37-point plan to foment youth participation, ensure well-being

pla estrategic joventutEarlier today, the office of social welfare, early-childhood and youth services, an arm of the Formentera Council, publicly laid out what is being called the Strategic Plan for Formentera Youth. El Pla estratègic d'infància i joventut de Formentera, as it is titled in Catalan, was jointly-drafted by various council offices and received ratification by councilmembers in the ordinary plenary session of February.

Present for the occasion were Dolores Fernández, councillor of social welfare, infant and youth services, Pere Serra, head of the local social welfare office and Mònica Rey, head of youth services. The document outlines 37 specific action points to be developed over the course of the next four years (2015-2018). According to Councillor Fernández, “more than 50% are already en route while the remainder are easily within reach”.

Fernández highlighted the three chief features of the plan: “Compile the different tasks necessary to a successful promotion of Formentera's infant and adolescent population, promote the active participation of local youth and uphold the rights of the child”.

Before detailing the tasks themselves, head of youth services Mònica Rey gave a bit of background on the document: “[It] offers a description of the social and demographic realities of Formentera today, breaking down the data into interesting, often-unseen perspectives. The island's population aged 0-18 is set at 1,839; 982 males and 857 females”. In the same section, El pla estratègic also includes information about the current legislation concerning young children and youth.

Pere Serra was on hand to present the 37 actions included in the pages of the strategic plan. The head of social welfare explained that “the actions listed in Strategic Plan are divided up into four categories: improvements to the family environment; participation of young children and youth in local issues; equal opportunities; and public health and prevention work”.

The first category consists of five actions. One of them calls for the creation of a meeting point for parents in conflictive relationships where issues regarding the children of the family can be discussed. Other actions propose offering courses dealing with such topics as parenting skills and techniques in family problem solving. Still another action proposes improving the coordination that exists between public health agencies and other local administrations.

A total of 21 actions propose augmenting the active participation of youth in local affairs. Among these, one aims to promote volunteer work. Other actions focus on increasing participation in day camps, competitions, sports camps and at the Casal de Joves. This last entity, the local youth centre, has long played an extremely-important role in fomenting activities for young people.

Six actions consider equal opportunities on the island. One suggests a convention among Formentera's sports clubs to assist families with financial difficulties. A second recommends extra support for the participative wing of the local youth council (El Consell de la infància i la joventut).

Last on the list are the actions that contemplate improvements to public health and prevention work. One proposes support for Formentera Marxa, a programme that organises guided weekend activities.
Other actions recommend programmes to assure that every young person enrolled in basic mandatory education possess a set of acquired abilities by age sixteen. These actions aim to prevent addictive behaviour in technology, instil healthy emotional and sexual practises and give youth the power to make intelligent decisions about drugs.