Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Youth Work in Europe and YFJ General Assembly 

A lot is going through my head right now in these last hours ahead of the European Youth Forum General Assembly in Maribor, Slovenia. The official start of the GA is on Thursday morning but the kick-off is already this evening with the delegates arriving and the organising team finalising the last bits of what promises to be an excellent encounter full of fresh ideas, suggestions, discussions and opposing views for the future of our platform. 

As a last content-related point on this blog I would like to share my answer to the following question I was asked during the numerous interviews with member organisations:

How do you understand the importance of youth work nowadays in European continent and what are the main challenges you identify at the moment? 

For me youth work has been crucial for my personal development and all the aspects that I link to youth work - youth participation, volunteering, non-formal education and peer-education methodology, youth organisations - help young people in improving their skills, their self-esteem, contribute to their autonomy and much more. In times of crisis such a tool is priceless and should be recognised and supported. The main challenges are to get the recognition of youth work to a higher level and outside the usual suspects. 

This implies the following: 

• youth organisations (both INGYOs and NYCs) to be recognised as a relevant partner and experts in the field and the ones shaping/developing youth policies; 
• having an appropriate financial support through admin grants, project grants for youth-led projects and volunteer work to be considered as co-funding (Volunteer Time Contribution - VTC);
• youth work to be recognised as an added value for individuals and society as a whole;
• explain and promote the impact of youth work;
• recognition of skills and competences gained through youth work and NFE + informal learning (e.g. Europass, Youthpass, ECTS credits);
• formal recognition of youth work via resolutions, programmes, etc.

The Forum should work on all these issues together with its members in the coming year(s).

There are so many other issues and topics I wanted to discuss on this blog but due to time constraints it wasn't possible to cover all of them. However, I look forward to the opportunity to further explain the work I have done and would like to do when addressing the members in plenary and talking to their representives in person on the spot.

As in each election campaign there were ups and downs and in the coming days there will be some heated moments in which emotions will be running high on all sides. I plan to cherish these moments and learn from them as this is why I put myself out there, because I love a good challenge. There will be winners and there will be losers, however, the most important thing is that whatever happens the platform will leave Maribor on Sunday as a platform that abides by its own rules of democracy, inclusiveness, openness and transparency and as such be a strong advocate for the voice of young people and youth organisations in Europe.

I wish all the candidates the best for these upcoming days. You should enjoy this moment, though it won't always be easy, and I thank each and everyone of you and your nominating organisations for having the courage, the energy and the motivation to put your name forward and ensure that the Youth Forum membership has a genuine and quality choice for all the positions available, something we should all be very proud off.

Let us have a great General Assembly!