A WORLD MADE FOR – OR BY – A WORLD MADE FOR – OR BY – YOUNG PEOPLE?YOUNG PEOPLE?

Sari Baldauf3.10.2006

Ritarihuone, Helsinki

Agenda

• Finland and Europe; trends and challenges

• The Finnish Children and Youth Foundation

• Some facts about youth environment in Finland

• Setting the scene for today  

• Focal area in preventative children- and youth work; act before difficulties or complications emerge

• Specialized in Corporate Social Responsibility–programs. Among partners: Nokia, Fortum, Elcoteq, Pfizer, Veritas-Group, Metso, UPM-Kymmene, TVO, Wärtsilä

• Zest - a life skills program in Finland

• Heroes of the Kalevala - aimed to change the motivational behavior of at-risk youth, especially those from families dealing with severe poverty and alcoholism, Russian Karelia

• Hope – aims to strengthen and expand the educational opportunities of adolescent Indian girls who face significant obstacles due to poverty and cultural barriers

• Computer club - mathematics and computer science for girls and children from low-income or rural families in Petrozavodsk, Russian Karelia

• Smartmove - small grants aiming at encouraging physical education for secondary school students in Finland

• Support to after school clubs for primary school children on 23 locations in Finland

• Support to marginalized youth, actions against drugs, strengthening of wellbeing and prevention of mental disorders

The Finnish Children and Youth Foundation

Major Activities in Finland• The Zest - program, a life skills program for students in secondary

schools• Immigrants Project: an awareness campaign to secondary school

students to increase acceptance of otherness, diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance

International Activities• Adjacent areas: Karelian Child program supports projects aimed

at improving the lives of children and youth in the Republic of Karelia and Vyborg Region in Russia (over 30 projects)

• Internationally: structuring and/or funding of programs aimed at improving the lives of children and youth in developing and emerging countries

The Finnish Children and Youth Foundation

Albeit Finland often fares as the best in classbench mark – eg education – there are issues:

• Over 40 000 adolescents (15-24) unemployed and not attending further vocational training

• Among those receiving social maintenance grants, young people are overrepresented and account for 20%

• About 60 000 children come under the non-institutional social care

• About 15 000 children cannot live at their homes, but are placed elsewhere (2-5% annual growth)

• 13% of teenagers attending school feel sad, down or truly depressed

Stakes/ Statistics Finland

For discussion today

• Why is it that the share of young people not working is growing?

• Why is it that many young people don’t find it motivating to participate in deciding about common matters?

• Why is it that many young people have hard time finding purpose and optimism in their lives while our standard of living is higher than ever?

• How will Finland cope if our ‘ethos’ of good education for all, value of work, responsibility, active engagement degrades?

• How will these trends affect our future?

Thank you – and in anticipation of

intense and interesting

discussions!