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people and their families who had already experienced exclusion and what action was
necessary to develop universal solutions for this problem?
Representatives from 10 EU member states presented their experiences of national,
regional and local programmes in five thematic working groups which compiled
recommendations for action within the field of youth politics on national and European
levels and within expert fields. A focal point was the presentation and comparison of
measures and processes within the national creation of support programmes and their local
implementation. The presentations were categorised under the topics “education”,
“employment”, “multicultural living”, “transversal strategies for socially disadvantaged
areas” and “local strategies for the activation of effective employment and social potentials
within the framework of the ESF instrument small grants“. The documentation presented
here is not a complete reproduction of all country presentations, but a representation of the
core content statements concerning the development and implementation of programmes
and strategies.
Following discussion in the working groups, participants had the opportunity of visiting
six different practical projects corresponding to the various working group topics; this
provided an insight into the local implementation of German youth welfare strategies in
socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods within the city of Leipzig. The conference working
programme was rounded off by a project fair with 33 stands presenting micro-projects
from nine European countries which were being funded within the ESF framework. These
projects were primarily targeted at the improvement of professional integration
opportunities for young persons. The conference was given a lively tone by activities
offered by the participants of various projects (e.g. dance, music and film). Further
information on the project fair and exhibitors can be found on the internet page of the
coordinating office of the programme “Local Capital for Social Purposes”
(http://www.los-online.de/content/e378/e7708/index_ger.html): a film produced during
the conference can also be viewed on this web site.
Karin Reiser (Head of Department for Children and Youth Affairs in the German
Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth) and Karel Bartak
(European Commission, Director DG for Youth and Education) referred in their
concluding statements to the addresses by the State Secretary Gerd Hoofe and Jérôme
Vignon and underlined the major social and political responsibility to prevent and/or halt
the social exclusion of children and young persons. If social and professional integration
were to be achieved, it was above all the transition phase between school and professional
career which must be successful for these young people.
Karin Reiser touched on a fact thrown up by the national presentations at the
conference: the phenomenon of the exclusion of socially weak children and young persons
in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods exists in all European countries. She alerted
attention to the fact that “individual social disadvantages and living conditions in socially
disadvantaged neighbourhoods overlap and frequently trigger off a spiral which exacerbates
already existing problems”. According to Ms Reiser, “This spiral can only be halted if
children, young persons and their families in these areas receive special, individual support
and if self-initiative and activity is simultaneously demanded of them.” Karin Reiser
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