North South Youth Forum

North South Youth Forum, was set up on the basis of creating a platform for young people to speak truth to power and participate in a meaningful youth led project across the island of Ireland.

NSYF has been a driving force for consultation, co-operation and action on issues for young people on a cross border basis.

NSYF is a NIYF project which has been funded by Department of Foreign Affairs, Reconciliation Unit.

During 21-22 NSYF worked in partnership with Foróige ,Youth Work Ireland Galway, Youth work Ireland Louth and the Rainbow Project. It met and engaged with many stakeholders across this island about its vision and mission and has sought the support particularly of political representatives to listen to young people and to take action.

Its main purpose is for young people across the island to work on issues of common interest to make meaningful change at individual, peer, community, and societal level.

Some Photos from recent meetings

NIYF recruited partners from across the island to support the delivery of this project which included cross border recruitment, group development, developing young people’s understanding of their rights and creating platforms for young people to engage with decision-makers.

In the first cohort of this programme, the project cumulated by hosting 4 Have Your Say Days (HYSD) in Co. Cork, Co. Galway, Co. L/Derry & Co. Louth. These events were hosted so that young people from the region could speak truth to power on the issues that affect them daily – with over 500 young people attending these. Young people engaged with elected political reps North and South, they invited guest speakers and facilitated workshops and encouraged debate with other young people on matters of importance. In June 2022, they also had a formal sitting of the North South Youth Forum, where young people from across the island took centre stage to highlight the key asks from their local HYSD.

In our second cohort, we continued the work by focusing on capacity building young leaders as advocates for the young people from their areas. This included training on the UNCRC, young people’s rights, lobbying & campaign and understanding the context of the North & South. A key highlight of this programme was presenting to the Joint Committee on the Implementation on the Good Friday Agreement in the Oireachtas. Another highlight was our event the ‘North South Youth Peace Event’ in Belfast City Hall, which was attended by over 120 young people. Workshops at the event were on the topics of ‘mis and dis information’, ‘political stability’, ‘north-south relations’ and ‘regeneration and future services’. Young people enjoyed meeting others from different places and backgrounds and talking about some of the key issues affecting their lives. Young people found they had more in common than expected with their peers, which surprised them given their different backgrounds.

Key Recommendations from this were:

Long-term, meaningful engagement between decision makers and young people on issues of interest to their lives should be established and funded appropriately to ensure they feel supported in this process of influencing change.
Commitments and investments from all governments concerned to maintain and develop north-south relations through programmes such as the North-South Youth Forum to encourage young people to engage with decision makers and platforms such as this.
Young people need political stability to ensure a functioning government which can make decisions and legislate on key issues impacting their lives.
A centralised resource made for young people to access information which has been fact-checked, regulated and is user-friendly.
Investment in services and provision on a local and all-island basis to ensure fundamental rights are met to allow engagement in North-South initiatives.

Meet our Youth Workers