The Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for Parliamentary Affairs stressed in Praia da Vitória the "very important role" played by youth associations in the Azores as "partners of the Government in the implementation of youth policies."
 
"Youth associations have had a very important impact on the development of local communities in the archipelago. In this context, I must stress the importance of the role that AJITER - Youth Association of Terceira Island has played so well as a leader of change," said Isabel Rodrigues.
 
The Regional Secretary spoke on behalf of the President of the Government at the opening session of the 2nd edition of the International Training "Facilitation Skills for Youth Workers and NGO Leaders."
 
Promoted by AJITER, the initiative brings together for one week thirty young people from 10 islands belonging to 10 European countries: Iceland, United Kingdom, Spain, Malta, Italy, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus and Portugal.
 
This is the fifth international project that AJITER hosts since 2013 and, overall, these projects have brought to the Azores nearly 200 young Europeans from 13 countries.
 
Isabel Rodrigues noted that this training brings together young people from different European islands, stressing that "this is not only an opportunity to acquire tools, as this is the ultimate of the training, but it will mainly be an opportunity to launch effective cooperation bridges on islands like ours."
 
The Regional Secretary also stressed the importance of civic participation, stressing that "communities grow with participation and democracy survives with participation."
 
According to Isabel Rodrigues, this is a very important factor and has been the subject of the Regional Government's policies, which, in turn, are implemented and youth associations."