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Advancing a person's education and navigating the job market can be a daunting task…

Especially if you are a young person who is already struggling to find a job in Avrupa’, has poor access to educational programs or drops out of school without any qualifications.

If you find yourself ticking these boxes and you are between the ages of 16 and 29, you may have entered the category of unemployed youth (a young person who is not in employment, education or training) officially known as NEET’s in Europe’.

This phenomenon is not only limited to Europe, it is a global phenomenon. The International Labour Organization reports that in 2023, one-fifth of people between the ages of 15 and 24 worldwide were classified as NEET.

According to EU data, factors such as having a low family income, having a disadvantaged family history, or disability can increase a person's risk of becoming NEET.

But can a work experience abroad help people get out of this precarious situation?

Both Hatice Fahel and Jasmin Nsimba Kanza think so; They both joined AB’. the ALMA initiativeIt is a program that offers disadvantaged NEET’s under the age of 30 professional and personal experience abroad.

An opportunity at Bel Paese’

Hatice, a 20-year-old German girl, spent two months after high school in Vercelli, Italy, focusing on her future prospects.

Euronews’e said: “I made a lot of new Italian friends and learned a new language. I loved working in a hotel there and learned a lot in my job. I feel freer and safer now. So it opened my eyes and my perspective on other things. - ”

Thanks to professional and culturally intensive experience, Hatice has now prepared a career plan with the support of her mentors.

“, my dream career is to be a doctor someday. Go study medicine. Wherever you need, for example, exams, so yes, I still need to figure this out. And he said ” to start my career.

A total of almost €11 billion has been invested in this EU plan, and Germany is one of the 15 participating countries.

Andrea Moraru, project manager of NGO RE-INIT’in, which coordinates the program in Recklinghausen, Germany, explained how the program participants will manage their own money and learn how to become more independent.

Speaking to Euronews’e, Moraru said: "We are trying to strengthen them to motivate them to achieve things they didn't even know they could achieve. It's the first time they've been able to stand on their own two feet, ” said.

ALMA participants are mentored for four months when they return, and the results are clear, Moraru’ explains: More than 50 percent of “ in the last group found work or were admitted to an education or training program’ explained Moraru.

Advancing a person's education can reduce a teenager's likelihood of falling into the NEET category. For example, in 2022’de EuropeOnly eight percent of highly educated young people in ’ fall into this category, while the proportion of low-educated young people was 13.6 percent.

First experiences in the Land of the Gods

Jasmin, who went to ’, Greece two years ago, said she had been thinking about going abroad with such a program for a long time because familial conditions prevented her from receiving higher education.

“I've learned a lot and it's been a lot of first experiences for me. For example, I went to the beach and the sea, met new people and experienced an entirely new culture, ” explained.

Jasmin found work in the restaurant of a hotel in ’, Greece, and came to the conclusion that she felt very supported throughout the venture.

“Now that I'm more open to change and have more courage, I'm ready to change. After this experience, I applied for a media and communication-oriented design course at a vocational school and was accepted. I'm starting in the fall. - ”

Germany has one of the lowest NEET levels in the European Union’, and it's clear that both Jasmin and Hatice’ benefited from the ALMA project, but they wouldn't be where they are today without their proactive and positive mindset.

Due to the various social and economic challenges that exist throughout the EU, it may be easier for some to find the motivation and opportunities needed to advance their careers than others.

NEETS: ‘More likely to live a life of social exclusion’

Mark Levels, a quantitative sociologist and professor at Maastricht University ’, explained in an interview with Real Economy why it is much easier for some NEET’s to find a way out of this apparent uniformity, and why social integration remains a major challenge.

Fanny Gauret, euronews:What are the consequences of being classified as NEET for the individual and society?

Professor Mark Levels, University of Maastricht:The state of NEET’in is related to a number of social problems. So NEET’s are much more likely to be poor, much more likely to live a life of social exclusion, and much less likely to move on to the labor market later. For society, the total cost in terms of missing labor productivity, the cost of social programs, as well as the cost of trying to regulate crime, etc., is huge. That's about 142 billion euros a year.

Fanny Gauret, euronews:Can having the experience of living and working abroad lead to permanent change?

Professor Mark Levels, University of Maastricht:Such experiences can signal that you can accomplish a lot of things that can be in a lot of demand. I mean, they can work, but they don't work for the most vulnerable, the underqualified here. And that requires a completely different approach.

Fanny Gauret, euronews:Are there countries or policies that can model your research?

Professor Mark Levels, University of Maastricht:Germany’ has a very well-functioning vocational education system. Here we see that the transition from school to work actually works and works very well. The problem is that you can't take an education system from one country and apply it in another. You have completely different cultural environments, which makes exporting a bit difficult.

Fanny Gauret, euronews:What steps should governments and educational institutions take to help young people and NEET’s transition from education to work?

Professor Mark Levels, University of Maastricht:If there's one thing we know that can predict a situation as vulnerable as NEET, it's leaving school early. So invest in your education system. Invest in keeping people on board. Invest in programs that teach children skills that are in demand in the job market. You then reduce the likelihood that they are NEET, and secondly, you focus on the most vulnerable children and put them front and center.

Click on the video in the media player above to watch the full Fanny Gauret’in report.

One in four children growing up in ’ is at risk of poverty and social exclusion. This is a shocking statistic, and the lifetime consequences are huge.Growing up in poverty means that a child is more likely to drop out of school and less likely to find a decent job, so their children are also at risk of growing up in poverty.

AB’'s European Child Guarantee, the European Pillar of Social Rights for child care and child support, aims to break this cycle of disadvantage by implementing the ’.

Launched in ’ in March 2021, Garanti sets out the right for all children to access free education, including early childhood education and after-school activities, healthy school meals per day, health services, good nutrition and reasonable housing.

A year after the launch, EU countries have to submit their national action plans to the European Commission, ’, explaining how they will implement the Child Guarantee. They will then have to report their progress every two years.

What is Child Guarantee?

‘Children's Guarantee’ is an initiative of the European Commission’, which aims to ensure that the most vulnerable children in ’ have access to health care, education, child care, decent housing and adequate nutrition, and ultimately achieve the progressive realization of children's rights in Europe’.

UNICEF

Implementation of Child Guarantee to help Ukrainian refugees

According to the United Nations, one child per second becomes a refugee of war in ’, Ukraine. The number of people who have fled the country since the beginning of the Russian invasion has exceeded 3 million; Half of them are children.

There are calls for EU governments to make national action plans to implement the Child Guarantee, which will take into account the influx of Ukrainian refugees.

_”_Children are the ones who pay the biggest price in any warJana Hainsworth, Secretary General of Eurochild“, a network of organisations working with vulnerable children.

_ the “ It's hard to understand the magnitude of the destruction right now. Obviously the most important thing is their lives, the humanitarian corridors, getting them to a safe place. Member states will undoubtedly need to respond, and we want their national action plans to take into account this latest challenge and ensure that the services and investments they make include new immigrants from Ukraine’.”_

Child Guarantee and Roma Community

One of the objectives of the Child Guarantee is the social participation of Roma children. Roma children in Europe are among ’'s most precarious: %Compared to the average of 24’ ’i is at risk of poverty. One of the ways to deal with this is to improve education rates and access.

Fanny Gauret from Real Economy’ traveled to the Međimurje region of ’, Croatia, where a large part of the country's Roma community lives. More than 90 percent of children here grow up in precarious conditions.

A pilot programme funded by the European Commission in partnership with UNICEF is helping Roma families continue their children's education.

The European Commission has partnered with UNICEF to set up Child Guarantee pilot programmes in seven countries.

Fanny spoke to some mothers who lived in the Romani settlement of Kuršanec’te and participated in this initiative.

Snježana Oršuš attends a workshop set up in the neighborhood to learn how to better communicate with her children. She also learns child psychology, how to establish a balanced relationship with her children and establish a positive routine.

“I see the change. When my kids are in the workshop, they play, they draw, and they have everything they need. When we get home, they want me to do the same thing, and we're doing it again. When I was a kid, there were arguments between my parents. I told myself that my children would never be able to stand it, and I would take good care of them. "Let them go to school, always be clean." - ”

Snježana Oršuš

Participant of the Roma workshop in Kuršanec’

The pilot program also opened an unofficial training and play area for children aged 3-6. Bojana, who speaks Romance with her children, loves to come here.

_ I bring them to the workshop so that the children can socialize, talk, learn Croatian, because it will be easier for them when they start going to school. I want my kids to have what I can't have, I want them to finish school, I want them to have a job. - ”_

CroatiaOne year of pre-primary education is compulsory in ’, while Roma children only ’u goes to school. This is your participation %It's much less than other Croatian children, where it's 80.

Fanny Gauret also met Andrea Krznar, the pilot program and Child Guarantee field coordinator. He explains the program's goals:

“We strengthen the skills of parents so that they can better communicate with their children. Many parents think that their children are too young to enroll in kindergarten, because there is someone at home who can take care of them, while the other reason is that services are expensive, although there is some funding by the state, perhaps some parents may not be aware of this.”

Andrea Krznar

Field coordinator, EU Child Guarantee

The European Union also finances other programmes for children, especially thanks to the European Social Fund Plus.

One of the ways governments can implement the Child Guarantee is through money from the European Social Fund Plus’ (ESF+). Countries with the highest rates of child poverty must spend at least 5 percent of the funds they receive to tackle the problem.

Benjamin Ignac, an EU policy analyst based in Berlin’, highlights the importance of education and a positive, supportive home environment. He grew up in a Romani settlement like Kuršanec. Benjamin studied at ’nde and Oxford’ in the United States, thanks to the support and scholarships of his family and teachers.

_ the “ It was a chance for my parents and brother to teach me how to read, write and do some basic math. Seeing how society treated the Roma community in general, I realized that my only hope of breaking the system was education and financial freedom. The fact that my teachers helped me navigate my decisions had a huge impact on my life. Therefore, there is a great responsibility for school administrators and teachers in this regard..__ the ”_

One year has passed since the beginning of the Child Guarantee: Where are we?

EU countries are required to submit their action plans on how to implement Child Guarantee ’ in March 2022’.

Euronews asked Eurochild Secretary General Jana Hainsworth how hopeful she is that the ’a Child Guarantee will be fully implemented by national governments.

“, this is a very important turning point. National action plans are still coming. Some are ambitious, some are unambitious, and some are ambitious. - ” ”It says Hainsworth.

**”**Children's guarantee should not remain a commitment on paper. We want to see these national action plans become regularly updated, continuously scrutinized documents.”

The president of Eurochild also called for different segments of society to work together. “Requires co-operation between all the different ministries responsible and, most importantly, requires the participation of people who will deal directly with policies. Therefore, we would like to see the participation of NGO’s, as well as communities, families and children who will receive services.”

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