Last Monday, students from various secondary schools teamed up with Members of Parliament and leading officials of the European Commission and the European Parliament to take part in a debate, staged to mark Europe Day, at the House of Representatives. The students’ contribution was well prepared and well delivered and from the contributions they made, it was obvious that they were well-informed on the subjects discussed, namely the environment, education and volunteering.

Considering that we were celebrating Europe Day, and that the EU has dedicated this year as ‘The Year of Volunteering’, the subject proved to be an automatic choice for discussion. When EU Commissioner Vivianne Redding launched the European Year, she pointed out that three out of 10 Europeans are involved in voluntary work, while a document issued by the NSO shows that 27,000 people in Malta devote an average of 23 hours a month to voluntary work in various sectors.

Society is enriched by voluntary work and as such needs continual involvement from members of the community, including our young people. Volunteering increases the sense of community in a society, as it promotes social cohesion and solidarity. Conversely, the individual will benefit from a sense of fulfilment and although volunteering has no monetary reward, an individual can gain new skills that may well be useful for career progression.

Young people’s activism, community involvement and engagement must be nurtured for a better future, which is why one of the main tasks of Aġenzija Żgħażagħ is to mobilise them. The government firmly believes that our young people not only need to be more qualified and skilled, but also truly empowered to be active and to contribute to society. The Voltours programme organised by the youth agency is yet another novelty, giving those interested in volunteering an opportunity to gain much-needed experience through visits to voluntary organisations and through meeting experienced volunteers.

It was to this end, in fact, that Aġenzija Żgħażagħ was launched earlier this year. Our youngsters are continuously encouraged to be more active and to participate in decision-making processes. In addition to the students’ councils that now exist in every school, the eko-skola committees and the Youth Parliament, Aġenzija Żgħażagħ has joined with the National Youth Council to organise the Local Youth Councils (LYC) and 360 young people have participated in this over the last two years.

Such projects and programmes introduced in this legislature and managed by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ have not only filled a vacuum but are also showing positive results. The agency has also started organising discussions on important topics and only a couple of weeks ago representatives of our youth organisations were invited by the agency and the Pensions Reform working party to a detailed presentation and the following discussion about pensions reform launched recently by Minister Dolores Cristina. This was yet another opportunity for young people to contribute to a discussion that is high on the priority list of the national agenda. After all, it is the sustainability of pensions for future pensioners that we are trying to safeguard.