On June 4 and 5, in Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve, the 18th edition of the National Meeting of Youth Associations (ENAJ) took place, the largest event of youth and association leaders in Portugal.
The meeting, promoted by the National Federation of Youth Associations (FNAJ), aimed to promote reflection and debate on youth participation in the 21st Century, along with the causes, priorities and emancipation of the new generations, thus contributing to the construction of more and better local, national and European Youth policies.
Organized at various times, including workshops, debates, Show Cases and outdoor activities, this edition of ENAJ counted on the participation of AIDGLOBAL, whose intervention took place in the "Associative Radar", a moment whose purpose was the sharing of good practices related to associativism. In the context of the debate, the Organization, represented by the Junior Project Technician, Maria Pacheco, presented the Study “Different Forms of Political Participation for Development”, carried out within the scope of the Project “Youth in Politics – Participate for Global Citizenship (2nd Ed.)” by the researcher Filipe Fernandes, under the guidance of Professors Clara Carvalho and Antónia Barreto, from the International Studies Center of Iscte-IUL, the project's partner entity. The research aimed to identify the factors that encourage young people to participate actively in the political sphere and understand whether these motivations are in line with the themes of Global Citizenship and Development, taking into account the use of digital means as a tool for political participation.
The initiative, which brought together about 800young people and leaders of the associative fabric, was also attended by António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, Inna Ohnivets, Ambassador of Ukraine to Portugal, Marisa Matias, Member of the European Parliament, Dino d´Santiago, musician, and Gueri Lopes, a Guinean activist from the UN.
The project "Youth in Politics – Participate for Global Citizenship (2nd Edition)" is promoted by AIDGLOBAL, co-financed by Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, i.p. and has as partners the National Youth Council (Cnj), National Federation of Youth Associations (FNAJ), Dypall Network, International Studies Center – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ), Lisbon Youth Center (CJL), and the Municipality of Santarém.
