Dear Readers, Dear Friends,
…in reality, Dear Family,
as these days are clearly highlighting the importance of being a Family – we have always been a “Family even though at distance”, but now more than ever, I would like to express my hope that you are all safe.
Our fifth issue comes in a difficult period. We have all been put in an unprecedented situation because of the developments of the coronavirus, and we are aware that this pandemic may jeopardise our projects and create new challenges. The situation calls for reactions to address these challenges, and that is what we are all doing now.
Indeed, I would really like to thank you all for your kind messages and your thoughts: you have quickly reacted to this health crisis and to our invitation for action, and this is why we have decided to dedicate a special section of this new issue to your words.
This common threat, the COVID-19, risks hampering our activity schedule, but your prompt reaction in finding innovative solutions is much appreciated: we applaud them and we are all continuing to deliver our work as far as is reasonably possible, by putting in place all possible preventive measures.
The new scenario created by the spread of the coronavirus disease around the world has reminded us that global threats know no borders, but this is where we all can show the strength of the YE programme. I am sure that resilience and solidarity, along with the other values, will continue to spread among our YE Family of partners, in order to undertake collective responses, thus showing the aim of the Youth Employment Fund itself.
My thoughts, and the thoughts of all my colleagues, considering the escalation of this pandemic in our lives, are with the citizens (not only the projects target groups) living in the many countries in which we are operating. We all have to remain determined and focused, because once we succeed in overcoming this challenging period, we will be called on to contribute to the recovery of our societies. Meanwhile, we will keep on doing our job and pursue our mission to strengthen our interregional dialogue and cooperation initiatives. We are now limited to remote action, and can only support you at distance, but we hope to return soon to face-to-face meetings and a physical presence.
Youth (un)employment, already a persistent global challenge – known especially to our YE Family –, will increasingly lie at the heart of the new international agenda. As the COVID-19 spreads through societies and markets, youth may face an additional potential economic risk. Schools are closed, events and conferences are cancelled, travel is suspended. Increasingly, the threat of this pandemic is influencing our behaviour, imposing a clear “social distance”, and the negative impact on the global market is already explicit. The negative consequences on young workers around the world therefore seem to be more severe than for others. Youth unemployment is not a new challenge, but it cannot be solved immediately. What we will try do to, following the nature and the scope of the Youth Employment Fund, is to support you, our projects, and our involved youth against the shock of the coronavirus, by trying to ensure extra efforts in monitoring the specific situations. What you need to strengthen now is the search for emergency measures, providing access to digital tools and resources, such as for example short-term training/courses, enriching our already existing virtual platform; we will be there to support you in the best way we can.
An increasing number of jobs, worldwide, could be lost due to the coronavirus pandemic, but – in our own small way – we can work to ensure coordinated responses. If everybody does something, the negative impact could be lower. In times of crisis such as this, the only thing we can do is to try to mitigate the damage, keeping alive dialogue and active engagement.
The time we are living in is forcing us to re-think the logic of our normal project activities. We are sure that you will make it, learning from each other.
I am sure that, together, we will overcome this challenging crisis; your projects have the greatest opportunity to show and demonstrate the goal for which they were born.
I invite all of you to read our special pages, dedicated to your messages.
Last but not least, and again, seeking to be positive, I welcome the initiative that you will find here; once again, I invite you to participate actively. It will be “nice to meet you”, as you will understand from reading our fifth issue.
Keep calm, be safe, and stay connected with us.
Gian Luca Bombarda
