(ANS – Brussels) – On the 15th March 2013, Fr. Fabio Attard, General Councillor for Youth Ministry, attended the Annual General Meeting of Don Bosco International (DBI). This Brussels-based NGO makes representations on behalf of the Salesians of Don Bosco with the European Union and the Council of Europe.

In this way DBI provides a platform for the Salesians at the highest levels of the European Institutions where transnational issues are discussed and policy is formulated, that they may strengthen the voice of the young who are poor, abandoned and in danger.

The mission entrusted to Don Bosco International gives concrete expression to the Rector Major’s reflection that “someone who is really concerned about the educational dimension will try to exert influence though political means, so that it is taken into consideration in all areas: from urbanisation and tourism to sport and to radio-television systems in which very often market criteria prevail” (Strenna 2013).

Don Bosco International provides visibility to the various initiatives of the Salesian Provinces in Europe. Like all the organisations in the Salesian network the world over, DBI sets out to serve, defend and advocate with and for young people, in particular those who are poor, at risk or disadvantaged, securing their rights to care, protection and a holistic education while actively addressing issues of poverty, social exclusion and discrimination by promoting children’s rights and the integral development of the human person.

Among the items on this year’s Agenda were the different avenues via which the Salesian charism, through its various cultural and educational expressions in Europe today, can engage with the relevant themes that are currently preoccupying the European Union and at the United Nations in Geneva. Such themes include strategies for rethinking education and supporting young people (such as the Youth Guarantee initiative), as well as action to influence ways of managing the impact that pressures exacerbated by the current financial crisis are having on the social fabric in Europe (such as through the European Sunday Alliance).

Being part of a network of Salesian partners present in 14 EU Member States, Don Bosco International represents the work done by the Salesians in 406 educational centres serving 182,500 young people in formal education and countless other youths within the various structures set up for the young people’s benefit. 

Mindful of the huge range of work going on in the provinces, Don Bosco International wishes in particular to appeal to all Salesians working, at local level, with migrants and other young people who are in many ways excluded from the mainstream of society, to help DBI in its action of advocacy on their behalf, trusting that Don Bosco himself would have wished for nothing less.

Published 28/03/2013