Dublin Declaration recognises potential of youth work in developing sought-after skills. | WPN World People News

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD, welcomes Dublin Declaration on the unique contribution of youth work in supporting attainment of 'soft' skiills which are increasingly south after by employers. The Declaration was agreed following a two day EU Presidency expert roundtable host by Minister Fitzgerald in Dublin.

The roundtable was attended by youth work providers, policy makers, researchers and business interests from Ireland and across Europe to explore how best to harness the potential of youth work in supporting youth employment.

Minister Fitzgerald told the roundtable that she will communicate this Declaration to EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy ahead of next week’s EU Council summit as well to her fellow Youth Minister in EU member states.

Minister Fitzgerald said:

“The challenge of youth unemployment requires a broad range of responses involving the mobilisation of many players. The roundtable, which I convened as part of Ireland’s EU Presidency, has reaffirmed the specific and highly-relevant role for quality youth work in developing young people's skill-sets and supporting their job-readiness.”

The Minister added that the roundtable has in particular resulted in an important recognition and articulation of youth work’s unique potential to support young people in attaining key ‘soft’ skills such as leadership, communication, teamwork, and entrepreneurship. The Minister noted that these ‘soft’ skill were being increasingly seen as highly-valuable and sought-after by employers.”
The Dublin Declaration set out key principles and actions in four key areas:
•Enhancing the visibility of youth work’s potential
•Building new partnerships between youth work and employers
•Ensuring that youth work is central to EU youth employment initiatives, in particular the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.
•Delivering quality and innovative youth work which is responsive to the changing needs of young people, broader society, and the needs of the labour market

Source: European Union