The UNPO Youth Network (UNPOy) is proud to announce the successful completion of its 2026 study session, “Reclaiming the Narratives: Empowering Marginalised Youth through Digital Advocacy”, held from 16 to 20 February at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg.
Organised in co-operation with the Council of Europe’s Youth for Democracy programme, the five-day session brought together 21 young advocates from stateless, unrepresented, indigenous, and minority communities across the globe, including Ogaden, Catalunya, Friulia, Aceh, Guam, Iranian Kurdistan, Nagaland, Yazidi, Assyria, Balochistan, Sicily, Scotland, Brittany, Crimean Tatar, Tibet, the Roma people, and Somaliland — to strengthen their capacity as digital advocates.
Building on the momentum of UNPOy’s growing network of grassroots advocates, this year’s session placed digital tools and narrative power at the centre of the conversation, equipping participants with the skills needed to reclaim their communities’ stories, challenge harmful narratives, and assert their voices in democratic and human rights processes. The session was designed and coordinated by a team of young advocates and longstanding members of the UNPO Youth Network, from the Crimean Tatar, Baluchi, Welsh, Sicilian, and Ahwaz communities.
The session opened with welcome remarks by Sophie Kwasny, Head of the Education, Training and Co-operation Division at the Council of Europe’s Youth Department, followed by an address by Mercè Monje Cano, UNPO Secretary General, who set a powerful tone for the week ahead. Grounding her remarks in the realities facing unrepresented and indigenous communities today, the UNPO SG framed the study session as a direct response to an increasingly urgent global context — one marked by shrinking civic spaces and the growing need for communities on the margins of international politics to make their voices heard.
From there, participants engaged in a rich programme of expert-led sessions and collaborative workshops. Bruce Mutsvairo, Dean of Amsterdam University College and Professor in the Department of Media and Culture at Utrecht University, led a session on amplifying narratives in digital spaces, exploring the role of citizen journalism and digital activism in giving voice to underrepresented communities. Leanne Mohamad, British Palestinian human rights activist, spoke on the power of purposeful digital platforms for community building and engagement. The programme also featured a compelling session on digital advocacy in a shifting geopolitical landscape, delivered by Zumretay Arkin, Vice President of the World Uyghur Congress, who drew on her own community’s experience to address the practical challenges of digital advocacy, including digital security threats, and the concrete steps advocates can take to protect and amplify their work.
Throughout the week, workshops on messaging, strategic communication, and effective channels of digital outreach led by the organizing team and UNPO Secretariat gave participants hands-on tools to design and deliver advocacy for their own communities.
From Learning to Action: Youth-Designed Digital Advocacy Campaigns
A defining feature of this year’s session was its emphasis on translating learning into tangible, community-rooted action. Working in teams across the latter half of the week, participants designed digital advocacy projects around themes they identified as most pressing for their communities: resource management, language rights, state violence, and misinformation. The resulting outputs, which included websites, interactive maps, reels, flyers, and hashtag campaigns, were not merely exercises, but practical tools that can be built to reach real audiences, foster community engagement, and amplify stories that too often go unheard.
By bringing together expert knowledge, institutional engagement, and peer solidarity, this study session reinforced UNPOy’s core conviction: that young people from unrepresented communities are not passive subjects, they are agents of change.
UNPO and the UNPO Youth Network extends its sincere gratitude to the Council of Europe’s Youth for Democracy programme for its invaluable partnership, to all guest speakers and facilitators for their expertise and generosity, and above all to the participants for their energy, openness, and unwavering commitment to their communities.
