The Twelfth Continental Meeting of the VIA Don Bosco Programme was held at the Bethany Centre in Quito. It was attended by more than 25 representatives from Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador, Central America and Ecuador, who met to discuss networking and synergy between the partner countries; operational and strategic partners; school enterprises and support for young entrepreneurs.
The meeting began with a presentation by Fr Francisco Sanchez, SDB, Director of the Proyecto Salesian Foundation. This was followed by a presentation entitled: "Young people in vulnerable situations and their employability: regional and national contexts."
During the day other issues relating to the project were discussed such as education to human rights and the rights-based approach to strategic planning; carrying out the Salesian mission in the VIA Don Bosco Programme; school-enterprises; support for young entrepreneurs in vocational training centres; networking and synergy of the member countries of the programme with other sectors.
At the end of the meeting the new programme for 2017-2021 was presented by Tine Limet from VIA Don Bosco in Belgium. No doubt, these meetings will help not only to raise awareness on the situation of young people, but also to contribute with clear proposals to benefit thousands of young people in vulnerable situations.