In Liam’s role on the Advisory Council to the Council of Europe he recently attended the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Strasbourg. The Congress was being held for the first time with a young person from each of the 47 member states acting as equals with elected officials and speaking on issues the Congress were discussing.
During the opening debate on promoting equal opportunities for people with disabilities Liam requested the floor to remind the Congress of its responsibilities on a local level to ensure that there is parity of opportunity for all people but also of the pan-European role which needs to be played – between member states – to ensure this takes place.
He said “…as young people we realise the difficulties which the local authorities and regional authorities are facing around these tough economic times…what we would want to stress is that when these difficult decisions are being made that those with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds are at the forefront of our minds…”.
This was the first time the Congress has had youth delegates as part of the sessions and as such, Liam was the first person to ever address the Congress as a member of a youth delegation. Liam was thanked in person by the UK’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe during the week for being the first person from the UK to speak at the 27th Congress.
The debates continued over throughout the Congress and Liam also spoke around the role of engaging young people in decision making processes and the clips for these can be found below:
Debate on promoting equal opportunities for people with disabilities
Debate on involving young people in decision making
