Editorial

There was a time when the Church looked after many social aspects of society. It still plays an important role, running schools and youth centres, and giving marriage preparation and assistance, looking after the sick and the elderly, providing housing and education, promoting the arts, and in so many other ways.

However, with the drop in the number of vocations, the Church's work has been curtailed somewhat, especially where the young are concerned, so much so that the government feels it must do more to make things easier for them.

The government has come up with a programme that will start with a small number of councils at first. It will seek to promote government policies, while enumerating the resources available in each district, so that better use can be found for them. All too often there are excellent voluntary organisations in a locality or parish which do less good than they are capable of, simply because their voice has not reached out far enough. This is a deficiency that the government is seeking to put right.

The effort is called empowerment of youth, precisely because it seeks to open doors for youth and to help easy passage through them. The programme is being regarded by the government as an important step in the implementation of a new national policy for youths over the next three years.

Fortunately, a three-year experiment has already taken place through a pilot project in Birkirkara and the experience has proved positive.

Naturally, any work to be done depends very much on the commitment put in by the council of the locality in question. Seven councils, those of Zurrieq, Qormi, Mosta, Tarxien, Fgura, Victoria and Birkirkara, will be setting up "youth empowerment" centres in their localities following an agreement some time ago. Councils found to be making a success of the programme will have their contract renewed annually.

The idea is to make things easier for youth to know what to do, where to go for help, what opportunities are available - especially now that the whole of Europe is being opened up to them in a new way - and even to help the helpers, the youth organisers and the youth leaders to do their work better.

Somebody would need to be employed, at least part-time, in each locality. For this purpose, the government will be paying the wages of a part-time youth worker (30 hours a month) in each locality and the councils will provide the rest of the infrastructure.

This is something that deserves all praise and cooperation for its aim is to bolster up the general educational effort and to empower ever more the cultural, sports and social voluntary organisations that already exist in the localities. Youth often need direct counselling and, perhaps, social assistance. They will require information about the availability of foreign programmes, including the EU's youth programme, all exciting and new possibilities.

For this reason, there needs to be a compilation of all relevant information with the creation of a network of the agencies and organisations for better sharing and employment of information and resources. Thus, the usual fragmentation of effort will be avoided and new needs will be addressed as we learn more about them.

Even if seven local councils have now subscribed to the scheme, the project is still very much in its infancy and every effort must be made by all stakeholders, not least parents, to ensure its success.