Definition of Young people with fewer opportunities & Inclusion Projects

In certain contexts, these situations/obstacles prevent young people from having effective access to formal and non-formal education, trans-national mobility and from participation, active citizenship, empowerment and inclusion in society at large.

• Social obstacles: young people facing discrimination (because of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, etc.), young people with limited social skills or anti-social or risky sexual behaviours, young people in a precarious situation, (ex )offenders, (ex )drug addicts, young and/or single parents, orphans, young people from broken families, etc.
• Economic obstacles: young people with a low standard of living, low income, dependence on social welfare system, long-term unemployed youth, homeless young people, young people in debt or in financial problems, etc.
• Disability: young people with mental (intellectual, cognitive, learning), physical, sensory or other disabilities.
• Educational difficulties: young people with learning difficulties, early school-leavers and school dropouts, lowly or non-qualified persons, young people that didn't find their way in the school system, young people with poor school performance because of a different cultural/linguistic background, etc.
• Cultural differences: young immigrants or refugees or descendants from immigrant or refugee families, young people belonging to a national or ethnic minority, young people with linguistic adaptation and cultural inclusion problems, etc.
• Health problems: young people with chronic health problems, severe illnesses or psychiatric conditions, young people with mental health problems, etc.
• Geographical obstacles: young people from remote, rural or hilly areas, young people living on small islands or peripheral regions, young people from urban problem zones, young people from less serviced areas (limited public transport, poor facilities, abandoned villages...), etc.

^^ top ^^

National and Executive Agencies shall address all of these situations/obstacles, without excluding any particular target group. However, it is very likely that young people confronted to one specific situation/obstacle face a disadvantage compared to their peers in one country/region, but not in other places. Therefore, when needed, National and Executive Agencies will further detail the importance of the above-mentioned situations/obstacles in their contexts, but always in the spirit of the legal basis of the programme.

These details, relating to the European, National or regional contexts, need to be public and communicated to the Commission and to a wider audience (e.g. website of the Agency) in order to ensure the transparent and coherent application of this Inclusion strategy and prevent that financial incentives for inclusion projects are granted on an arbitrary basis.

^^ top ^^

Definition of Inclusion Projects

Inclusion projects are of two types:

• A-Inclusion projects: consciously including young people with fewer opportunities as active participants in projects (providing tailor-made preparation, support, monitoring and follow-up for them).
• B-Inclusion projects: have a clear thematic focus on inclusion (on one or more of the situations/obstacles described above) and aim to improve the situation through awareness-raising, or working towards projects with young people with fewer opportunities (e.g. in Action 4.3 Training and networking), exchange of good practices, etc.

These two types of projects are both of high importance but they have to be counted and monitored separately, as well as projects being of A and B nature at the same time (AB-inclusion projects).

^^ top ^^