Launched on the 22^nd of March and led by young people, #GiveAVote comes with a whole new approach to young voter engagement for the 2019 European Elections.

It’s very likely that more young people in Europe swear than vote. While the EU has a huge impact on young people’s lives, only 28% of young voters participated in the 2014 EU Elections – the lowest turnout of any age group. At the same time, young people across Europe are increasingly engaged in the issues that matter to them, leading the push for major causes, such as climate change and women’s rights.

“If you give a s**t, #GiveAVote” is the campaign’s tagline and its challenge to young people – to make the connection between the many things they care about and the EU’s power to help achieve those objectives. In this way, the campaign aims to mobilise young people across the EU to vote in the May elections, to ensure that their interests are high on the European Parliament’s agenda for the next five years.

Launched on the 22^nd of March, the campaign is led by 25 young activists aged 18 to 26 coming from 13 EU member states: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia. The young activists will work to encourage young people to get informed about how the EU functions, how it impacts their lives and thus, why it’s essential to vote for the European Parliament elections. In the following weeks, the activists will organise a variety of online and offline activities, including debates with candidates for the European Parliament.

#GiveAVote is powered by the European Youth Card Association (EYCA) and co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union and the European Parliament. EYCA member organisations in 12 EU member states work closely with the young activists, supporting their campaign. These organisations are:

• National Youth Card Association | Bulgaria
• Croatian Youth Hostel Association | Croatia
• Czech Council of Children and Youth | Czech Republic
• Allianssi | Finland
• Association IJD | France
• Reisenetz | Germany
• Youth Work Ireland | Ireland
• Centre Information Jeunes | Luxembourg
• Aġenzija Żgħażagħ | Malta
• Polish Youth Projects Association | Poland
• Movijovem | Portugal
• MOBIN – Institute for Youth Mobility and Information | Slovenia                                                                                                      

Neutrality statement

#GiveAVote is a completely neutral campaign whose only aim is to encourage young people to cast an informed vote on 23-26 May at the European Elections. The campaign is not aligned with or supported by any political party and has no intention to support any political party.

About the European Youth Card Association

The European Youth Card Association (EYCA) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit association of 38 member organisations that issue the European Youth Card to over 6 million young people in 36 countries across Europe

Its mission is to encourage more young people to be socially, culturally, educationally, and economically mobile by delivering quality European Youth Card services and by contributing to better youth policy. The overarching aim is to achieve the EYCA vision of a Europe where all young people are mobile and active.

Croatian Youth Hostel Association (CYHA) is a non-profit and non-governmental organization founded back in 1953 in order to promote the hostelling mission in Croatia and encourage young people to explore and appreciate the rich natural and cultural heritage of our country. We are dedicated to promote friendship and international understanding by supporting the development of quality youth hostels and providing different kinds of memership cards as well as travel services for individual travellers and groups from Croatia and the world.

For further information, please visit www.giveavote.eu or contact:
Croatian Youth Hostel Association

Mia Veličković

info@hicroatia.com

Savska 5, 10000 Zagreb