The Youth Council has been established under the Sámi Parliament in 2011. The main objective of the Youth Council is to promote the cultural and language rights of Sámi youth and to strengthen the identity of Sámi youth through youth work. The Youth Council also prepares proposals, initiatives, statements and other declarations for the Sámi parliament which relate to Sámi youth.
Members
The members of the Youth Council are chosen for two years at a time. These members include the chair, vice chair and five other members as well as a deputy for each of these. The members and deputies must be between 18 and 28 years old when they are elected. In addition to this, five expert members are chosen for two years at a time and these members must be 15 to 17 years old when elected.
The members of the Youth Council do not need to be members of the Sámi Parliament. In the election of the Youth Council, one priority is that the members represent the whole Sámi area and different language groups as broadly as possible. In the election, the equality of genders is also acknowledged.
A member of the Youth Council appointed by the Youth Council has the right to speak at a Parliament meeting as well as the right to attend and speak at the Parliament board meeting in matters prepared by the Youth Council.
As a member of the Youth Council, you have the opportunity to take part in decisions regarding youths in other governing bodies in addition to the Sámi Parliament both in Finland and abroad. The Youth Council has for instance taken part in the Lapland Youth Forum multiple times and the Youth Council has representatives in the Sámi Parliamentary Council’s youth committee.
Activities and mission
The main objective of the Youth Council is to promote the cultural and language rights of Sámi youth and to strengthen the identity of Sámi youth through youth work.
The tasks of the Youth Council also include:
- encouraging Sámi youth to take part in societal action,
- promoting national and international cooperation of Sámi youth,
- cooperation with national and international organisations and governing bodies which manage matters relating to youth,
- and responsibility for arranging the Sámi Youth Conference every two years.
The Youth Council makes decisions in meetings, but being a part of the Youth Council is also a lot more than that. Sámi youths are able to affect mattes that relate to them, can get to know other young people and create life-long friendships!
The Youth Council’s operations are funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The annual grant does not include separate developmental funds, and therefore the Youth Council can also apply for separate funding for projects, such as the De! and Dihtosis projects show.
Youth secretary
The Sámi Parliament has a full-time youth secretary. The youth secretary works in the Sámi Parliament’s general office in the Sami Cultural Centre Sajos.
The youth secretary is responsible for the Sámi Parliament’s youth activities and acts as the presenter for the Sámi Parliament’s Youth Council. This means that the youth secretary prepares the matters to be addressed in the Youth Council meetings and implements its decisions. The youth secretary acts as the Youth Council’s presenter at the Sámi Parliament board meetings and at the general meetings of the Sámi Parliament.
The youth secretary’s tasks include developing Sámi youth work together with Sámi youths. The youth secretary also follows the process of matters relating to Sámi youth in different authorities and thus does a lot of cooperation with different organisations and authorities. Other important cooperation partners are agents from the Sámi area as well as Sámi associations. The youth secretary and the Youth Council also often take part in organising events for Sámi children and youth for instance at the Skábmagovat film festival or at the Ijahis idja festival’s children’s and youths’ day.