The “Perspectives 20-30 Online Academy” launches: the OSCE amplifies youth voices for a safer future

VIENNA, 26 March 2021 – Thirty two young professionals and students from 29 OSCE participating States began the nine-month “Perspectives 20-30 Online Academy” on 26 March 2021. The Office of the OSCE Secretary General, in partnership with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe strongly supports this initiative.

The programme offers youth a unique opportunity to actively contribute to the OSCE security debate while gaining practical and diplomatic skills. Through interactive webinars, participants will learn about OSCE history and its work, as well as develop their skills in writing, political analysis and interview techniques. The programme will also enhance their skills in public speaking, messaging and persuasion. Finally, participants will develop a joint research project on contemporary security issues.

Luca Fratini, Director of the Office of the OSCE Secretary General, opened the event: “By better understanding the work of our Organization youth will also embrace the principles we stand for and find new ways for promoting them in their communities. Young women and men can be agents for positive change, and the OSCE can support this important endeavour.”

“The Perspectives 20-30 initiative is a great opportunity to advance research into matters of security in times of rapid change and new threat constellations. At the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, we are happy to join these efforts and help develop the required skills of a new generation of experts ready to take up the challenge,” said Alexander Wolters, Director of the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

“At ODIHR, we believe the promotion of wider youth political participation and civic engagement in the OSCE region is essential to building stronger democracies,” said Meaghan Fitzgerald, Acting Head of the Democratization Department. “Helping democratic institutions to engage with young people means we all end up with better policies and more inclusive representation.”  

Meet participants of the Perspectives 20-30 Online Academy here.

The “Perspectives 2030 Online Academy” is an extra-budgetary project of the OSCE Office of the Secretary General, with support from Andorra, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Liechtenstein.