Following the favourable opinion of the members of the committee for appraisal of applications to youth support, the Government of the Azores, through the cabinet of the Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for Parliamentary Affairs, has approved the financing of 247 projects, representing a global amount over 292 thousand Euros. They will be implemented in the areas of creativity, encouraging associative movements, youth mobility and free time occupation.
 
"The applications submitted and the projects to be supported show the vitality of Azorean youth, through the involvement of thousands of young people in various activities that value this age group and, consequently, enrich the future of the Azores," said the Regional Secretary.
 
"Saying that the future is for young people is not a cliché or a circumstantial phrase, it is an unquestionable truth that we embody in our political action. The investment we make in supporting the projects submitted to us shows that," said Berto Messias.
 
In regard to youth associations, 124 projects were supported under the Incentive System for Youth Associations, covering cultural, social and recreational areas, training and leisure activities
 
Presented by 21 youth associations, these projects will involve 2,317 young people; the support amounts to 155 thousand Euros.
 
In the area of youth mobility, the Bento de Góis programme aims to promote the regional, national and international mobility of young people living in the Azores as stimulating, enriching and structuring experience in the construction of the Azorean identity and European citizenship. A total of 64 projects were supported under Action I - Mobility in the Azores and throughout the National Territory and four under Action II - Exchange in the Azores, covering 1,338 young people. The overall support reaches 75 thousand Euros.
 
As for Action III - International Mobility, there were 10 approved projects, corresponding to an investment of 14 thousand Euros. They will allow 185 young Azoreans to travel to the USA, Germany, Spain, France, Slovakia and England.
 
In order to continue encouraging the creativity of young people through projects that enable them to transform ideas into cultural and artistic initiatives, 34 projects were approved under the "Get into Scene" programme, whose support amounts to over 41,300 Euros.
 
Moreover, 11 projects, amounting to over 7,700 Euros, were supported under the occupation of leisure time for young people, namely the organisation of activities in holiday camps. They are expected to 236 young people under the "Entra em Campo" programme.
 
All the Regional Government's programmes directed to young people, under the supervision of the Regional Direction for Youth, are regulated and available on the Azores Youth Portal (www.juventude.azores.gov.pt); the respective applications are submitted to this portal.