European Union : Dialogue on a strategy for civil society

To strengthen the role of civil society in democratic processes, the European Commission has launched a dialogue on the EU strategy to promote a thriving civic space. In its contribution, Dynamo International highlighted the importance of recognising children and young people as full political and civic actors.

Contribution from Dynamo International to the Strategic Dialogue on the EU Civil Society Strategy

About Dynamo International

Dynamo International is a Belgium-based NGO and youth aid service that works globally to defend the fundamental rights of people experiencing social exclusion, with a particular focus on children and young people in street situations. Founded on the principles of social justice, human rights, and inclusion, Dynamo develops its action through three key pillars:

  • The Street Workers Network: An international coordination of street social workers sharing knowledge and mobilising collectively to strengthen the quality, sustainability, and visibility of their work.
  • International Cooperation: Support for grassroots, rights-based projects targeting children and youth in vulnerable situations, prioritising community-level interventions in the Global South and beyond.
  • Dynamo International Mobility: A socio-educational support service in Belgium using international mobility as a transformative pedagogical tool for young people in difficulty (ages 13–25).

Rooted in nearly four decades of street work, Dynamo International advocates for the recognition of street-connected children as rights-holders and for street work as a vital practice of civic engagement and democratic resilience. Its expertise is regularly sought by public authorities, the European Commission, the Council of Europe, and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

With its commitment to a rights-based and gender-sensitive approach, Dynamo promotes youth participation, structural inclusion, and the fight against global inequalities — reaffirming that street social work is not charity, but a political act in defense of dignity and justice.

Focus: Participation and the Rights of Children and Young People

1. Engagement: Recognising Children and Young People as Political and Civic Actors

Children and young people living in situations of poverty and social exclusion are too often treated as passive recipients of aid or as social problems to be managed. Street social work offers an alternative: it affirms young people as rights-holders, community actors, and agents of change. At the heart of this vision lies the principle of participation, not as consultation, but as meaningful involvement in shaping the spaces, policies, and systems that affect their lives.

The voices of youth collected during our Forum “Words from the Street” were clear and bold. They demand inclusion, not only in symbolic terms but in everyday decisions that affect their housing, education, safety, and expression. They propose concrete actions: free public services, inclusive and welcoming public spaces, support structures against harassment, and a fairer education system. These demands reflect a deep awareness of structural inequalities and a desire to co-create solutions. Engagement must be embedded from the local to the European level. This includes:

  • Recognising informal and non-formal education spaces (like those created by street work) as valid settings for youth participation and development.
  • Including youth voices in public dialogue on urban planning, education reform, and anti-discrimination.
  • Supporting peer-led and youth-organised initiatives, which often provide safe and empowering spaces otherwise unavailable to marginalised young people.

As the Forum reaffirmed, recognising children and youth as civic actors is not only a democratic imperative; it is a pathway to stronger, more inclusive societies.

2. Protection: Making Rights Effective in Street and Marginalised Contexts

Despite international commitments to children’s rights, particularly under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the reality on the ground is often one of systemic neglect and discrimination. Street-connected children, undocumented youth, and those from stigmatised communities are frequently denied access to education, housing, healthcare, and protection. The COVID-19 pandemic has further revealed these fractures. Lockdowns criminalised visibility: being in public space became punishable for those with no private refuge. Children disconnected from school were also disconnected from protection systems, mental health support, and community resources. Digital learning reinforced exclusion for those without connectivity or equipment, a reality echoed in the calls by young people for free public Wi-Fi, community-based education, and fair access to opportunity. In this context, social workers have acted as human rights defenders. They are often the only consistent presence in the lives of children in precarious situations, advocating for their needs and ensuring that rights are not lost to bureaucracy or inaction. We call for:

  • Legal and institutional protection for children in street situations, regardless of migration or administrative status.
  • Clear mandates for social street work, grounded in a rights-based approach and distinct from security or public order frameworks.
  • Support for street-based and grassroots civil society organisations, who are closest to vulnerable youth and yet most at risk of underfunding or political repression.

A robust protection framework must prioritise children’s agency, dignity, and long-term well-being, not surveillance, punishment, or containment.

Furthermore, we propose that in each country:

  • An independent body, such as a Children’s Rights Ombudsman, should defend children’s rights. The independent body needs to pay particular attention to the phenomenon related to children in street situations and to violations of their rights. Those independent bodies should also create discussion and consultation forums for children, grassroots organisations, the local, national and international authorities, for the purposes of actually implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  • That all respective governments and other national, regional and European authorities, take into account the general comment n°21 on children in street situations published on 21 June 2017 by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in Geneva.”

3. Support & Enabling Environments: Building Structural Conditions for Participation and Rights

Rights and participation cannot be upheld in isolation. They require environments that are stable, inclusive, and intentionally designed to remove structural barriers. This includes physical space, institutional frameworks, and material resources. Young people at the Forum offered a clear vision: safe and welcoming public spaces, youth centres, urban gardens, sports facilities, and even symbolic spaces of joy like skateparks, concerts, and community events. These proposals are not naive; they are expressions of a desire to live fully, freely, and with dignity. To support such aspirations, Member States and European institutions must:

  • Invest in public infrastructure that is youth-friendly, inclusive of girls, migrants, LGBTQ+ youth, and those experiencing homelessness.
  • Secure long-term, flexible funding for community-based organisations, including those working in informal settings.
  • Ensure that digital transitions do not exclude those without access, by maintaining physical points of access to services and information.
  • Recognise the contributions of children and youth in monitoring civic space, defending rights, and shaping democratic life.

Ultimately, participation is inseparable from justice. Children and young people need more than a seat at the table; they need the tools, support, and recognition to shape that table alongside adults. When they are seen and heard, not as problems but as partners, society moves closer to the democratic and inclusive values it claims to uphold.

Conclusion: From Presence to Power

Street work has demonstrated that proximity, trust, and long-term engagement can transform lives and communities. When young people, especially those pushed to the margins, are given space to act, they not only express needs but imagine futures. They do not ask for charity; they call for fairness, access, and respect.

Participation and protection are not parallel tracks; they are intertwined. The path forward must reinforce both: defending the civic space in which young people and their allies operate and creating structural pathways for their voices to shape the future.