On June 8th more than 30 delegates and guests gathered for the General Assembly of the YES Forum in Jakobstad, Finland. They debated about the network’s proceedings and reviewed the progress of the ‘Strategy 2020’ which was agreed upon last year.
YES Forum’s board and staff gave an update on what steps have been taken following the strategy and what will be done in the future to widen the reach of the network. The present members agreed on a new, clear and fair membership fee policy that underlines the benefits full members get and the benefits of a free associated membership. “The aim for the network should be to grow and this clarification helps this process”, Ronald de Haan, board member, told the delegates. Sterenn Coudray, chair of the board, added: “We are open for other organisations and by giving them more flexibility in becoming members we can attract more.”
YES Forum’s secretariat is happy about the fact that almost every member is part of one or more running projects and/or involved in applications currently carried out by the YES Forum. “In 2015 we gave more than 100 youngsters the opportunity to have an intercultural face-to-face experience. A lot more benefitted through the members’ European involvement indirectly.”, Annett Wiedermann, director of the YES Forum said. “We hope to increase this number of young people steadily in the upcoming years to empower and support disadvantaged young people in Europe.”