The number of young people in employment has fallen by three times more than that for adults and with 7.5 million young Europeans between 15 and 24 not employed, not in education and not in training (NEETs), the trend looks set to continue.

Youth Organisations have been long identified as having a pivotal role in reversing this trend. According to ’The Policy Paper on ‘Youth organisations as non-formal educators – recognising our role’:

“In recent years employers are increasingly looking for people who have obtained not only academic qualifications but who can also demonstrate that they have a wider range of practical skills that cannot all be learned in formal education. These ‘soft skills’ cannot easily be ‘taught’ in formal education because they are learned through ‘hands-on’ practical experience and thus are much more effectively gained in non-formal environments.”

However the same report also goes on to state:

“If a greater value is to be placed on the role of youth organisations as important non-formal educators, society needs to be made aware of their work in the first place. The responsibility for raising this awareness lies predominantly with youth organisations. A more pro-active approach is therefore needed from youth organisations to raise awareness of the value of non-formal education.”

Youth organisations across Europe are working tirelessly to make a positive change for young people, however based upon the research and experience of the consortium; if such organisations developed their core administrative activities, they have the capacity to have a significantly higher impact.