Youth and Social Cohesion

The present study aims to present and interpret the findings of a survey carried out for the YEU-International, a nonprofit organization based in Brussels. The survey was meant to assess different aspects related to social cohesion, and was conducted on groups of young people from 16 countries. Among the major findings, we can enumerate the fact that the majority of youngsters have strong ties with their families; they are willing to get involved in civic activities; they have no gender prejudices; they do not trust public institutions; school plays an important role in their learning about human rights; economic prosperity creates a better framework for social cohesion; the most stringent social problems are poverty and access to jobs; the majority of respondents have participated at least once in a non-formal education programme, which mainly improved their communication skills, their interest in social issues and concerns of their community, their team –working skills, their intercultural communication, their organization/planning skills, their decision-making abilities and their confidence/autonomy.