This year’s Regional Conference is taking place two years after the Regional Conference in Georgia, which was revolutionary for the Caritas Europa youth movement. It was there that member organisations’ directors met with young volunteers and youth staff to discuss the meaning of youth engagement for Caritas’ future. And we all agreed that without young people we cannot move forward.

Young people bring new fire into our work and make possible things that are not possible without them. We see this even more clearly now during the coronavirus crisis: we need new and innovative ways of working, and young people can propose them; many of us belong to the risk groups and have had to withdraw from activism, leaving a hole that only young people can fill. We are very grateful and want to continue creating attractive opportunities for them to engage.

During the Regional Conference in Georgia, we worked on recommendations and means for enlarging the youth movement in our network. Today, supported by the experience and expertise of the Young Caritas Task Force members, we are working on the implementation of those measures and  taking the next step: making the movement visible on the Internet.

We are launching a Young Caritas Europa section on the Caritas Europa website. There member organisations can find good practices and news on the youth engagement movement in our network. We are also starting a Young Caritas Europa Facebook profile to give member organisations a platform for sharing their everyday work with young people. And to support these and future visibility actions, we have created a logo to give the movement its own visual identity and to make it recognisable throughout Europe.

We take this opportunity to invite all member organisations to contribute! Do you have a good practice to share? Do you want to show your young volunteers in action? Don’t hesitate to contact us, send an article, photos, films or any other resources that present youth engagement in your organisation.

But most of all, be sure to visit us online and to share these resources with your colleagues. Let’s celebrate together the power of young people serving humanity and acting for a more just world.