The Youth in Action programme is the EU’s mobility and non-formal education programme targeting young people aged between 13 and 30 years. Its general objectives are the following:

• Promote young people’s active citizenship in general and their European citizenship in particular;
• Develop solidarity and promote tolerance among young people, in particular in order to foster social cohesion in the European Union;
• Foster mutual understanding between young people in different countries;
• Contribute to developing the quality of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of civil society organisations in the youth field;
• Promote European cooperation in the youth field. 

The Youth in Action Programme addresses young people aged between 13 and 30 who are legally resident in one of the Programme Countries or, depending on the nature of the Action, in one of the Partner Countries, as well as other actors in the field of youth and non-formal education. The main target group of the Programme are young people between 15 and 28 years. The Programme is open to all young people independently of their level of education or social and cultural background.
Most types of project co-financed by the Youth in Action Programme require a partnership to be established between two or more partners. A distinction is made between Programme Countries and Partner Countries:

• Programme Countries
  27 EU Member States
  Participating countries of the EFTA members of the EEA: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway
  Candidate countries for accession to the EU: Turkey
   
• Neighbouring Partner Countries (under Actions 2, 3.1 and 5.1)
  South East Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro, Serbia.
  Eastern Europe and Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine.
  Mediterranean Partner Countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Syria, Tunisia.
   
• Other Partner Countries of the World (under Actions 2 and 3.2.)

Activities supported by the YOUTH IN ACTION programme are divided into five Actions:

Action 1 – Youth for Europe
Action 2 – European Voluntary Service
Action 3 – Youth in the World
Action 4 – Youth Support Systems
Action 5 – Support for European cooperation in the youth field
 

More informations: Youth in Action Programme