"Less than half of the municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia have forms of interest representation as defined in Section 27a of the municipal code, such as inclusion councils, senior citizens' councils or youth councils. With their expertise, they not only strengthen politics and administration, but also democratic coexistence," says the alliance, which is made up of the LAG Selbsthilfe NRW, the Landesbehindertenrat NRW, the Landesjugendring NRW, the Landesseniorenvertretung NRW, the Verein Politisch Selbstbestimmt Leben NRW, the Sozialverband Deutschland NRW and the Sozialverband VdK NRW. Cooperation partners are the Competence Centers for Self-Determined Living (KSL) NRW. To ensure that all people can participate fully, equally, self-determinedly and effectively in local politics, the alliance is calling for four measures from state and local politicians. With their broad expertise, the participants see themselves as supporters in the concrete implementation:
- Amendment to the municipal code: Up to now, municipalities have been able to voluntarily decide to form representative bodies or appoint representatives to represent the interests of people with disabilities, young people and older people. The alliance is calling for local authorities to be obliged to do so. In short, if people want to get involved, this must be made possible in the interests of democracy and a more inclusive society
- Provision of model statutes and recommendations: The state government should provide municipalities with model statutes and recommendations for effective participation structures.
- Ensuring accessibility: In local politics, structural, communicative and digital accessibility must be fully ensured. Otherwise, many people will remain excluded from politics.
- Enable further training and empowerment: Local authority employees should be given the opportunity to receive further training on the topic of inclusive local politics. People who want to get involved locally should be offered opportunities for political empowerment.
Advisory boards and representatives bundle the interests of people who have been underrepresented in politics up to now. For young people, direct participation projects or youth councils are relevant places to make their voices heard, as are advocacy-based forms of participation such as youth associations and youth councils. For older people and people with disabilities, senior citizens' representatives or inclusion councils are recommended as self-representation bodies or corresponding representatives. They all strengthen local politics and administration by contributing their expertise. When planning, they point out improvements at an early stage in order to avoid costly corrections later on. In order to achieve the mandatory establishment of interest groups, the alliance is holding talks with representatives of North Rhine-Westphalian state politics, municipal umbrella organizations and other stakeholders and is planning various activities.