13.

Social inclusion should accommodate and include all young people and the issues they face, with special emphasis on those with fewer opportunities. The potential of youth work to contribute to policy objectives including social inclusion can be further optimised through a quality-focused and evidence-informed approach which places young people centre-stage in the design and the delivery of youth work provision. This approach supports young people’s participation, development and progression in a way which affirms their strengths, enhances resilience and competences and recognises their potential to build individual, communal and social capital. Quality youth work is a universal theme which benefits young people, improves the practice of youth work, and contributes to broader policy aims. (a) Youth work engages young people during a significant developmental period of their lives, and therefore it is ideally positioned to enhance the development (personal, social, educational, vocational and occupational), well-being and social inclusion of young people. (b) Youth work offers experiences and opportunities for all young people and operates as both an open-access activity and as a targeted support that can enhance the competences of young people while addressing the barriers they encounter, and may have a particular role for young people with fewer opportunities and those young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs). (c) The organisation of youth work is diverse. This richness and diversity (sectoral, organisational and thematic) should be acknowledged. (d) Youth work should have a clearly defined position on the continuum of education and lifelong learning and spanning the areas of non-formal and informal learning. Such a position should acknowledge the potential of youth work in meeting the needs of young people to an even greater extent than at present and value the role of youth work in building an inclusive society. (e) A quality approach informed by evidence can be an important tool to enhance the accessibility, visibility, impact and the effectiveness of youth work policy and provision. (f) Quality youth work may include appropriate assessment systems, based on self-assessment or peer-assessment, and where feasible, validated by external assessment. Such systems assist youth work organisations, programmes and activities, and can improve organisational capacity and effectiveness, and provide clarity to the public regarding the offer and impact of youth work. (g) Quality systems ensure that the voice of young people is central in the design and delivery of youth work that organisations, programmes and activities are responsive and relevant to the needs and aspirations of young people. (h) Quality systems assist youth workers in improving their practice and skills development through creating a structure and space for reflection, dialogue and action. (i) Youth work, through its emphasis on personal and social development, contributes to a range of policy outcomes for young people, most notably in the areas of education and training, health, employment, and participation in culture and sport. While recognising the distinctive functions of youth work, greater emphasis could be placed on identifying the contribution youth work can make to these broader policy areas,