YES

The Youth Engagement Scheme, 2022 - 2026

We want—and we must—listen to the views of children and adolescents on issues that concern them, however demanding that may be. For this reason, the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Initiative designed the YES (Youth Engagement Scheme) Youth Participation Programme, a dedicated initiative based on international practices and standards, directed by Giorgos Moschos, a lawyer and former Deputy Ombudsman for Children's Rights. The YES Youth Engagement Scheme began in 2022, and after five years of implementation, is expected to be completed in December 2026. The program had been approved by the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, for 2022-23 as well as for the two-year periods 2023-24 and 2024-25 (Ref. No. Φ.2.1/ΜΓ/96512/105996/Δ7, 17/9/2024), including the organization of discussions and dialogue activities in schools. You can find the corresponding document here (in Greek).

Over the four years of the YES operation, the Youth Advisory Groups (ESOs) in the five cities had a cumulative total of 444 members. Of these, 367 adolescents took part in an ESO for one year, 68 for two years, and 3 for three years. The group memberships broke down as follows: 88 adolescents in Athens, 81 in Ioannina, 73 in Alexandroupoli, 68 in Thessaloniki, and 57 in Heraklion. In addition, 11 adolescents took part in the Fighter's Voice Group in Thessaloniki, focused on child-friendly justice (in 2024–25 and 2025–26), and 15 took part in the eight meetings of the "You and Me Together" initiative in Soufli, which focused on relationships between Christian and Muslim students.

As part of the Programme, local networks of partner-educators were established, with a combined total of 314 participants (80 in Athens, 73 in Thessaloniki, 67 in Ioannina, 51 in Alexandroupoli, and 43 in Heraklion). Building on the content and themes of each year's ESO activities, these partner-educators organized dialogue activities reaching 8,400 students, according to feedback reports submitted to CAMHI.

In addition, in 2025–26, as part of the Network of Active Schools for Adolescent Wellbeing, activities were held in 100 secondary schools across the country, reaching 6,300 students. In 63 of these schools, 4 to 7 sessions of dialogue activities were held following CAMHI's handbook, with the participation of 4,260 students.