LAUNCH OF #ACT4YOUTH – CROSS EUROPEAN DAY OF ACTION
Tomorrow, Thursday 17th May at 12pm in the Mansion House, Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, and Labour general election candidate for Dublin South Central, Cllr Rebecca Moynihan will launch the second European Youth Plan Action Day in association with the Party of European Socialists (PES).
Rebecca will be joined by Youth Plan Ambassadors Cllr Deirdre Kingston, election candidate in Dun Laoghaire; Cllr Martina Genockey, election candidate in Dublin South West; Chair of Labour Youth Kevin Donohoe; and local area reps Peter Horgan, Declan Meenagh and Luke Field.
The #Act4Youth day of action, coordinated throughout Europe on Friday 19th May, brings together PES members across the continent in a focused day of action on Jobs, Education, Culture and Children.
The #Act4Youth campaign calls for a European Youth Plan that includes:
- A permanent Youth Guarantee
- Erasmus+ for all
- A European culture cheque
- A Child Guarantee
What: Launch of #Act4Youth
When: 12pm, Thursday 18th May
Where: Mansion House, Dawson Street.
More information available at youthplan.eu and follow on Twitter with #Act4Youth.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
The European Youth Plan Action Day II will be held on Friday 19th May across Europe. It is the flagship campaign of the Party of European Socialists. The Plan contains 4 main pillars – JOBS, EDUCATION, CULTURE and CHILDREN. We are fighting for more employment chances for young people, education accessible to everyone, free access to culture for all young people, and good nutrition, healthcare and childcare for every child.
The four key pillars of the campaign are:
1. Making the Youth Guarantee permanent. Quality Jobs and Training for Young People.
The EU Youth Guarantee programme guarantees young people an appropriate job, apprenticeship, traineeship or an opportunity for continuing education within four months of finishing their compulsory education or leaving their previous job. It has been a huge success. We want to make this guarantee permanent, increase its funding to 5 billion euro a year (total funding of 20 billion euro until 2020) and raise the age limit to 30.
2. Erasmus for All. Enlarging access to exchange programmes.
Erasmus+ is one of the EU’s success stories, offering life-changing exchange opportunities to young people, opening up their minds and helping them build both their European citizenship and future career. But only a few people can benefit from it. We want to further widen the accessibility and strengthen the funding of Erasmus+, so that secondary school students, technical and professional apprentices can also benefit.
3. European Culture Cheques for all young people. Culture should be accessible to all.
Young people should be encouraged to take part in cultural activities and access cultural performances and heritage. We want to introduce European Youth Cheques for cultural activities – free access for all young people in the EU to cultural events and venues. Initiatives similar to this Culture Cheque are already underway in countries like Italy and Malta, introduced by the social democratic governments in these countries.
4. Introducing a European Child Guarantee. Lifting children out of poverty.
More than 1 in 4 children in the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. We can no longer tolerate this situation. We call for the EU to develop a European Child Guarantee which ensures that every European child at risk of poverty has access to free quality health care, free quality education, free quality childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition.