I was in Riga the day Latvia beat Turkey at home: the same day Wales drew away to Russia, but failed to capitalise on that success a few days later in the return leg. The Latvian Youth Council was holding a seminar on the development of youth policy and the establishment of a youth law.
It hopes a law will secure a stronger footing for more robust and diverse youth policy. Throughout the debate, the parallels and contrasts with Wales were striking. The population of young people is pretty much the same (around 500,000). The political and administrative structures are similar, with a specific youth policy department within the central government and 26 municipalities - compared with Wales' 22 local authorities. The youth policy challenges are also similar: school inclusion, training and labour market opportunities, youth offending and substance misuse.
But, and this is the crunch, the resources available are minimal. The Welsh Assembly Government has a State budget of around 12bn; Latvia's is 1bn. And the slice of Latvia's much smaller cake allocated to youth issues is even proportionately dramatically smaller. Youth organisations such as the Scouts and the Young Farmers receive the princely total sum of 6,000. In Wales, some 15 youth organisations get a share of just over 700,000, which is double the allocation of a couple of years ago and reflects the Welsh Assembly Government's commitment to the voluntary youth sector. Even pro rata, it is 10 times more than Latvia. And the State Initiatives Centre in Latvia is rather narrowly focused on organised leisure provision for young people. It can do little more, although the Latvia Youth Council is keen that it should place more emphasis on youth participation. Those within the youth council do not get paid, except when they have secured special project money.
This is a salutary tale of two countries, both of which will soon be supposedly on the level playing field of the EU. It is not, of course, level. But for young people in particular, the position is especially uneven. Latvia may have punched above its weight at football, as Wales had also hoped to do, but it has few possibilities to do so for its young people. When we complain about a lack of resources, we should also appreciate a little more just what we do have at our disposal to make a difference.
Howard Williamson is vice-chair of the Wales Youth Agency and a member of the Youth Justice Board howard.williamson@haynet.com.
