The Don Bosco feast in Brussels provides an opportunity to promote the Salesian Congregation’s advocacy work before the EU institutions. Guided by this commitment, DBI held a series of institutional meetings during the final week of January, together with Fr Antoine Farrugia, Global Safeguarding & Advocacy Coordinator for the SDB Youth Ministry Department.
Fr Antoine and the DBI’s Executive Secretary met with several Members of the EU Parliament, including MEP Salini (EPP Vice-Chair, Italy), MEP Agius (EPP, Malta), MEP Lupo (S&D, Italy) and MEP Guarda (Greens, Italy), initiating a constructive dialogue on the situation of children and young people in Europe. At the heart of the discussions was the need to strengthen educational and social inclusion models based on respect for human dignity and fundamental rights. We would like to thank the MEPs for their time and for their willingness to develop future collaborations.
The meeting with EU Commissioner Micallef, responsible for Intergenerational Equity, Youth, Culture and Sport, alongside Dr Tanti, Head of Cabinet, and Dr Ducatelle, Expert on Youth and Children, was also particularly positive. The meeting addressed numerous priorities that currently affect the lives of young people in Europe: mental health, cyberbullying and its prevention, the introduction of the Youth Check, the housing crisis, the recognition of youth work, and fair access to EU mobility programmes such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable young people. We are deeply grateful to the Commissioner and his team for their willingness to listen and their openness. We look forward to continued collaboration to ensure that all young people, especially those in vulnerable situations, can fully benefit from the European opportunities that support their development, inclusion and active participation.
This result is the fruit of more than a year’s networking amongst Alliance members, civil society organisations and Members of the European Parliament. The work involved in political advocacy requires time and careful cultivation of relationships with institutions and policy-makers. In this endeavour, advocacy represents a fundamental aspect of Don Bosco’s Preventive System, which calls for the active promotion of young people’s rights and the creation of environments where they can grow, be heard and take charge of their own futures.
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