Youth Work with fewer opportunities

Young people with fewer opportunities are the equal part of our society and have the same rights that each member of society has, law and moral applies in a same way to all. Beside the fact that they are in worse economic, geographical, health or physical conditions than most of their peers.

In youth work there are specific attention paid to the young people with fewer opportunities. Those are the young people that objectively has less opportunities comparing to others. Youth workers should take into account the needs and issues that these groups face and take responsibility to address them in their daily work. Donor organisations often require or priority the targeting these type of groups in their projects.

Inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities is an important priority for the European Union. The EU strives to give access to all young people, including young people with fewer opportunities, to the Erasmus plus Programme.

There are various criteria for defining young people with fewer opportunities and youth work are considered to address the issues of those groups. In this module will discuss and explore the types and criteria as well as definition of fewer opportunities according the EU strategy.

Theoretical material

Young people with fewer opportunities are young people that are at a disadvantage compared to their peers because they face one or more of the situations and obstacles mentioned in the non-exhaustive list below. In certain contexts, these situations or obstacles prevent young people from having effective access to formal and non-formal education, transnational mobility and participation, active citizenship, empowerment and inclusion in society at large.

Below is given the list of the obstacles that defines the young people with fewer opportunities:

Social obstacles: young people facing discrimination (because of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, etc.), young people with limited social skills or anti-social or risky sexual behaviours, young people in a precarious situation, (ex-)offenders, (ex-)drug or alcohol abusers, young and/or single parents, orphans, young people from broken families, etc.

Economic obstacles: young people with a low standard of living, low income, dependence on social welfare system, long-term unemployment, homelessness, poverty, young people in debt or with financial problems, etc.

Disability: young people with mental (intellectual, cognitive, learning), physical, sensory or other disabilities.

Educational difficulties: young people with learning difficulties, early school-leavers and school dropouts, lower qualified persons, young people with poor school performance, etc.

Cultural differences: young immigrants or refugees or descendants from immigrant or refugee families, young people belonging to a national or ethnic minority, young people with linguistic adaptation and cultural inclusion problems, etc.

Health problems: young people with chronic health problems, severe illnesses or psychiatric conditions, young people with mental health problems, etc.

Geographical obstacles: young people from remote or rural areas, young people living on small islands or peripheral regions, young people from urban problem zones, young people from less serviced areas (limited public transport, poor facilities, abandoned villages…), etc.

(extract from Inclusion Strategy for the youth in action programme)

These definitions deliberately focuses on the situation young people are in, to avoid stigmatization and blame. This list is not exhaustive, but gives an indication of the type of exclusion situations we are talking about. Some find themselves in several of the situations listed above at the same time.

The ‘comparative disadvantage’ is important, because being in one of the situations referred to above does not automatically lead to fewer opportunities compared to peers (not all people from minorities are discriminated, a person with a disability is not necessarily disadvantaged if the environment is adapted, etc.). The risk of exclusion because of specific factors and obstacles varies according to country and context.

Besides these context-dependent factors, there are also a number of ‘absolute exclusion factors’. When people’s fundamental rights are violated, they are always disadvantaged no matter how common this situation is in a particular context (for instance all homeless, everyone who lives in poverty). Special attention should be given to groups for whom absolute exclusion factors apply.

Video links

Inclusion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SnXBKEfr2s

Inclusion begins with you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StKnycqjlUo

What Is Inclusion - Inclusion Imperative - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea4TdXGp8f0

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-uyB5I6WnQ

Useful resources and links, additional literature

https://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/move2learn-learn2move/move2learn-learn2move-the-in/annex.htm

Good practicies in mentoring volunteers with fewer opportunities

http://cvs-bg.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Mentoring_youth_fewer_opportunities_booklet.pdf

Erasmus+ Inclusion and Diversity Strategy

http://ec.europa.eu/assets/eac/youth/library/reports/inclusion-diversity-strategy_en.pdf

Open ended questions