SCI is proud to be nominating Tobias Drilling on the Council of Europe’s Advisory Council on Youth!

Tobias is a staff member at SCI Switzerland and an advocate for youth rights & global justice! 🌍 With their background in youth work and policy-making in topics such as peace, global justice, migration and sustainability, Tobias knows how decisions are made—and how to make them better for young people!

For years, they have been a powerful voice for migrant youth, representing SCI and (youth) movements at international conferences. With deep knowledge of policy-making, the Council of Europe’s Youth Sector, and hands-on experience in NGOs, government bodies, academia, and grassroots activism, they’re the perfect fit for the Advisory Council seat.

• Workshop facilitator | Policy researcher | Advocate for change
• Advisor to international organisations to push for refugee inclusion in the job market
• Masters in Development Studies and extensive (youth) policy experience

Their priorities for this role are:

☮️ Youth, peace and security 

With an eye for intersectionality, they will ensure meaningful youth participation in discussions and policy-making processes on peace and security, to define solutions that take complexities into account.

🪧 Peace education and activism for youth engagement

In light of the current European remilitarisation, they will advocate for support to peace education and critical activism, and for the use of non-formal learning as a tool for meaningful youth engagement.

🤝 Decolonising youth mobility and international cooperation

They will engage youth with different lived experiences to co-create a paradigm for international cooperation that considers colonial continuities and critically engages in a meaningful future.

What is the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe?

The Advisory Council on Youth brings the voices of young people to the Council of Europe (CoE). As a non-governmental partner to the CoE, it co-creates standards and work priorities of the Council of Europe’s youth sector and makes recommendations for future priorities, programmes and budgets. This process aims to promote youth participation, democracy and inclusion.

The 30 representatives from youth NGOs and networks in Europe that compose the Advisory Council advise the Committee of Ministers on all questions relating to youth and infuse the Council of Europe’s programme of activities with youth mainstreaming.

Candidates will be voted by the European Youth Forum members, in their General Assembly in May 2025.