Youth living in Gozo : their hopes for a healthy future

Abstract

We normally associate the Maltese economy with all productive activities proposed by policy makers in our country. This has prompted my research to explore the insight of youth living in Gozo towards the central and local administrative role and the economic system. Through a series of questionnaires, interviews and group discussions the findings of this study shed light on the strong belief of young persons towards a constant society. The roles taken by Central and Local Administration definitely influence young persons. Some major characteristics are the importance of employment opportunities, foreign policy, health, and social services. A social feature regarding Local Administration is the importance of communication skills and the environment. Consequent to this, youth consider that social justice, tourism and education are the main contributors for a healthy economy. Research results indicate that youth are full of energy, have great potentials and affront social changes. However, young persons are assigned limited roles within the community. To this effect young persons have presented recommendations to assist in this process at meeting challenges in the adult world.