Regional Youth Cooperation Office

Call for Project Proposals

“A Better Region Starts with Youth”

GLOSSARY
Definitions and terminology1
Definitions of the key concepts and terms most relevant for our work can be contested and even
controversial. To avoid any misunderstandings in reading our documents, we shall clarify these
terms as we understand them. These definitions are consistent with the dictionary and encyclopedic
definitions. They have, however, been developed and adapted in view of the discussions that have
taken place during the strategic process and during the negotiations that have taken place on the
establishment of RYCO.

A
Advocacy: to publicly support or suggest an idea, development or way of doing something.

Affirmative action: action taken by a government or private businesses to make up for past
discrimination in, for example, education and work against, for instance, women, those of specific
ethnic groups, religions or disabilities. Affirmative action is one way to give disadvantaged groups
substantive equality. Affirmative action should be seen as a temporary measure until such time as
equality is achieved.

Antisemitism: fear, hatred, resentment, suspicion, prejudice, discrimination or unfair treatment of

people of Jewish origin or those who confess Judaism. Modern forms of antisemitism include
Holocaust denial.

Association: an organisation formed by a group of individuals to accomplish a defined purpose.

Such organisations may also be called voluntary organisations, voluntary associations and
unincorporated associations. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are associations.
Associations form the basis for what is called “civil society”.

C
Civil rights: (sometimes known as civil liberties) a category of rights and freedoms that protect
individuals from unwarranted government action and ensure their ability to participate in public life
without discrimination or repression.

Civil society: refers collectively to voluntary civic and social organisations, associations and
institutions, for example, registered charities, non-governmental organisations, community groups,
women‟s organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help
groups and advocacy groups that form the basis of a functioning democratic society. Civil society is
seen as distinct from the governmental and commercial institutions of the market.

Conflict transformation: the process by which conflicts such as wars and inter-ethnic and inter-
religious violence are changed or transformed into peaceful outcomes. It is a long-term process that
addresses the root causes of the conflict as well as the behaviour and attitudes of the parties
involved.

Conflict prevention: actions undertaken over the short term to reduce manifest tensions and/or to
prevent the outbreak or recurrence of violent conflict.

1
For the purposes of this document we have referred to the Merriam-Webster online encyclopaedic dictionary of the English language:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/ and a variety of specialist literature developed in the European and international youth, education and
mobility sectors.

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Conflict management: actions undertaken with the primary objective of preventing the vertical
(intensification of violence) or horizontal (territorial spread) escalation of existing violent conflicts.

Conflict resolution: actions undertaken over the short term to end violent conflict.

Contracting Parties: parties that signed Agreement on the Establishment of RYCO: Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Kosovo *, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
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Cooperation: The process of working together in a joint effort.

Culture: a broad set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices, often based on historical
traditions shared by an institution, organisation or group.

Cultural rights: the right to preserve one‟s cultural identity and development.

D
Dealing with the past: to address the past, especially painful periods of history, to increase
knowledge and (self)critical approaches about history and memory, to acknowledge and deal with
different interpretations and existing divisions, and to promote dialogue as a way of reaching
shared values for a common future.

Declaration on the Rights of the Child: adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1959, this non-
binding instrument sets forth ten general principles, which later formed the basis for the Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was adopted in 1989.

Democracy: a form of government where the authority to govern is derived from the people, either
by direct referendum or through representatives elected by the people entitled to vote.

Discrimination: any distinction, exclusion or restriction of preference, which is based on any ground
such as race, culture, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, physical handicap, or
other characteristics not relevant to the issue in question.

Dialogue: The exchange of ideas and opinions and discussion between representatives of parties to
a conflict that is aimed at resolution.

Diversity: The inclusion of different types of people (such as people with different cultural
backgrounds) in a group or organisation.

E
Eligibility: the state of having the right to do or obtain something through the satisfaction of the
appropriate conditions.

European Union (EU): an economic and political union of member states located in Europe and
committed to regional integration and social cooperation. The Treaty of Maastricht established the
EU in 1993.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration
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of independence

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Evaluation: a structured conversation between facilitators and participants to enable participants to
analyse and appraise what they have learned from an experiential and participatory activity. In the
process, participants reflect on how this learning relates to what they already know and how they
may use the learning in the future.

G
Gender: A social construct that informs roles, attitudes, values and relationships between women
and men. While sex is determined by biology - the biological differences between men and women -
gender is determined by society; almost always functioning to subordinate women to men.

Gender mainstreaming: a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality. It is not an end
in itself, but a means to achieve the goal of gender equality through ensuring that gender
perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities including policy
development, resource allocation and planning, implementation and monitoring of programmes and
projects.

H
“Hard-to-Reach Youth”: refers to youth who are disconnected from social structures and services
through which other youth are normally engaged. This may include youth living in remote areas
without access to youth services, associations, groups or clubs, youth neither in employment,
education or training, youth with little or no telephone, computer or internet access, homeless youth
or migrant youth. Youth who make their own choice, for a variety of reasons, to disconnect from the
mainstream social world, including youth services and associations.

Human rights: rights that universally belong to all human beings. Human rights are indivisible,
inalienable and universal and respect the equality and dignity of each individual.

I
Informal education: the lifelong process whereby every individual acquires attitudes, values, skills
and knowledge from daily experience and the educational influences and resources in his or her
environment (family, peer-group, neighbours, market place, library, mass media, work, play, etc.).

Intercultural: refers to the interdependency and interaction between various linguistic and ethnic
communities. An intercultural perspective requires us to recognise that reality is plural, complex and
dynamic, and that interaction is an integral part of all life and culture.

Intercultural learning: A process of education that supports people to both understand the culture
and interact with people from cultures different than their own. In this understanding, culture can be
many things (political, social, religious, national, community, regional, gender, etc.), and individuals
can identify with or belong to more than one.

K
Key workers: These are people that work with young people in different kinds of educational,
leisure-time, volunteering, sport and cultural processes. They may be educators, working in formal
or non-formal settings, they may be volunteering or exchange programme managers or
implementers, they may be youth workers or social workers, they may be sports trainers or cultural
operators, they may be paid, or voluntary staff of different institutions or organisations and they are
often young themselves. More often than not, key workers combine several of these profiles in their
work with young people. The criteria for being a key worker is that the person concerned is
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engaging directly with young people in a nominally organised manner (even if that is an informal
group/initiative).

L
LGBT: an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

M
Marginalised youth: refers to youth who are discriminated against by society, pushed to the margins
and allowed little or no power to decide on factors that affect their lives. This can include youth who
are discriminated against on the basis of their gender, sexual identity, race, nationality, ethnicity,
religion, physical appearance, lifestyle, subculture, political orientation, (dis)ability, or other
characteristic. Marginalisation begins with negative stereotypes and prejudices against certain youth
and results in them being socially excluded from the spaces and opportunities that other (socially
approved) youth have access to. Marginalised youth are thereby deprived of their rights to
participate fully and equally in society. Youth who are marginalised youth often report feel invisible,
unwelcome and/or devalued.

Minority: any ethnic, linguistic or religious group within a society, in a non-dominant position,
consisting of individuals who possess a sense of belonging to that group and determined to
preserve and develop their identity.

Mobility: the act of moving from one place to another for a purpose such as education, work or
volunteering.

Monitoring: observing and checking the progress or quality of (something) over a period of time;
keeping under systematic review.

Multicultural: people of different cultures living side by side in a community, interacting to various
degrees but at the same time retaining their distinctive features.

N
Non-formal education: any planned programme of education outside the formal educational setting
that is designed to improve a range of skills and competences, for example, youth work. Non-formal
education is also referred to as non-formal learning.

Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs): organisations set up to be independent of government,

generally with a lobbying, charitable, or activist role. Some are large and international, e.g. the Red
Cross, Amnesty International, the Scout movement, Human Rights Watch, the European Youth
Forum. Others may be small and local, e.g. an organisation to advocate for people with disabilities
in a particular city; a coalition to promote women‟s rights in one refugee camp.

P
Participation: taking part in the public life of a community or society. The Revised European Charter
on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life is an international policy document
to promote youth participation at the local level; adopted by the Congress of the Council of Europe
in 2003.

Peace-building: (including post-conflict peace building); actions undertaken over the medium and
longer-term to address the root causes of violent conflicts.
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Policy: a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by an institution, organisation or
individual.

Q
Quality: A degree of excellence.

R
Reconciliation: the restoration of friendly relations. A process that brings together individuals,
groups and societies burdened by past or present conflicts and negative representations and
perceptions of „the other‟. Through shared experience, cooperation and on-going exchange, new
pathways can be built to reconcile people who would otherwise remain trapped in the past.

Regional youth cooperation: cooperation of the young people from the Western Balkan 6
Contracting Parties.

S
Skill: and ability to do an activity or job well, mainly because you have practised it. The ability to
defend human rights includes, for example, skills of communication, problem-solving, creative
thinking, negotiation and teamwork.

Stereotype: an oversimplified, generalised and often unconscious preconception about people or

ideas that may lead to prejudice and discrimination. A generalisation in which characteristics
possessed by a part of a group is extended to the group as a whole.

Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The term was first used by the World
Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), convened by the UN in 1983.

T
Tolerance: willingness to accept behaviour and beliefs which are different from your own, although
you might not agree with or approve of them. Declaration of Principles on Tolerance (UNESCO
1995).

Trainer: a person who prepares programmes of learning activities, for instance, debates, study
visits, viewing films and running Compass activities for a group of participants. When doing
Compass activities, the trainer or teacher works democratically with the group of young people and
has the role of facilitator.

Training: the process of learning the knowledge, skills and attitudes that you need to do a job or
activity, for instance, to enable you to defend human rights.

V
Vulnerable youth: refers to youth who are at higher risk of harm or mistreatment. This can include
youth living in poverty, on the street or in unstable settings, youth without parental care, youth
exposed to family dysfunction, conflict, violence and/or bullying, youth with emotional, mental and
physical health disorders, youth with disabilities, youth minorities, migrants and refugees, youth
involved in conflict with the law, and youth at risk of harming themselves or others. Vulnerable youth
are often dependent upon social systems of support as they face additional barriers to completing
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their education, gaining access to employment and housing, and/or maintaining healthy and secure
relationships.

X
Xenophobia: (irrational) fear of foreigners, of persons from other societies or of things foreign
generally. Xenophobia can lead to discrimination, racism, violence and even armed conflict against
foreigners.

Y
Young people: people from 15 to 30 years of age.

Youth exchange: Youth exchanges allow groups of young people from different societies to meet,
live together and work on shared projects for short periods of time.

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