they make on environment and health. They agreed to support the establishment of a European youth participation network. The network will represent young people and work in partnership with Ministers in addressing environment and health priorities such as safe physical environments, air quality, biological and chemicals threats in the environment and climate change.
In the first development phase of the Coalition, young people, with support from the WHO, the German Government and the Italian Tuscany Region, have worked to build the structure and membership of the Coalition. This work is now complete and the Coalition is preparing to hold its first General Assembly.
The Assembly, to be held on the 11-12 November, will mark the beginning of a second phase of activity. National Youth Coordinators, from fourteen countries have recently been appointed by the Coalition to build national networks of young people and these representatives will come together at the meeting to elect an international Executive Board for the EEHYC and adopt an Action Plan for 2014.
The participants of the meeting will include, youth representatives from 24 countries, including the fourteen National Youth Coordinators, experts from the WHO Environment and Health programme and representatives from the German government
Third meeting of the European Environmentand Health Task Force (EHTF),
Brussels, Belgium, 10-11 December 2013
Released on: 15 December 2013
The European Environment and Health Task Force held its third meeting in December 2013 in Brussels, Belgium. The prupose of the meeting was to review progress towards achieving the Parma commitments (2010-2014), governance aspects of the Environment and Health Process and to adopted of an the EHTF inter-sessional work plan for EHTF and the establishment of the working group for the implementation of the Framework for action on climate change and health (HIC, Health in Climate Change) disscusions on possible priorities and focus for the 6th Ministerial Conference in 2016 were also held.
Being the official representative of European youth as stakeholders in the European Environment and Health Process, EEHYC was represented in this meeting by Dovilė Adamonytė, member of EEHYC Executive Board. Dovile reported on the progress made by EEHYC, presented the main outcomes of the 1st EEHYC General Assembly, new Coalition‘s logo, website and the first EEHYC publication „Promoting participation of young people in the European Environment and Health Process“. She also expressed Coalition's readiness to continue actively participating in the EEH process nationally and internationally
The EEHYC participation in this meeing was possible with the generous support of the German Goverenment.
Past and potential contribution of the European Environment and Health Youth Coalition to the youth sector and sustainable development has been acknowledged with the acceptance of EEHYC as a member of the Global Partnership for Youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda (GPY2015). GPY2015 is an initiative of United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, ITU, UNFPA and UNMC, with the support of the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development’s Sub-Working Group on Post-2015, the Major Group on Children and Youth and the International Coordination Meeting for Youth Organisations.
This partnership brings together UN agencies, international NGOs, youth-led organisations, national youth councils, and youth groups. The objective of this partnership is to ensure that young people are actively participating in setting, implementing, and evaluating the new development agenda due to replace the MDGs in 2015. This partnership offers a unique platform for all stakeholders working on youth development to express their views, and help identify specific targets and indicators for youth empowerment, which could feature in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Under the five thematic areas that emerged as top priorities for young people in the MyWorld2015 survey - Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Health, Good Governance, and Peace and Stability - young people are crowdsourcing their recommendations to policy makers. The online crowdsourcing platform is being moderated by both UN agencies and youth organizations, and will allow for instant interaction between thousands of young people from around the world – complimented by a series of offline events. The expected outcome is a consolidated list of youth priorities to be shared with Member States for the intergovernmental deliberations at the ECOSOC Youth Forum.
Our collective task in the partnership is to allow young people and youth development actors to sharpen youth priorities using the crowdsourcing platform. Therefore, members of the Global Partnership for Youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda are considering the following actions:
1. Organize offline events for your youth constituency around the five thematic areas of the crowdsourcing, and share outcomes via the crowdsourcing platform
2. Register and encourage the members and constituents of organizations to register at: crowdsourcing.itu.int
3. Lobby local and national government to encourage them to prioritize youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda
4. Promote the crowdsourcing platform on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #GPY2015
More details on the GPY2015 and updates on the partnership are available at crowdsourcing.itu.int
EEHYC is now a member of Global Partnership for Youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Released on: 2 April 2014
European Environment and Health Youth Coalition’s proposal was adopted in the Paris Declaration
Released on: 16 April 2014
EEHYC Proposal to become partner in the implementation of the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) was welcomed during the Fourth High-level Meeting in April in Paris, France.
The Programme is chaired together by UNECE and the WHO/Europe and identifies 5 Priority goals in order to help Contribute to a greener economy, whilst safeguarding health and the environment:
1. Investment in environment and health-friendly transport to stimulate job creation and sustainable economic development.
2. Sustainable mobility and more efficient transport systems.
3. Reduction of emissions of transport-related greenhouse gases, air pollution and noise.
4. Promotion of policies and actions conducive to healthy and safe modes of transport.
5. Integration of transport, health and environmental objectives into urban and spatial planning policies.
THE PEP exists since 2002 and acts as a platform for countries to share information and to benefit from each other’s expertise. We are happy to be a partner in THE PEP implementation by mobilizing young people and youth organizations in national and international activities supporting THE PEP.
EEHYC welcomes expressions of interest from young people all accross European Region to be actively involved in this Programme. To do so, please contact us.
More information on the Programme is available at http://www.unece.org/thepep/en/hlm/hl4_info.html
EEHYC is organizing a Capacity Building workhop for the National Youth Coordinators and a Preparatory Session for the Mid Term Review of the WHO European Environment and Health Process
Released on: 5 July 2014
On 06 – 09 July 2014, at the UN Headquarters in Bonn, EEHYC is organizing a Capacity Building workshop for its National Youth Coordinators and a Preparatory Session for the Mid Term Review of the WHO European Environment and Health Process.
Planned for more than 3 months, the meeting has as set goals: 1. To improve the group dynamics, team work and establish a more efficient and effective working structure of the EEHYC and 2. To get EEHYC prepared for a meaningful contribution to the Mid Term Review of the WHO European Environment and Health Process.
Participants at the meeting comprise of appointed EEHYC National Youth Coordinators, Coalition French partner Apelle de la Jeunesse representatives, and also of two young people, winners of the Photo and Video Competition on promoting sustainable transport, organized in the framework of the PEP High Level Meeting, in April 2014
The objectives of the meeting are:
- Get the EEHYC National Youth Coordinators (NYCs) better prepared to perform their role inside the Environment and Health process
- Empower NYCs as key players in the creation of EEHYC National Coalitions and develop a teamwork approach.
- Prepare EEHYC for the Mid Term Review of the WHO European Environment and Health Process
- Strenghten the Cooperation between EEHYC and key partners, build new partnerships and develop common strategies and projects.
For enhancing the quality and impact of the activities, EEHYC meeting is expecting the presence of Ms Francesca Racioppi Senior Policy and Programme Adviser, Environment and Health Policy and Governance at World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Mr. Oliver Schmoll Programme Manager Management of Natural Resources: Water and Sanitation (WSN) WHO European Centre for Environment and Health and Mr Alexander Nies Deputy Director-General for Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
EEHYC participates in the First Expert Group Meeting on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools
Released on: 16 April 2015
On 16-17 April 2015, in Budapest, Hungary, EEHYC participates in the First Expert Group Meeting on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools. The main objective of the meeting is to support the implementation of the programme area 2.4 of the 2014-2016 Programme of Work under the Protocol on Water and Health related to water, sanitation and hygiene in schools.
Within this work programme, EEHYC is currently implementing two projects in five European countries. The aim of the first project, "Survey on Hygiene Knowledge, Attitide and Practice" is to get a better insight about the level of awareness and explore knowledge on hygiene among high school and university students, as well as to encourage correct practices.
The aim of the second project, "How to make it complicated?” , is to raise the awareness and help educate young people about the integral role that hand washing and clean, functioning sanitary facilities play in every day life, and empower then to take action.
This meeting is a follow-up on the Expert Group Meeting on 18-19 September 2014 in Bonn, Germany, where Jovana Dodos, the EEHYC vice-president, spoke about a number of Coalition initiatives and project ideas in this field proposed by EEHYC members and National Youth Coordinators during the Capacity Building and Planning meeting in Bonn earlier that year.