09/08/1998

Allow me first to congratulate the chairman on his (her) election to such a responsible post. We would also like to thank the Portuguese Government for the hospitality they have extended to us. It is a special honour for me to be able to address this honourable meeting on behalf of Slovenia and to present our expectations in the field of youth policies at the national and international levels.

As a young country which gained independence only at the beginning of this decade, Slovenia is active in all segments of the United Nations system, proof of which is its election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the current term. We are confident that through our active participation in recent years in various international institutions and their programmes, and through the implementation of the agreed fundamental principles and activities at the national level, we have contributed to the achievement of jointly-agreed goals.

Questions concerning young people have become today, more than ever before, the common responsibility of the international community. This fact has concrete and symbolic dimensions. In modern societies the processes of growth, adolescence and active involvement in social life are making increasing demands on young people and on the community as a whole. The many questions related to education, employment and social and political commitment, as well as those of health, culture, sports and free time, demand to be addressed in a prudent and systematic way, for it is precisely in these areas, more than in any other, that the past achievements and future problems of individual nations and the entire world community in ten, twenty or more years' time will be formed and debated. And it is here, in care for the future, that the symbolic dimension of the attention accorded to the global position of young people today lies.

In the course of preparing for this conference many national and regional meetings were held. In those meetings the representatives of governments and youth organisations, experts in various fields, and representatives of international forums analysed in depth a range of questions, and proposed priorities for action and concrete strategies. We expect the conference to be an opportunity for a broad exchange of knowledge and of the achievements of individual countries, and for participants to become acquainted with the outcomes of discussions to date; above all, it presents an excellent opportunity to generalise them, through a high level of consensus, into common goals and commitments. I would like to emphasise in particular that Slovenia endorses the proposed text of the Final Declaration and wishes those responsible at all levels every success in putting joint agreements and obligations into effect.

The process of transition which has marked this decade in Slovenia and in many other countries in central and eastern Europe has left a specific imprint on those areas of social life of particular concern to young people, Young people and national youth policies are facing great challenges. Such circumstances have brought on the conviction that what we need in this field is a well thought-out, longer-term strategy. We have therefore launched a public debate on the proposal for a national master plan for youth; the results of the debate are expected to be considered by the Slovene Government this autumn. We shall analyse the position and prospects of young people and determine the objectives for a longer-term national youth policy, with special emphasis on effective interdepartmental coordination.

The youth policy we are planning comprises many measures and mechanisms designed to secure the faster and more effective inclusion of young people in social processes. Integrating the young socially and encouraging their active participation in social affairs are priority areas. The ultimate aim of integration and participation is to raise the quality of life to a higher level; information, counselling and prevention programmes, as well as campaigns promoting solidarity and equal opportunities, will contribute the most to this. In framing new strategies we give consideration to international debates and links. Our concrete contribution to joint endeavours will be the organisation, in association with the North-South Centre (we are the first central and east European country to join), of an intergovernmental round table of Council of Europe member states on the topic of global interdependence and the related role of youth policies. Slovenia will also participate actively in the Europe Against Poverty and Social Exclusion campaign, to be launched by the Centre this year.

We are aware of the huge role played by all forms of education and training in the integration of young people and the prevention of social exclusion. Good-quality basic and vocational education is the most important factor in boosting the employability of young people, their economic emancipation, and the emancipation of the individual in society. The number of young people receiving education has been rapidly increasing in Slovenia throughout this decade, especially in the field of higher education. This year we have launched a programme of vocational training for young unemployed people in which it will be possible to include a considerable number of young people who, in recent years, have been pushed to the margins of society. There are also other campaigns designed for various at-risk categories of young people. In addition to formal education, we place great value on informal forms of education and consciousness-raising, which are sometimes even more effective, especially as they relate to the development of common social values such as human rights, democracy, tolerance and solidarity. We also systematically support the learning of foreign languages, access to modern information technologies, and the assertion of the principle of lifelong learning. We are confident that with these and other modern strategies we can prepare young people to cope actively and effectively with the challenges offered by modem societies, heighten mutual understanding, and promote peace and development.

In our opinion, the solving of specific problems facing young people today is possible through the well-coordinated implementation of the policies of different departments: education, employment, housing, health, etc. The chief coordinator at the government level is the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth, which also deals with cooperation with various youth organisations and supports their campaigns. We attach special significance to the development of dialogue and partnership with non-governmental youth structures, which we understand as mechanisms for increasing the influence of young people on any decision-making that concerns their position. Youth organisations are also places for informal education, multicultural rapprochement and all forms of the inclusion of young people in social processes.