History

Youth for Exchange and Understanding was founded on 28 August 1986 in Strasbourg by a group of 120 young people from 11 different countries, a result of 4-year cooperation which started in Germany in 1981 with the first international meeting - Convention (officially said Convention in 1983) with participants from eight nations. Since 1989 it has been a member of the European Coordination Bureau. Today YEU is a member of the European Youth Forum and the Lifelong Learning Platform and it is considered by the Council of Europe and the European Union as an international non-governmental non-profit youth organisation.

Vision

Youth for Exchange and Understanding works to promote peace, understanding and co-operation between the young people of the world, in a spirit of respect for human rights.^[1]

Mission

YEU is inclusive network of youth organisations, led by and for young people, promoting importance of active citizenship initiatives by using non-formal education as a tool in order to provide knowledge, skills and intercultural experience for personal and social development.

Structure

YEU is run by youth for youth with a democratic structure headed by a board of directors. It has two offices, the headquarter and administrative office in Brussels and a second office in Faro, Portugal. There are three main bodies within YEU, the administrative office (AO), the governing board (GB) and the assembly of member organisations (GA).

• The Administrative Office takes care of logistics, project management and coordination and network strategic planning;
• The Governing Board is composed by seven people and is responsible for general and planning and strategy of YEU;
• The General Assembly is held once a year with all full and observer members and it is devoted to GB and AO positions elections and to long-term planning.

Member organisations are youth-led NGOs registered as autonomous entities in their own countries.