HDRI President Presents Research at Council of Europe Symposium on Youth Rights

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Strasbourg, September 2026

Gurgen Petrosyan, President of the Human Development Research Initiative (HDRI), took part in the Research Symposium: Young People's Access to Social Rights, held in Strasbourg from 15–17 September 2026 and hosted by the EU–Council of Europe Youth Partnership.

The Symposium brought together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from across Europe to examine the barriers young people face in accessing their social and political rights, and to explore what institutions can do to close the gap between formal entitlement and lived reality.

Presenting "The Cost of Advocacy"

Gurgen presented his research, The Cost of Advocacy: Analysing Access to Rights and the Risk of Retaliation for Youth-Led Organizations in Contested Civic Spaces, which examines the systemic barriers facing youth-led organizations across the Eastern Partnership and Balkan regions.

The research traces a significant shift in how youth advocacy is discouraged in the region, from visible, confrontational repression toward quieter administrative and legal pressure. It identifies three key mechanisms driving this shift: the rise of "foreign agent" registration laws that recast international solidarity as suspicion; Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), designed to exhaust organizations financially rather than to succeed on legal merit; and the retroactive revocation of academic qualifications for student activists, a pattern the research terms "future-weaponization."

The study concludes that current protections for young human rights defenders remain largely reactive, and calls for a shift toward pre-emptive support, including a dedicated rapid-response protection platform, structural multi-year funding for youth organizations, and the ratification of Protocol 17 to the European Convention on Human Rights, establishing an enforceable Right to a Healthy Environment.

Round Table on Civic Space and Access to Rights

Gurgen joined the Symposium's Round Table on Civic Space and Access to Rights, facilitated in dialogue with Charlotte Altenhoener-Dion of the Council of Europe's Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, alongside researchers Gilda Isernia and Amy Stapleton, who presented their study Access to Rights and Shrinking Civic Space for Young People in Europe, 2024–2025.

The discussion examined how the shrinking of civic space across Europe directly constrains young people's access to their social and political rights, and what concrete mechanisms, at national and European level, could better protect youth activists and civil society organizations going forward. The session drew strong engagement from participants, including representatives of several Council of Europe member states and the Georgian Youth Agency.

Looking Ahead

Gurgen's research is among the contributions under consideration for the Symposium's forthcoming "Youth Knowledge" publication, a collection of selected papers to be released in 2027. HDRI will share further updates as soon as this is confirmed, addtionally it will be published by HDRI

The Human Development Research Initiative (HDRI) advances research and advocacy on youth rights, democratic governance, and civic space across Europe and the Eastern Partnership region. To learn more about our work, contact us or follow our updates.