Include Youth

31 March 2009

Include Youth welcomes the publication of the Rural Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Framework and is pleased to have the opportunity to make this response.

We believe now more than ever there needs to be a concerted effort to address the level and extent of poverty in NI. We work with young people who know what it is like to feel excluded and marginalised. These young people have often had the poorest start in life and the fewest rights and their behaviour also poses our society with the most challenges.  We would contend that DARD in their attempt to address rural poverty and social exclusion must include the targeting of the most marginalised of young people. Not to do so will result in problems for the future as children and young people will feel they are being abandoned by the communities in which they have grown up. We hope that any future strategy will make children and young people more visible, realising that if our young people are to be the future custodians of rural life, they require an investment in their lives now.

Policy Issue Document (PDF - 92kb)