The Vice-President of the Government said today that from now on, youngsters "will wait no longer than four months for a response" in the context of occupational programmes.

Sérgio Ávila spoke during the presentation of the "Azores Youth Guarantee" programme. According to which, the Regional Government should provide a response within four months to youngsters aged under 30 years, who have been unemployed or have concluded their formal training; this response consists in the provision of further training, enrolment at a traineeship programme or the integration into the labour market.

The Vice-President noted that this programme represents "a commitment" to youngsters. In order to ensure its fulfilment, the Regional Government has implemented "a wide range of measures to promote youth employment, training and social policies for this area; there are currently 15 ongoing actions for all those who seeking a response under this programme."

Sérgio Ávila gave the assurance that after the registration, which can made at the electronic address www.garantiajovem.azores.gov.pt, the services will provide "a concrete response" through a specific action within four months.

"These measured are linked to specific employment programmes as the following: traineeship programmes; initiatives to support the professional integration of youngsters after the completion of traineeships, through the support of companies; incentive programme for the creation of self-employment; retraining skills programme to improve academic qualifications; programmes developed in the area of social entrepreneurship and retraining programmes through new technologies," said the Vice-President.

Sérgio Ávila underlined that youth employment is "a priority" and challenge the Regional Government want to overcome by fighting against "the exclusion of young unemployed or youngsters who have not completed their education." In this context, the "Azores Youth Guarantee" programme is another tool created to accomplish this goal.