Capacity Building for youth in ACP countries, Latin America and Asia
"Building the Future"
2015-2017
Young people with fewer opportunities begin their lives with a disadvantage over which they rarely gain control over time. For various reasons (poverty, learning difficulties, etc.) the society segregates this group of people and as a result, they only become more disadvantaged and gradually hopeless. Just as the European Union, the project partners also recognise that this tendency is an enormous waste of human talent and potential which is not only devastating for the marginalized individual, but also harmful for the society as a whole.
Young, marginalized people must be reintegrated into the society. The project partners agree that the best way to do that is through strengthening young people’s transversal skills that will help them play an active role in their communities and to take control over their own lives. In particular to the Erasmus+ Programme, Youth Exchanges offer the greatest opportunity for the marginalized youth to develop and strengthen their soft skills – entrepreneurial, social and communicative skills, etc.
Although many of the Activities of the Programme prioritize the recognition of competences, there is a lack of tools when it comes to assessing their improvement.
Specific Needs and Challenges Addressed:
1. A strong need for recognition of soft skills and competences in the field of youth. This can’t be reached without a potent way of measuring the improvement of above mentioned skills. However, there is a lack of tools and methods measuring the impact of projects that improve skills and competencies of the marginalized youth.
2. The marginalised youth faces circumstances that make their social inclusion cumbersome. They are prone to social passivity and there is a significant need for reinforcing their skills and self-image in order to reintegrate into the society.
Accordingly, the following goals have been identified:
1. Creation of assessment tools in order to measure the impact of youth exchanges on the transversal skills and competences of young people.
2. Strengthening the transversal skills of young marginalized people and facilitating
their recognition.
3. Re-integration of marginalized people into the society through improved materials that improve the quality of projects targeting them.
The project partners have agreed to organize a Seminar to gather accurate and reliable information (assessment methods and tools) as well as a Youth Exchange to test the project outputs created. Together with a Follow-up Meeting, the project outputs are created: interactive questionnaires that assess participants' transversal skills before and after a Youth Exchange and a manual with observation guidelines.
The partner organizations come from the following 3 countries: Denmark, Philippines and Nepal.
The project directly reaches young people and youth leaders from each of these participating countries with special regards to the marginalized youth.
