At this week’s council meeting on April 25, the deputies approved the developed document “Youth policy guidelines of Bauska county municipality for 2024”. True, during the discussion it turned out that not all parties’ opinions were respected during development.
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At the meeting of the education, culture and sports committee on April 10, Līga Briģe, the head of the youth department of the municipality of Bauska region, informed about the guidelines. Representatives of non-governmental organizations and the young people themselves came to the examination, but they did not pass the examination process to the end and left.
The development of documents started on January 16, 2023. L. Briģe revealed that in the guidelines, the young people of the Bauska region are seen as open, capable, safe and patriots for their region.
About the work done, L. Briģe informed that the necessary opinions had been received. “Research and evaluation of the situation in the youth sector was carried out, forums and surveys were organized, various proposals were collected, strategy development working groups were organized for sector specialists, NGOs and young people. We invited you to express your opinion to the youth council, which presented its proposals,” said L. Briģe.
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However, in the further discussion, the most attention was paid to the discussion about the role of non-governmental organizations in the system, because in the overall structure it appeared that in the associations of Rundāle and Vecumnieku, non-governmental organizations can fulfill the duties of youth worker, but in the associations of Bauska and Iecava, such possibilities were not foreseen.
The associations disagree
Raitis Ābelnieks, head of the education, culture and sports committee, also outlined the claims: “Everything looked beautiful and good in the presentation, but yesterday I received signals from several youth non-governmental organizations that the review of the document did not go as it appears.”
L. Briģe denied what was said: “The non-governmental organizations and the youth council had the same editorial that we showed you, the deputies. The document was open so that proposals and additions could be submitted.»
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On the other hand, the head of the association “Time for Youth” Gints Jankovskis again disagreed with these words: “We only learned yesterday that this document is intended for consideration by the committee. I will disagree that there are only a few editorial changes. There are many inaccuracies that we did not approve in the Advisory Council on Youth Affairs. We said that we will not vote because we are not ready to agree to the document in this form. We waited for clarifications and did not see them. We disagree about the new structure. Why can’t there be a cooperation agreement in Bauska? Why are only Rundāle and Vecumnieki singled out? Where is the principle of equality? Speaking of cooperation, Selīna Bogdane, a member of our organization, is the deputy chairwoman of the youth council, they have not seen the new editorial.
Wrong turn of events
In response, L. Briģe asked for the support of other advisory councils for youth affairs. MP Inita Nagnibeda commented on the situation: «There was one meeting, there were sharp discussions with many proposals. At that time, the majority decided that they could move on to the committees. But knowing that the most knowledgeable in this document are those who work with young people on a daily basis and had more proposals, this document did not go further. There was an offer to supplement, to create an action plan with tasks. I understand that the head of the youth department worked on the document together with the youth council and it has been submitted in this version. I don’t know how the work has progressed, what proposals have been submitted and reviewed. Listening to what one of the youth leaders is saying, the proposals should be included, the plan should be supplemented and clarified. The administrations of Bauska and Iecava could also have cooperation agreements with non-governmental organizations.»
“Renars Manuilovs also wrote that the issue was not discussed. In fact, similar signals have been received from all active youth organizations. I understand that such a course of affairs is not correct, if we look at what has not been discussed with youth organizations,” assessed R. Ābelnieks.
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I don’t see any problems
The deputies’ thoughts turned out to be different. “It should finally be accepted in order to have a “skeleton” to work with and to rely on. You will debate all the claims you have and come to the next meeting, and we will think about changes,” said MP Jānis Kalniņš.
“There are two people in Iecava who work with youth affairs, one in Vecumniekos, two in the department, none in Bauska. We need a person who would work specifically. It does not appear how attention will be paid to young people who are not actively working. We can supplement this document, but I agree with Jānis Kalniņš. I will vote for,” said deputy Juris Krievs.
“0.2 workload for youth workers in parishes is too low. Associations could do this work more effectively, but the document is good. Problems come from within,” MP Jānis Dūminņš shared his thoughts.
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“Youth has a good quality that everyone has a lot of self-confidence, but they have to put their ambitions aside. We organized the work with young people in Ečava well even before that, work is also going on in connection with schools. I don’t see any problems with the strategy. Everyone should try to look in the same direction when working with young people in the name of a common future. The League is in an unenviable situation, I don’t believe that it would not have listened to the proposals, if they can be incorporated into this document,” assessed MP Solveiga Lineja.
Long worked
The representatives of the district management also defended what was done. “We would like to ask you to evaluate the quality of this document also from the point of view that we have been working on it for a very long time. There are people themselves who work in the system, under whose authority are youth workers – managers of associations, heads of departments. I can claim that all parties were involved,” informed Aija Spriņke, head of the Department of Education, Culture, Sports and Public Welfare.
“The first thing I want to say is a big thank you to the creators of the document for their work. Every person, even the young, must surely pass the test of power, money and, in this case, fame. Zero as we were the youth capital, the best city in the entire country, and this has had an impact on the process of preparing this document, the different opinions, which are not inherently wrong. There are these different opinions, you have to try to extract the “square root”. I want to join Jānis Kalniņš and Juris Krievas, that in fact the document should be supported, advanced and improved, including proposals over time, about which discussions have remained,” said Ivars Romanovs, executive director of the Bauska region.
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Pain is completely different
Deputy Mārtiņš Cimmermanis was not thrilled. “In strategy, the directions of action do not correspond to the pain, and the pain is completely different. Such that 40 percent of young people do not associate themselves with Bauska and 30 percent cannot answer for it. I do not see cooperation with educational institutions, with the social service. If young people see that it is a bad region, that they cannot get a profession in the region, that there is nothing to do here, then they leave. We see in the polls that there are youth employment positions, but there is no effect. For now, I would say – go home, agree, come back, everyone agreed!” expressed M. Cimmermanis.
He said that the main tool in this process is stable cooperation with non-governmental organizations, because young people change quickly – a few years pass and they go to universities or start working, but stable non-governmental organizations would be a stable foundation. “If there is no cooperation with stable organizations, then there will always be a “mystical” struggle. It is a tick document, correct, but not ready,” concluded the deputy.
Without ambition
It is true that G. Jankovski had specific critical indications to which there was no answer. “Involvement on a national scale, the number of participants – where is the number? What will we achieve? We are asking for numbers. The document has no ambitions in the field of youth, written after writing. Young people with social problems are completely forgotten. It may include the statement that it covers young people with limited opportunities, but here only with functional disabilities. You write that the shortage is part-time, but in the future vision you again plan for part-time. There are a lot of contradictions in the document”, emphasized G. Jankovskis.
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He emphasized that the biggest problem currently appears in communication. “We are mentioned as one of the best partners, but there is no communication. I do not see how the youth department is capable of cooperating with non-governmental organizations in Bauska county in this style. We try to cooperate, we send proposals, we get “thanks, we’ll consider” responses, which are not feedback. Renars Manuilov has the most such answers. I really hope that the youth department will find time to call us to the table and discuss the issues,” concluded G. Jankovskis.
Photo: Public Relations Department of the Bauska County Council
Tags: Approves Bauskas district youth policy guidelines BauskasDzive .lv
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