Inclusion and diversity

One of the aims of the European Erasmus+ Youth and Sport and European Solidarity Corps programmes is to promote social inclusion by facilitating the participation of young people with fewer opportunities in both programmes.  

Youth with fewer opportunities are those who need additional support because they are at a disadvantage due to various exclusion factors (such as disability, health problems, educational difficulties, cultural differences or economic, social or geographical obstacles, among others).

In response to the need to provide specific responses to the obstacles faced by young people in vulnerable situations in order to participate in European mobility programmes and youth projects, the European Commission adopted the document "Erasmus+ European Inclusion and Diversity Strategy and European Solidarity Corps (2021-2027). Implementation guidelines". The European Commission has thus urged National Agencies in the different Member States to develop a National Strategy on Inclusion and Diversity in the ESC and Erasmus+ programmes.

In Spain, the Strategy has been designed through a participatory process that has involved all the key actors of the programmes: the Spanish National Agency (ANE), composed of the Youth Institute (Injuve), the youth bodies of the autonomous communities and cities and the Spanish Youth Council; third sector organisations and entities and young beneficiaries of the programmes. The process has included surveys and focus groups with young people with fewer opportunities and beneficiaries of both programmes.

This Strategy aims to directly benefit groups and collectives of young people who experience greater difficulties in accessing certain opportunities and who face multiple types of discrimination: young people at risk of social exclusion and with economic needs, young people with educational and training difficulties, young women and mothers, LGBTIQ+ young people, young people with a migrant background, young people from diverse ethnic or racial backgrounds and young people from rural territories. The focus will be on each group on a biannual basis, deploying specific measures to encourage and facilitate the participation of these groups in the opportunities offered by the two programmes.