The Regional Director for Youth defended today in Horta that new generations have a "fundamental commitment to democracy" and stressed that they "cannot let it be changed."

Pilar Damião de Medeiros spoke at the opening session of the 2013 Youth Parliament, stressing that democracy needs a plurality of views as well as the creativity and effort of youngsters in the struggle for a better society.

The Regional Director emphasised that democracy "is an unfinished process; it is a process that is constantly under permanent construction and reconstruction." In this context, the government official urged youngsters to have an increasingly active role in society.

The regional session of the Youth Parliament Programme takes place at the Legislative Assembly of the Azores today and on Tuesday. This is an initiative promoted by the National Assembly that is jointly organised in the Azores by the Regional Directorates for Education and Youth.

This year, the regional sessions will be attended by 50 young 'members of parliament' from 25 basic education schools and 61 from 29 secondary and vocational training schools, who will choose their representatives for the national meetings.

The programme is developed throughout the school year at schools across the country and culminates with the national sessions at the National Assembly.

For the school year 2012/2013, the Parliament proposed the debate of the following themes: "Overcoming the crisis" for middle school and junior high school students and "Youngsters and Employment: which future lies ahead?" for secondary school students.

Educating for citizenship, encouraging civic and political participation, being acquainted with the National Assembly and the rules of parliamentary debate, promoting democratic debate and the respect for the diversity of opinions and knowing the decision-making process are some of goals promoted by this initiative.

The proposed themes are initially discussed at the schools that have joined this initiative, where an election process is held with the presentation of the candidate lists and the selection of the members for the Parliament. This phase is followed by the organisation of regional sessions in the districts of Mainland Portugal and in the Autonomous Regions.

The national sessions will take place at the National Assembly on May 6 and 7.