A few days ago, the Youth Council of the Tetouan Urban Commune presented an Action Plan to the President of the Commune and a small group of representatives. This action plan was implemented thanks to a grant from the Barcelona City Council, within the framework of the 2018 Call for Projects for Global Justice.

The “Strengthening the Communal Youth Council” project, implemented between 2018 and 2020, is the culmination of a collaboration between these three actors that began in 2013. The ultimate goal of these actions has been to improve local democratic governance through the city’s governing body, the Tetouan Commune, civil society, and young people from the city’s most vulnerable districts.

In previous projects, the Tetouan Commune’s Social Action Division was first reorganized, prioritizing the strengthening of community facilities and implementing a participatory management model. In these centers, especially sports centers and libraries, young people have been able to meet and enjoy educational leisure activities.

The project, which just concluded in 2020, focused on strengthening the Tetouan Community Youth Council, giving this group a voice in the city’s various districts. The activities have also allowed for the development of public policies to improve community services for these young people. To this end, a diagnosis of their needs was conducted at the local level, their representatives were trained, and these agreements were formalized in the Action Plan presented to the Tetouan Municipality.

The intervention has enabled young people to get involved and be protagonists of change in their city. They have been heard and, thus, have been able to exercise active, professional, and structured participation in everything that concerns them.