With the GUIDE project, we aimed to promote the use of gender-sensitive language in international youth work in order to create a more inclusive and diverse environment. The objective was to raise awareness among professionals about the impact of gender-sensitive and gender-neutral language in both international activities and within the organisational structures of youth organisations, while strengthening their knowledge of gender equality and diversity. By training youth leaders, we sought to encourage organisations to critically review their existing communication structures – for example on websites, in publications, or during activities – and to adapt them where necessary. The project objectives included, among others: prevention of discrimination, reduction of stereotypes and traditional role models, implementation of gender-sensitive approaches in youth work, promotion of inclusion and equality. To achieve these objectives, two key outputs were developed: a practice-oriented workbook on gender-sensitive communication and a training template for international youth groups. Both results aim to strengthen the long-term competences of professionals and to foster a discrimination-free approach to international youth work.
We applied for the GUIDE project to contribute to the objectives of the 2030 Agenda (SDG 5: Gender Equality) as well as to the European Youth Goal No. 2 “Equality of All Genders.” While gender-sensitive language has increasingly been adopted in formal contexts such as universities, the labor market, and public authorities, there remained a significant need for further development within the field of international youth work. Language is a fundamental tool for fostering a respectful and inclusive society. When people are not addressed in a gender-sensitive way, stereotypical role models are reinforced and certain groups risk exclusion. This challenge becomes particularly evident in international projects, which often do not take place in participants’ mother tongue and therefore require clear guidelines for diverse, discrimination-sensitive, and comprehensible communication. Through GUIDE, our aim was to strengthen gender-sensitive language and visual communication in international youth work, reduce discrimination, make diversity more visible, and thereby enable the inclusion of a broader range of young people, regardless of gender or identity.