The Regional Director for Youth defended in Vila do Porto the "vital importance" of hearing young people and taking good note of their contributions to "better define youth policies."
 
Lúcio Rodrigues spoke at the 2018 Youth Associations Summit at the Santa Maria Youth Association, an initiative promoted by FNAJ - National Federation of Youth Associations in partnership with the Regional Directorate for Youth (DRJ).
 
These summits, held annually at national level, are intended to hear young people, challenging them to contribute with new ideas and suggestions so that, together with technicians and mayors, local youth policies may be defined.
 
With this summit, FNAJ and DRJ aim to create conditions that allow the evaluation and identification of young people's needs, based on the Strategic Plan for Youth, with local authorities.
 
The Regional Director highlighted the "importance and contribution provided by the Regional Government in the development of proximity policies for young people," a factor he considered "fundamental to attract young people to the full exercise of active citizenship."
 
Lúcio Rodrigues praised FNAJ for the "sensitivity of promoting this type of initiatives throughout the national territory, without forgetting the Autonomous Regions," which he regarded as a "sign of great maturity."
 
For the Regional Director, this was another moment to "bring young people closer to political decision-makers," having also served the purpose of "raising the awareness of young people for the importance of conveying their opinion."
 
In this regard, the government official stressed that the Region has "promoted the civic involvement of young people." This is especially visible "in the significant participation of Azorean youth in the first Regional Participatory Budget, which includes the Participatory Youth Budget of the Azores; the participation rate was excellent on virtually all islands."
 
"The Regional Government believes that investing in young people is also an investment in our society for the present and the future. Their involvement makes all the difference," stated Lúcio Rodrigues.
 
The 2018 Youth Associations Summit was attended by 21 representatives of associations enrolled in the Azorean Registry of Youth Associations and municipalities from seven islands of the Azores.