– We have had a good cooperation between the two youth working groups for several years and it was a natural step to merge. This gives us an opportunity to coordinate the efforts from the national and regional sides even more. BRYC, for example, will be strengthened by this. Now they have only one working group to talk to and they will reach the full Barents youth cooperation through this one channel, adds Bjørn Jaaberg-Hansen, Senior Adviser Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion.
– This is very good for the regional side. We will be in direct contact with the national level, but also BYCO. It increases our ability to reach out to relevant players in the Barents cooperation, says regional co-chair of JWGY, Lars Miguel Utsi, also Indigenous Peoples’ Adviser at the International Barents Secretariat, who will continue to represent the indigenous peoples in the group for one more year.
The Youth cooperation stakeholders meet in September, 2011, in Kirkenes, to plan for merging the two working groups From right: Lars-Miguel Utsi, Laila Dalhaug, Eva Theisz, Maria Petrova, Ylva-Maria Pavval, Julia Lapshina, Lotta Rössner, and Bjørn Jaaberg-Hansen. Photo by Anna Lund BACK