News

Ruane commends YouthAction success

Education Minister, Caitriona Ruane, has commended local voluntary organisation YouthAction for its success in supporting and empowering marginalised young women across the north.

The Minister launched two evaluation reports in Parliament Buildings today. The reports demonstrate the achievements of YouthAction in working with women who identify themselves as other than heterosexual and with young mothers who are not active in the community or employment.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister said: The transition into adulthood can be an exciting and challenging time. Young women who have additional issues to deal with such as becoming a young mother or discovering a sexual identity other than heterosexual, can face significant barriers to learning and achieving their aims in life.

A sizeable proportion of these young women also come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, something which only compounds the difficulty. I am committed to tackling these inequalities of opportunity and promoting access to learning, development and wellbeing services for young women in these circumstances.

The rights of women facing these challenges are protected in Section 75 of the NI Act, which asserts and reinforces the right to equality regardless of sexual orientation. It is important that we uphold these rights, and YouthAction is helping to achieve this.&rdquo

With funding from the Department, via the Youth Council, YouthAction delivers support programmes to help women in these situations with activities including accredited training programmes, emotional counselling and the establishment of valuable social networks.

The Minister continued: These reports clearly show the high degree of success that YouthAction has achieved in helping young women overcome obstacles to their own self-advancement.

These women have been supported to build their self-esteem, develop meaningful friendships and acquire useful new skills which enable them to engage in society and work towards achieving their personal life aspirations.

I commend YouthAction for its commitment and enthusiasm in providing this support. Indeed the organisation&rsquos inclusive and constructive methods are so successful that they can be seen as a model of good practice with the potential to influence policy in the area.&rdquo

Ms Ruane concluded: YouthAction's approach has helped change many lives for the better and I hope to hear of many more success stories in the future.&rdquo

Notes to editors:
1. The Letting Me Be Me report evaluates the Out and About model of youth work with young women who identify as other than heterosexual.
2. The Moving On report evaluates a targeted youth work programme for young mothers aged 18-25 who are not active in the community or employment life.
3. The reports are available for download on the YouthAction website.
4. YouthAction is also funded through the Diana Fund and the Children's Fund of the DHSSPS.
5. Media queries to the Department of Education Press Office on 028 9127 9207. Out of office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.