National Youth Policy consultation process

Consultation with young people and organisations that represent them starts in the coming days as part of the process leading to a renewed National Youth Policy.

An 11-strong consultative committee will be compiling a draft document and analysing the results of the consultation process, the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport, Clyde Puli, said yesterday.

The first National Youth Policy was compiled in 2004, before Malta joined the EU and started facing new realities, including a rise in the influx of illegal immigration, Mr Puli said.

He said he would be holding consultation meetings with youth organisations and a questionnaire would be sent to non-governmental organisations representing young people. The questionnaire will also be distributed at the Malta International Fair.

The consultation process will also be online, with young people encouraged to answer a questionnaire on the Education Ministry's website www.education.gov.mt and the parliamentary secretariat's page on the popular online platform Facebook. "We want the consultation process to be wide and attract as many ideas as possible," Mr Puli said.

He pointed out that the consultation committee, chaired by Miriam Theuma, will hold its first meeting in the coming days. The new policy should be completed by mid-2009.

Mr Puli highlighted the importance of updating the policy to make it relevant to today's reality.

"The aim of the policy is to help in the social and personal development of young people and encourage them to be active participants in society," he said, adding that the policy needed to provide more opportunities for young people.