Youth Council

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’s operations are funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

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.