YOUTH MAINSTREAMING TRAINING
TRAINING KIT
Section for Youth
Bureau of Strategic Planning
UNESCO
Paris
April 2006
Contents
INTRODUCTION
Module 1: Young people: moving from a negative image towards a positive approach Module 2: UNESCO’s strategy of action with and for youth
Module 3: What is youth mainstreaming?
Module 4: What role do youth focal points play?
Module 5: From theory to action: examples of best practice
Module 6: Tools and resources
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
Youth mainstreaming, defined as the integration of young people’s needs and contributions in all stages of planning, implementation and evaluation of UNESCO’s programmes and activities, is now a central component of our Organization. However, in order to efficiently address the nature and scope of this exercise, it is necessary to increase staff’s capacities in this field. This training is offered in response to a request by the Executive Board, endorsed by the 33rd session of the General Conference emphasizing the critical role of a wider involvement of youth in program development and implementation.
The following training kit will allow UNESCO staff working on youth-related issues to improve their knowledge pertaining to the modalities and mechanisms of youth mainstreaming and will ultimately contribute to increasing UNESCO’s activities with and for young people. The training kit is based on six distinct modules: 1) Young people: moving from a negative image towards a positive approach 2) UNESCO’s strategy of action with and for youth 3) What is youth mainstreaming? 4) What role do youth focal points play? 5) From theory to action: examples of best practices and 6) Tools and resources
This training kit is not to be considered a finalized document but rather a work-in-progress. As it will benefit much from your specific experience and knowledge, we invite you to share any comments you may have with the Section for Youth ().
DID you know? Youth are defined by the United Nations as between the ages of 15 to 24References:
UNESCO, Executive Board, 171st, 2005, Decisions adopted by the Executive Board at its 171st session, Paris, 12-28 April 2005
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001395/139515e.pdf
UNESCO, 2005, Approved Programme and Budget 2006-2007, 33 C/5
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001449/144964e.pdf
MODULE 1
Young people: moving from a negative image towards a positive approach
This module presents a brief overview of the global situation of young people today and advances a positive approach towards youth
Young people today – and tomorrow
Based on the United Nations definition of youth (15 to 24 years old), there are about 1.2. billion young people living in the world today, which is almost 20 % of the world’s total population. The next generation of young people, those aged below 15 years old today, will amount to 1.8 billion individuals (UN, 2005, p.iii). Just from the sheer size of this age cohort, it is clear that youth must be placed at the centre of all development efforts. The table below highlights the regional distribution of young people: nearly 85% of today’s youth live in the developing world. Despite the process of rapid urbanization, the majority of youth continue to live in the rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South-East Asia and Oceania.
Table 1. Regional distribution of youth, 2000 (in millions)
/ Total population / Youth as % of total / Youth(15-24) / % of world youth total /Asia / 3,672 / 17.8% / 654 / 61.5%
Africa / 793 / 20.3% / 161 / 15.1%
Europe / 727 / 13.8% / 100 / 9.4%
Latin America & the Caribbean / 519 / 19.5% / 101 / 9.5%
Northern America / 314 / 13.5% / 42 / 4.0%
Oceania / 31 / 15.6% / 5 / 0.5%
Total / 6,056 / 17.6% / 1,063 / 100.0%
Source: Youth at the United Nations, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/qanda.htm
Defining ‘youth’ is not an easy or straightforward task. Whereas the UN definition provides a general framework, the conceptualization of youth is conditioned by national and socio-cultural contexts and therefore requires a certain operational flexibility. Generally speaking, ‘youth’ is best understood as a transitional phase when a person moves from a time of dependence (childhood) to independence (adulthood) (UN, 2005, p.23). Richard Curtain e.g. identifies four distinct aspects of this move (UN World Youth Report 2003):
· Leaving the parental home and establishing new living arrangements;
· Completing full-time education;
· Forming close, stable personal relationships outside of the family, often resulting in marriage and children; and
· Testing the labor market, finding work and possibly settling into a career, and achieving a more or less sustainable livelihood.[1]
However, young people are not a homogenous group. The experience of youth and the degree of exposure to certain risks is diverse, depending on one’s sex, place of residence, socio-cultural context, economic circumstances and marital status. As examples, we will look at four important issues for young people, i.e. education, poverty, HIV/AIDS and violence.
Education
Since 1995, the number of young people in school has continued to rise, making today’s young generation the best educated in history. However, there are still 113 million children who do not go to school and 130 million young people are illiterate (UNESCO, 2000, p. 31). As shown in the table below, the rate of illiteracy among young people living in developing countries and the least developed countries is relatively high and it is even more pronounced for girls and young women.
Table 2. Illiteracy rates among young people (2000)
Region Illiteracy rates of young people (15-24 years)
Both sexes Men Women Gender gap
World total 13 10 17 7
Developed regions ª 0,3 0,3 0,3 0,1
Less developed regions 16 12 20 0,0
Least developed countries 35 27 42 8
Sub-Saharan Africa 24 19 29 10
Arab States and North Africa 24 17 31 15
Latin America and the Caribbean 5 5 5 -1
East Asia and Oceania 3 2 4 2
South and West Asia 30 23 39 16
ª Including countries with economies in transition
Source: United Nations, 2003, p.15
Source of data: UNESCO Institute of Statistics, Estimates and projections of youth and adult illiteracy:
July 2002 assessment, accessed 8 January 2003 (http://portal.unesco.org).
At the same time, access to and retention in secondary education is a major challenge. In Brazil for example, several international studies show that a young person needs to accomplish 11 to 12 years of formal schooling in order to gain access to the formal labor market and to a position which would allow him or her to escape poverty (Werthein, 2006). Despite an increase in net enrolment rates from 56% to 78% over the past decade, secondary education often lacks in quality and fails to transmit the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate the school-to-work transition (UN 2005, p. 13-14).
Youth in poverty
Based on estimations made in 2002, 209 million young people live on less than US$ 1 a day, i.e. 18 % of all young people. In addition, 515 million youth (36% of all young people make do with less than US$ 2 per day. Unemployment is a major contributing factor to poverty among young people. According to the annual ILO report, about half of all unemployed people are between 15 and 24 years old. This statistic is very disconcerting given the fact that youth constitute only 25% of the working age population and have a three times higher risk than adults of becoming or remaining unemployed (ILO, 2006, p.2).
Table 3. Regional estimate of young people living in extreme poverty (2002),
in millions
Region / Number of young people living on less than US$ 1 per day / Numbers of young people living on less than US$ 2 per daySouth Asia / 84,1 / 206,1
East Asia and the Pacific / 46,5 / 150,5
Sub-Saharan Africa / 60,7 / 102,1
Latin America and the Caribbean / 11,1 / 27,2
Europe and Central Asia / 4,1 / 18,2
Middle East and North Africa / 2,0 / 12,1
TOTAL* / 208,6 / 515,1
* Totals may not add precisely due to rounding
Source: UN World Youth Report 2005, 2005, p.32.
HIV/AIDS
Today, it is women and young people who are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. 11. 8 million youth are HIV positive, which means one in four of all people living with HIV is a young person (UNICEF, ONUSIDA and WHO, 2002, p.6). What is more, 6,000 young people become infected with the virus every day, accounting for half of all new infections. Sub-Saharan Africa (with 63% of all HIV positive youth) and Asia and the Pacific (with 21% of all HIV positive youth) are the two regions with the highest prevalence of HIV among young people. In Europe and Central Asia, more than 80% of people living with HIV are younger than 30 years (see Graphic 1).
In general terms, girls and young women are hit particularly hard: their risk of contracting the virus is 1.6 times higher than that of young men and one out of three women living with HIV is between 15 and 24 years old. In Sub-Saharan Africa, young women constitute 76% of all people living with HIV. This share attains 70% in the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa.
Graphic1.
Violence
Violence in its manifold forms and expressions concerns many young women and men. For example, 2 million children and young people have died in armed conflicts over the past decade and more than 5 million have become disabled. At present, about 300,000 young soldiers are actively involved in armed conflict. Again, it is young women who bear the brunt of wars and civil strife due to their subordinated position in many societies (UN World Youth Report 2005, p. 156). Young people are also hit harder by urban violence, in particular by homicides (Waiselfisz, 2004, p.65-67). Despite this fact, young people are not only victims of violence but equally are perpetrators. As a matter of fact, offenders of violence are often of the same sex and age as their victims.
From a negative image…
In most of our societies, young people are associated with negative behaviour, while discriminatory images of youth are disseminated by mass media and public opinion. In many countries, ‘youth’ is associated with delinquency, gangs, public disorder, civil strife as well as drug and alcohol abuse. Contrary to such negative and biased visions of young people as a vulnerable group ‘at risk,’ young people can and want to participate in all aspects of society! Their commitment and active involvement in many voluntary organizations is the best example.
Towards a positive approach
Young people are a rich and dynamic force with distinct visions in line with this specific phase and formative stage of life. However, precarious living conditions such as unemployment, exclusion and poverty may threaten their potential to lead healthy and productive lives. Therefore, it is essential that young people be able to build the capacities that foster their active involvement in society and alleviate the risk of becoming disillusioned and prone to destructive behaviour. Thus, young people need to be enabled with the kinds of opportunities and skills which will support their empowerment and allow them to become full and equal partners. Whereas it is clear that the problems of young people cannot be ignored, changing our image of and approach towards youth is crucial!
‘We are not only the future, but also the present!’
As young people constitute an age group capable of making informed decisions and assuming social responsibilities, we cannot relegate their contribution to an uncertain future. It is necessary to put an end to the notion that young people will one day inherit the earth. Rather, it is now and today that they have their role to play in the construction of their societies and communities. It is within their rights that youth demand to be heard and their say must be taken into account. Consulting young people on the major issues concerning their lives is not sufficient in this regard: young people are capable of formulating substantial critiques and devising creative solutions to the manifold problems surrounding them.
The need for action now!
In the light of young people’s enormous potential to be of service to development processes, it is urgent to take action now. Even though it may still be possible to reach the MDGs by the year 2015, we are far off track for many of the goals. Scaling up investments in youth and promoting the replication of youth-led initiatives in concert with the MDGs pledged by many countries around the world, is key to achieving the goals (Youth and the MDGs – Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation).
Developing multiple spaces for youth participation and facilitating their active involvement in decision-making processes at all levels is a necessity in order to achieve this objective.
Key points to remember1. Young people have specific needs and aspirations and constitute an enormous potential for social development 2. We need to promote a more positive image of ‘youth’ 3. Young people do want to participate. Their involvement is key to all development efforts and to the creation of just and democratic societies.
References: