Experiences and Lessons DRAFT 2-9-12

REPORT 3: EXPERIENCES
AND LESSONS
EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS
FROM THE URBAN YOUTH FUND
GRANTEES IN AFRICA AND ASIA
III
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 01
SECTION 2: BACKGROUND: THE YOUTH BULGE SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY OF
THE MOBILE ICT REVOLUTION 03
Youth: Champions of ICT 04
The Mobile Revolution 07
Narrowband Social Networking for Mobile Participation 09
SECTION 3: METHODS, DATA AND CASES 12
Governance and Pillars 13
Towards a Typology of the Youth Dimension of ICT-Enabled Governance Directionality of Impact 14
SECTION 4: FINDINGS IN EIGHT AREAS 16
1. ICT Impact on Outcomes
for Youth 16
2. Balancing Inclusiveness & Responsiveness when Using Technology 17
3. Public Openness through Technology 20
4. Engaging Young Citizens as Partners in Urban Governance 20
5. Capacity & Leadership 22
6. Level of Government 24
7. Technology 25
8. Additional Considerations 27
SECTION 5: CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 28
APPENDIX I: SELECTED CASE WRITE UPS 32
1. Khanyisa Youth Network, South Africa 32
2. Tanzania Development Forum for Youth, Tanzania 33
3. Map Kibera, Kenya 33
4. Palestinian Friendship Center for Development, Gaza 34
5. ICT Media Center and Internship Program, Surabaya, Indonesia 35
6. Kigali, Rwanda 36
7. Democratic Youth Foundation, Yemen 39
APPENDIX II: LIST OF INTERVIEWEES 40
REFERENCES: CITED OR CONSULTED 41
IV
EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS FROM THE
URBAN YOUTH FUND GRANTEES IN AFRICA AND ASIA
FOREWORD
is report is the third volume the Global Youth-
Led Development Series, a collection of themed
papers created to expand the knowledge in the area
of youth-led development. Youth-led development
(YLD) is a term rst popularized by organizations
such as Peacechild International to reect a faith in
the power of young people to contribute construc-
tively to the good of society.
1
YLD places youth at
the centre of their own and their communities de-
velopment, moving youth from passive receptors of
development, to agents of positive change.
Building on Peacechilds denition, UN-Habitat
in 2005 published a report leading up to the World
Urban Forum in Vancouver, which looked at YLD
as practiced by youth-led agencies.
2
is report was a
critical step in building an evidentiary base for YLD,
as it focused on self-organized youth, and explored
how these YLD agencies can become more than the
sum of their parts through collective action. e re-
ports conclusions became part of the basis for UN-
Habitats development of new YLD programmes,
supported by the Government of Norway. In 2007,
UN-Habitat convened representatives from its four
One Stop Resource Youth Resource Centres based
in East Africa to identify principles and promising
practices for YLD. From this meeting a series of
training manuals was developed for the One Stop
Centres based on those principles.
UN-Habitat continued to develop innovative
YLD programmes with the launching of the Urban
Youth Fund in 2008. e Fund, one of the rst of
its kind, was created to support youth-led initiatives
globally.
1 Woolcombe, D. (year?). Youth-Led Development Empow-
ering Youth To Make Poverty History.
2 Ragan, D. (year?). Child and Youth Friendly City Dialogue
paper
To inform the fund a number of research projects
were undertaken, further exploring the role of
youth-led agencies in development. Informed by
earlier ndings from a web-based survey of youth-
led development initiatives, additional research was
conducted on the organizational context, function-
ing, and capacity or youth-led initiatives, by analyz-
ing the Urban Youth Fund applicant organizations
and grantees from 2011 and 2012. is report fo-
cuses on the results of that analysis, and suggests
some new directions for both research and practical
support for YLD.
Together, the Global Youth Led Development
series of papers forms a mosaic that sheds light on
how youth are positively impacting their commu-
nity. is report series emphasizes how youth can be
assets to their communities, and how local, national
and international governments can both engage and
support youth and youth-led initiatives. Research
for each paper in the series draws on the most cut-
ting edge research in this newly acknowledged area
of youth development. Lessons from this series pro-
vide a knowledge base from which youth and those
interested in working with youth can develop pro-
grammes and policies that assure youths meaningful
engagement in community development. e Series
seeks to demonstrate the complexities of youth-led
development, while as well inspiring people to ac-
tion. In the end, this series aims to contribute new
insights to the emerging global dialogue on youth-
led development.
V
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
is report presents preliminary ndings from
14 Urban Youth Fund grantees from Africa and
Asia and the Pacic region. e grantees include 8
youth-led organizations from Africa and 6 grantees
from the Asia and Pacic. e report was compiled
to provide basic guidance to the Urban Youth Fund
program and to share experiences, lessons and rec-
ommendations through the Global Youth Help
Desk and the Global Youth Research Network.
Assessment of the Urban Youth Fund grantees
presented in this report is guided by the following
research questions:
t In what ways do the urban youth fund bene-
ciaries access working space or urban land for
livelihood activities? What is the role of the Ur-
ban Youth Fund in facilitating young peoples
access to urban land for employment if any-
thing?
t To what extent is the Urban Youth Fund gen-
erating decent and sustainable jobs for urban
youth?
t What, if anything, is the role of the Urban
Youth Fund in generating and strengthening lo-
cal partnerships and capacity building for urban
youth employment creation?
I conducted virtual interviews with project co-
ordinators through Skype to gather experiences
from organizations whose projects are reported
here. Some background information was also gath-
ered from websites in cases where the grantee has a
functioning website. e report summarizes experi-
ences from the following organizations: Community
Youth Mobilization (Zambia); Endurance Youth
Association (Ethiopia); Youth Action International-
Uganda; Tears Group Kenya; Friends of the Habitat
(Nigeria); Youth Partnership for Peace and Devel-
opment (Sierra Leone); Concerned Youth Organi-
zation (Malawi); Tanzania Development Forum for
Youth; Team for Nature and Wildlife (Nepal); Par-
ticipatory Development Initiatives (Pakistan); Sindh
Community Foundation (Pakistan); Youth Entre-
preneurs and Sustainability Education (Vietnam)
and Aware Girls (Pakistan).
VI
01
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
CASE STUDY 1:
COMMUNITY YOUTH
EMPOWERMENT PROJECT,
ZAMBIA
Ac furorarbis occhus rei egit, corid
pos se num tandin se nont.
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Making a Dierence in the
Life of Youth
Abisheck Musonda & Tizai Mauto
Skills Training Gave us a New Beginning
GROWING up in a shanty compound in Afri-
ca does not often provide opportunities for better
future living for many youths. Life in shanty com-
pounds is dicult and, without education, many
youths turn to vices such as alcohol and drug abuse.
With unemployment levels reaching a new peak
in Zambia, many youths are nding it extremely dif-
cult to cope when they enter the employment age.
However, the situation is di er en t for J er
emi ah Chirwa and Michael Chisanga, aged 23 and
22 years respectively. Both coming from poor fami-
lies in Kawama co mpound in Kabwe district,
Jeremiah and Michael did not hesitate to enroll for
a skills training program conducted by Community
Youth Mobilization (CYM) under its Community
Youth Empowerment Project (C-YEP), when an-
other round of training was advertised in their
community. We just wanted to try something be-
cause there was nothing we were doing, said Jer-
emiah. e two were among the 20 member group
that was recently trained in carpentry under C-YEP.
About the C-YEP
COMMUNITY Youth Empowerment Project (C-YEP) isa project
of Community Youth Mobilization (CYM) that empowers
young people with skills and oers small nancial credits to
help improve the small businesses of young people working
their way out of poverty.
C-YEP has, so far, helped hundreds of male and female youths
to start their own businesses and/or found employment after
successful entrepreneurship skills training.
In just a few years, C-YEP has grown into a sustainable project
in three districts. The demand for the project means that its
expansion is far from over.
Contact Information:
Community Youth Mobilization
P.O. Box 81111, Kabwe
Zambia
Tel: + 260224188
Email: cym@mail.zamtel.zm;
cymzambia@yahoo.com
Website: http://cym.20m.com/
02
Following training, C-YEP formed four business
groups and empowered them with tool kits and start
up capital for carpentry businesses. It was good
to work in groups, explained Michael. C-YEP
had taught us how to run a business so we had no
problems. Jeremiah said, however, that he and Mi-
chael requested to pull out of the group and take
on another kind of business in carpentry. We were
not making enough money doing carpentry bench
works only..customers were also not very easy to
nd, said Michael. Jeremiah and Michael then de-
cided to form a group of two and took ad-
vantage of the booming construction industry in
Zambia to start constructing roofs on newly built
houses. We are now making very good money. I
have even managed to buy a small plot to build my
own small house, Jeremiah narrated. Michael said
his younger sister is back in school as he can now
manage to pay for her school requirements. Life has
greatly changed for us.that skills training gave us
a new beginning in life, they said. e two make as
much as US$500 to roof a medium house in Kabwe
district.
Jeremiah and Michael, who have created their em-
ployment following the C-YEP skills training pro-
gram, plan to start their own skills training program
for other youths living in vulnerable communities.
Improving Small Businesses.
creating employment
Gershom Mwale
A force behind Gemm General
PRINTING business still enjoys a lot of market
in Kabwe. Many business houses trek down to
Lusaka for all their printing jobs. However, this
will soon be a thing of the past.
A young local entrepreneur Gershom Mwale has
stepped in to provide printing needs for business
owners in the town after accessing support funds
visit CYM for entrepreneurship support funds,
he said, adding that his business is now doing very
well.
Gershom started his business with a small print-
ing machine but after realizing how big the printing
market was in Kabwe, he quickly approached CYM
to apply for support funds. I wanted to buy
a big color used to take all these orders to Lusaka
and that was costly. Now l can do everything at
once here in Kabwe, Gershom explained. e new
machine has now helped to cut down on costs of
doing his business as Gershom
Gershom Mwale
from CYM. As soon as l heard about the
Community Youth Empowerment Project (C-YEP)
I never hesitated to printer for my business in Ka-
bwe. I had a lot of printing orders but was unable to
service them all, he narrated. I no longer travels
to Lusaka for his printing jobs.
You dont know how much your support funds
have helped turn around my business.what
youre doing with empowerment funds is a very
good idea.now my business has increased by over
50% in just ve months. I even have two employees
now, he said.
03
FOREWORD
Come, See How My Business Has
Grown!
CYMs Community Youth Empowerment Pro-
ject (C-YEP) is changing the small businesses of the
youths accessing it.
22-year old Paxina Chimfwembe is a beneciary
of the Entrepreneurship Support Fund (ESF) which
she used to grow her small salon business. Paxinas
business is located in Kamushanga compound in
Kabwe, 7km north of Kabwe Business Centre. Ka-
mushanga has a population of over 4,000, the ma-
jority of whom are unemployed youth.
She started her business in 2008 after all eorts
to get to college failed. Im the 8th in a family
of 9 children. After completing high school l desired
to enter college but my mother couldnt aord, she
said.
However, this was not the end of the road for
Paxina who still has ambitions to go to college. My
mother gave me some little money and l used it to
start a small salon to raise money for my college,
she explained.
Brought in two other young girls to help her.
However, the business was not doing well as she
did not have the necessary equipment and other re-
quirements. ings got worse when her mother died
in 2009 and she had to start living with her sister.
With encouragement from her sister who also was
in business, Paxina continued to improve her busi-
ness although it was still dicult to make enough
money from the business. My sister continued to
encourage me not to give up. I needed money to im-
prove because l could see that there was good salon
business here. In February 2010, l heard from some
marketers from here that there were funds for small
business like mine given by CYM and l immediately
applied, she said.
I got a US$400 to inject into my business...Be-
fore l accessed nancial help from CYM, my busi-
ness was not doing ne. I didnt have equipment like
dryers which meant l had just a few customers. I
made on average just a US$100 per month which
was only enough to pay rentals and a few things for
my shop, it -
was very dicult, Paxina narrated.
She said she now makes monthly prots ranging
from US$300 to US$350. Im very happy for this
support from CYM, there was no where else to get
it from, she said.
Paxinas business dreams were realized further
when CYM selected her to participate in a business
capacity building workshop for recipients of ESF
funded by UN-Habitat of Kenya. e workshop
trained participants in business and nancial man-
I used to take all these orders to Lusaka and that was costly.
Now l can do everything at once here in Kabwe
on Em pl oym ent Creation:
Gershoms business has grown from the entrepreneurship
support funds he obtained from CYM. As a result he has in-
creased his workforce by one, bringing the total number of
employees at Gemm General Dealers to 3.
...his Expansion Plans!
The business growth of Gemm General Dealers means that
the company has to reach greater heights. Already Gershom
has opened an outlet within Kabwe in an eort to meet the
growing demand for printing business
.his Dream !!!!
Gershom looks forward to having his printing company be-
coming well established so as to compete with big com-
panies that take up much of the printing contracts in the
country. That is Gershoms dream which he is working hard
to realize.
04
agement skills that are needed for them to manage
their businesses as they grow following funding from
CYM.
e training helped me to know how to save and
invest my prots.....Come see how my business has
grown, she said.
She said she was happy for the exible conditions
that C-YEP has put in place for young people to
access credit for their small businesses which they
cannot access from anywhere else because they have
no collateral.
Access to Working Space
Youth graduates access land for carpentry activi-
ties with the assistance of Ward Councilors. Ward
Councilors negotiate with municipal authorities to
facilitate youths access to working and trading spac-
es. In contrast to adult entrepreneurs, who have to
pay $50 per year, youth entrepreneurs do not pay
any money for the land that they use for their en-
trepreneurial activities. Youth carpenters from the
C-YEP, which has since been renamed Community
Empowerment Fund (CEF), conduct their carpen-
try activities mostly in backyards and central market
areas in the city. CYM encourages youth entrepre-
neurs to operate in market areas as opposed to back-
yards. Marketing of products is one of the major
problems youth graduates currently face.
Gender Mainstreaming
e C-YEP trained young women in dress mak-
ing, food production and catering services. No
young women were trained in carpentry. Some
young women graduates have been able to access
loans from the Entrepreneurship Support Fund
(ESF) run by CYM. A maximum of
$400 is provided to graduates willing to start their
own businesses after graduation. e $400 provided
to the graduates constitutes about 60% of the re-
quired start up capital and graduates have to secure
the remaining 40% from elsewhere. Some young
women have already started tailoring and dress mak-
ing enterprises after graduating from the C-YEP.
Informal Economy Mainstreaming
e C-YEP was designed to specically train
youth working in the informal economy. Only
youth who do not have formal jobs are eligible to
receive vocational skills training through CYM
05
SECTION 2: BACKGROUND: THE YOUTH BULGESEIZING
THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE MOBILE ICT REVOLUTION
Come, See How My Busi-
ness Has Grown!
CYMs Community Youth Empow- erment Proj-
ect (C-YEP) is changing the small businesses of
the youths accessing it.
22-year old Paxina Chimfwembe is a ben-
efciary oI the Entrepreneurship Support Fund
(ESF) which she used to grow her small sa-
lon business. Paxinas business is located in
Ka- mushanga compound in Kabwe, 7km north
of Kabwe Business Centre. Kamushanga has a
population of over 4,000, the majority of whom
are unemployed youth.
She started her business in 2008 aIter all eIIorts
to get to college Iailed. 'I`m the 8th in a Iam-
ily of 9 children. After completing high school l
desired to enter college but my mother couldnt
afford, she said.
However, this was not the end of the road for
Paxina who still has ambitions to go to college.
My mother gave me some little money and l
used it to start a small salon to raise money for
my college, she explained.
brought in two other young girls to help her. How-
ever, the business was not doing well as she did
not have the necessary equipment and other
requirements. Things got worse when her mother
died in 2009 and she had to start living with her
sister. With encouragement from her sister who
also was in business, Paxina continued to im-
prove her business although it was still diIfcult
to make enough money from the business. My
sister continued to encourage me not to give up. I
needed money to improve because l could see that
there was good salon business here. In February
2010, l heard from some marketers from here that
there were funds for small business like mine giv-
en by CYM and l immediately applied, she said.
'I got a US$400 to inject into my business...
BeIore l accessed fnancial help Irom CYM, my
business was not doing fne. I didn`t have equip-
ment like dryers which meant l had just a few
customers. I made on average just a US$100 per
month which was only enough to pay rentals and
a Iew things Ior my shop, it -was very diIfcult,
Paxina narrated.
She said she now makes monthly proI- its ranging
Irom US$300 to US$350. 'I`m very happy Ior
this support from CYM, there was no where else
to get it from, she said.
Paxinas business dreams were realized further
when CYM selected her to participate in a busi-
ness capacity building workshop for recipients of
ESF Iunded by UN-Habitat oI Kenya. The work-
shop trained participants in business and fnancial
management skills that are needed for them to
manage their businesses as they grow follow-
ing funding from CYM.
The training helped me to know how to save and
invest my profts.....Come see how my business
has grown, she said.
She said she was happy Ior the fexi- ble condi-
tions that C-YEP has put in place for young
people to access credit for their small businesses
which they cannot access from anywhere else be-
cause they have no collateral.
Youth graduates access land for carpentry
activities with the assistance of
Ward Councilors. Ward Councilors negotiate
with municipal authorities to facilitate youths
access to working and trading spaces. In con-
trast to adult entrepreneurs, who have to pay
$50 per year, youth entrepreneurs do not pay
any money for the land that they use for their
entrepreneurial activities. Youth carpenters
06
CASE STUDY 2:
YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS
AND SUSTAINABILITY
EDUCATION IN HANOI,
VIETNAM
Catiliq uonsulvili,
GREENNOCOM
By Luu Duc Hiep & Tizai Mauto
1
Unleashing entrepreneurship potential
through sustainability education in
Hanoi
e Youth Entrepreneurs and Sustainability
Education (YESE) Project fosters entrepreneurial
spirit among youth in Vietnam by creating a
platform for them to learn and collaborate in solving
sustainability issues.
YESE was ocially launched as a non-prot
initiative of Green Innovation and Communication
Co., Ltd (GreennoCom) in March 2010 with
funding and support from the United Nations
Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT)
Urban Youth Fund and the Center for Social
Initiatives Promotion (CSIP).
YESE aims to provide a platform for youth in
Vietnam to learn about sustainable development in
the Vietnamese context, enhance the opportunities
of youth involvement in entrepreneurship education
activities in Vietnam and create a platform for
collaboration in solving sustainability issues in
Vietnam using entrepreneurial skills.
Why YESE?
YESE was created in response to the urgent need
for sustainable development in a rapidly developing
world, particularly in Vietnam. YESE believes that
fostering the development of skills, knowledge and
entrepreneurial spirit is one of the best ways to
address these sustainability challenges in the long
term.
YESE targets high-achieving university students
with leadership potential and an interest in
sustainability. e idea is to create the next generation
of leaders who can drive sustainable change using
entrepreneurship as a tool to build a better society.
With their own initiatives for social impact, they
will instigate change in corporate organizations.
HIGHLIGHTS
Young Vietnamese females are more interested in
joining the YESE Program than young Vietnamese
males. During 2010 and 2011, 60 youth beneted
from the YESE Project, 75% of whom were girls.
The biggest challenge is that the will isnt there.
People dont understand sustainability issues and
challenges. Youth mobilization is important to raise
awareness among youth.
Luu Duc Hiep
GreennoCom,
Founder & CEO
1. Tizai Mauto is a PhD candidate in Design and Planning at the University of
Colorado and a Research Assistant in the Children, Youth and Environments
Center at that university. He can be reached at cye@colorado.edu
07
YESE s Approach
YESE delivered its rst three month program
in 2010 and another in 2011. e three month
program is based on the following model: Training
Community Field Trip YESE Gala, which is
illustrated below:
YESE, however, recently developed a shorter,
intensive one week program based on the success
and lessons from the 2010 and 2011 cycles.
Consistent with the three month program, the one
week program is interactive, fun and uses a diverse
range of activities, tools and learning methods.
e one week program targets 40 top students
from universities across Hanoi. Participants engage
in an intensive learning process, which encourages
them to nd out more about sustainability issues
facing society and to develop skills and experience to
think of innovative ways to address these problems.
Unlike traditional Vietnamese education, the
YESE Program uses a participatory approach to
encourage youth participants to express their own
views and to draw their own conclusions.
YESE equips participants with skills and a
mindset that is useful for their personal development
and future career. YESE also oers participants
an opportunity to meet and work with a variety
of real world social entrepreneurs and experts in
sustainability-related elds. As a result, YESE helps
participants build strong and long-lasting networks
with each other, as well as with the YESE Alumni
Network.
Components of YESE
Training consists of a series of participatory
workshops, which introduce participants to
sustainable development and social entrepreneurship
while also equipping them with business and
leadership skills. Participants also visit local social
enterprises and socially-responsible businesses to
learn about how to start a business and how to have
an impact.
e eld trip is a 2-3 day visit to a rural
community outside Hanoi where participants have a
chance to put their skills and knowledge to practice.
rough group activities, participants explore local
sustainable development issues and develop ideas for
innovative and sustainable solutions to benet the
community.
e YESE Gala is an event that brings together
participants, speakers, local social enterprises,
socially-responsible businesses, NGOs and interested
community members. e gala is organized by the
participants and provides an opportunity for them
to showcase what they have learned and to share
their business ideas. e gala is also a networking
opportunity for all attendees.
Its not just about lots of money but also about giving
time to your project and to use available resources.
-Luu Duc Hiep, GreennoCom Founder & CEO
Unlike traditional Vietnamese education, the YESE
Program uses a participatory approach to encourage
youth
participants to express their own views and to draw
their own conclusions.
Training, eld trips and the YESE Gala are the key com-
ponents of the YESE program.
08
YESE Workshop
YESE workshop 2010. Source: www.yese.vn YESE workshop 2011. Source: www.yese.vn
YESE Field Trip
YESE eld trip 2010. Source: www.yese.vn YESE eld trip 2010. Source: www.yese.vn
YESE Gala
YESE Gala 2010. Source: www.yese.vn YESE Gala 2011. Source: www.yese.vn
09
GREENNOCOM
GreennoCom is a proIessional services frm oIIering
communication, training and market research services,
specializing in green business and sustainability
solutions.
Mission: To provide clear information, networking
and learning opportunities to help companies and
organizations in Vietnam integrate sustainable
business practices into their daily operations.
Vision: GreennoCom aims to become the leading
company in promoting sustainable business practices
and providing sustainability solutions in Vietnam.
Mantra: 'Fostering Innovation.
GreennoCom constantly seeks innovative ways
of doing business both within the organization
and Ior its clients. Sustainability is at the heart oI
all of GreennoCom activities, both internal and
external. GreennoCom respects and encourages the
development and growth of its individual members.
Overall, GreennoCom is respectful, punctual and
collaborative in all of its interactions with customers,
partners and community members.
(Source: web:www.greennocom.vn )
YESE PROJECT TODAY
The YESE project is ongoing and currently seeking
media and strategic partners to expand on its activities.
YESE is seeking strategic partners in promoting
social entrepreneurship movement and building
a sustainable Vietnam. The YESE team believes
that collaboration gives an opportunity for partner
organizations to demonstrate social responsibility,
to enhance their public image and to contribute to
social and sustainable development and innovation in
Vietnam.
Contributions from potential partners will be used
to support the delivery of current and future young
entrepreneurs training programs. The contributions
will also help expand educational programs through
enhancing the development and distribution of
education materials and increasing resources to nurture
and support social and environmental business ideas
and projects of Vietnamese youth. In-kind sponsors
are an important part oI the YESE program as they
help keep the costs of the program low, which allows
YESE to continuously train and support young social
entrepreneurs. YESE plans to replicate the project
in other parts oI Vietnam, including Saigon, and to
continuously monitor and evaluate its activities.
CONTACT DETAILS
Green Innovation and
Communication Co., Ltd
(GreennoCom) Level 5, Okaro
Building, 8 Nguyen Van Ngoc St,
Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: 84439970669
Email: contact@greennocom
Website:www.greennocom.vn
Youth Entrepreneurs and
Sustainability Education (YESE)
Level 5, Okaro Building, 8
Nguyen Van Ngoc St, Ba Dinh,
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +8443997 0669
Email: contact@yese.vn;
Website: www.yese.vn
For more information about
the YESE Project, please contact
GreennoCom Founder & CEO
Luu Duc Hiep
Tel: +84948484492
Email:hiep@greennocom.vn
10
CASE STUDY 3:
MENGO YOUTH
DEVELOPMENT LINK
VOCATIONAL SKILLS
TRAINING PROGRAM IN
KAMPALA, UGANDA
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Youth Action International
Uganda
By Agnes A. Namiyingo & Tizai Mauto
1
Context of Urban Youth in Uganda
e urban youth funded Mengo Youth Link
Vocational Skills Training Project is located in the
Mengo Kisenyi slum, which is comprised mostly
of youth migrants from rural areas and refugees
from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern
Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Some
beneciaries come from child headed families and
others are orphans or single parents. rough this
project, slum youth and children can put food on
the table, send their children to public schools and
clothe their families.
Beneciaries of the Mengo Youth Project are all
from the informal economy with primary education
as their highest level of education. Many youth have
joined and beneted from YAIs project mainly
because the training program is free of charge. e
Kampala City authority has since promoted the
training center and the Mengo Project by donating
Ugx 3,000,000 (US$1,500) to boost the computer
training project. e Ugandan Ministry of Youth
and Children has also promoted the training
programs.
e YAI is renting a two roomed house in Mengo
Kisenyi where the skills training is taking place.
e project is located in one of the biggest slums
in Kampala and Uganda, which allows the most
disadvantaged youth to benet from the project
and have easy access to the center. Most of the
Project beneciaries are born and raised in Kisenyi.
However, some beneciaries come from neighboring
towns or slums, and they spend an average of US$1
for transportation to and from the center daily.
Most youth beneciaries do not have access to
secure working space in urban Kampala. e youth
beneciaries are therefore engaged in home-based
HIGHLIGHTS
The center is located 20km out of Kampala City in
Mengo Kisenyi, one of the biggest slums in Kampala
and Uganda. The center started with 100 beneciaries
and 80 of the students graduated in August 2009
with funding from UN-Habitat Opportunity Fund for
Urban Youth-Led Development. YAI-Uganda has since
recruited 150 more students, all of whom graduated
in August 2011.
Limited working space is the biggest challenge. Its
very dicult to conduct large-scale trainings in bad
weather. Renting a full house costs between US$350-
US$400. If we can secure a larger training space, we
can expand our training programs.
-Agnes Amooti Namiyingo, YAI-Uganda Program Coordinator
Center at that university. He can be reached at cye@colorado.edu.
11
enterprises where they do not have to pay any tax to
the municipality or rentals to private land owners.
e YAI repeatedly makes public announcements
on a community radio and through community
leaders and partners informing youth about existing
business opportunities, including the application
forms and processes. e challenge is that most
parents still prefer their children go through formal
education and then formal employment. Most
parents still consider vocational skills training and
entrepreneurial activities inferior to traditional
formal education and formal white collar jobs. e
YAI has been reaching out to parents to convince
them to enroll their children in the skills training
project.
Transforming the lives of Ugandan
Youth through Skills Training
e Mengo Skills Training Project includes wood
carving, making paper beads, tailoring, and tie and
dye material making. After the training period,
students are also trained in business management,
marketing, planning and customer care. e Project
beneted 60 young men and 140 young women 10-
32 years-old. e project has become more visible
and beneciaries are positively transforming the face
of crime-ridden Kisinye.
In 2009, 80 out of 120 students graduated from
the project40 of them are working in groups,
10 are working as individuals, 20 are attached
to various experts in dierent skills trained at the
center and 10 remain at the center working as tutors
and helping with other projects. Project beneciaries
are engaged in tailoring and repairing clothes and
wood carving, which includes small gurines, boats,
small elephant kits, piggy bank saving boxes and
wooden frames. Beneciaries also make paper beads
using magazines, news papers. ey use soft paper
products to make tablemats, ear rings, bracelets and
necklaces, too.
Mengo Youth Project beneciaries will, this year,
benet from a UGX 25 billion Government Youth
Fund. e beneciaries will get UGX 150,000
(US$80) on average, and they will repay a monthly
minimum of UGX 10,000($5), depending on the
viability of their businesses.
Challenges and Opportunities
Limited work space, limited funds and stigmas
from the community and society are the major
challenges facing the Mengo Youth Project. Tool
Aid UK has since donated sewing machines, type
writers, sewing kits and wood carving machines to
help set-up a tool bank for the beneciaries. UN-
Habitat also trained the project coordinator in
project management and reporting, which allowed
her to coordinate the project eectively. YAI has been
recognized by the community and the Ministry of
Youth and Children. e project has also been made
possible through the partnership with Mengo Youth
Development Linka community youth project
based in Kisenyi. Mengo Youth Development Link
has a soccer academy, which has enabled some
beneciaries to play soccer at local and regional
levels. e Soccer Academy helps youth share
information on HIV/AIDS and climate change,
boosting YAIs networking opportunities.
The center trains students in tailoring, bead making,
wood carving and tie & dye making. Project
beneciaries include refugees from the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea
and Ugandan rural-urban migrants. The centers
instructors train beneciaries in various languages
including English, Swahili and Lugandasome of the
languages commonly spoken in the slum areas.
UN-Habitat should focus more on job creation and
less on job seeking. 4% of us are born entrepreneurs,
the rest are made. Fund and train job creators and
not job seekers.
-Agnes Amooti Namiyingo (YAI-Uganda Program
Coordinator)
12
Mengo Youth Development Link Vocational Skills Training Program in Pictures
Above: Paper beads made by the beneciaries,
made from old newspaper, magazines and other soft
paper materials. e beads are sold locally to guests
who visit the center and also to traders who sell them
to international fashion stores. Photo: YAI-Uganda
Left: Students during a tailoring session at the
center. Most girls prefer tailoring compared to
young males who prefer wood carving and candle
making. Photo: YAI-Uganda
Above: Tailoring students with their instructor
(middle) during a class session. Most Mengo Youth
Project beneciaries come from Kisenyi, one of the
biggest slums in Uganda. Photo: YAI-Uganda
Left: Standing man
a product from the wood
carving classes. Trees are
bought, cut and dried
to design various wood
products such as the
small African Standing
man, elephant kits for
children, pig bank sav-
ing boxes, boats, photo
frames and seasons
greetings wooden cards.
Photo: YAI-Uganda
Below: Beneciaries translate theory into practice
as the instructor trains them on how to make school
uniforms. Photo: YAI-Uganda
13
z/
GYouth Action International (YAI) is an international
non-proft organization Iounded in 2005 by Kimmie
Weeks, a survivor oI the Liberian confict and
longtime advocate for children, youth and families.
The organizations mission is to provide education,
health care and economic empowerment for children
and young people living in post-war African countries.
Each of YAIs projects is developed through extensive
research and dialogue with community members.
YAI works on the ground in post-war Liberia, Uganda
and Sierra Leone and in close partnership with local
community groups, government ministries and NGOs
to address issues of former child soldier reintegration;
lack of economic and business opportunities; lack of
training for women; and lack of access to education.
Youth Action International-Uganda works in six
districts: Kampala, Jinja, Gulu, Karamoja, Rakai
and Amuru. Uganda also serves as YAIs Regional
Secretariat Ior East AIrica. Community empowerment
is the cornerstone oI YAI`s projects. Through Family
Empowerment programs, YAI has two principal
functions: providing continuing education and skills
training for adolescents unable to continue their
studies due to limited formal education opportunities;
and stimulating local development and economic
growth in much needed industries and trades. The
local industries provide locally produced goods and
services that can be purchased at a much lower cost
than if they are obtained from outside the community.
Each YAI project is run by experts in the industry or
trade for which it provides skills training. Once young
people have the necessary skills, YAI provides start up
grants and/or micro-credit loans for them to start their
own enterprises. Overall, YAIs programs focus in one
of three areas: Childhood Developmenttargeting
children aged 0-12 years; Youth Development/
Empowermenttargeting youth aged 13-35 years;
and Success Opportunity Meets Preparation`
Program for Women targeting young women aged
13-35 years (www.youthactioninternational.org).
The Future of Mengo
Youth Development Link
Vocational Skills Program
The Mengo Youth Development Link Vocational
Skills Program is still ongoing but has not yet been
replicated in other areas. YAI plans to acquire a larger
working space in order to expand its training center.
It also plans to introduce skills training programs
such as candle making, soap making, cosmetology
welding and juice making. YAI has not yet secured
additional funds for the project.
YAI-Uganda Contact Information
Youth Action International Uganda
PO Box 21011
Kampala, Uganda
Telephone: +256774613669
Email: memory@peaceforkids.org
www.youthactioninternational.org
For more information about the Mengo Youth
Development Link Vocational Skills Program, please
contact:
Agnes Amooti Namiyingo, Country Representative
& Program Coordinator
YAI-Uganda
Email: aggieamooti@gmail.com
14
CASE STUDY 4:
EMPOWERING YOUTH
THROUGH THE VIJANA FORUM
ONE STOP INFORMATION
AND DISCUSSION FORUM IN
TANZANIA
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Tanzania development forum for
youth
Tizai Mauto
1
Harnessing internet power in youth-led
initiatives
Vijana Forum is a project of Tanzania Development
Forum for Youth (TDFY), initially supported by
UN-Habitat Opportunity Fund for Urban Youth-
Led Development in 2009 and implemented from
2010 to 2011.
e Vijana Forum is an online platform for young
people to share and discuss current state of aairs in
Tanzania. e Forum ensures that Tanzanian youth
with access to internet can quickly spread breaking
news, especially issues that directly impact young
peoples well being. As a result, youth participants
on the Forum are updated on important events and
decisions that may impact their everyday lives.
e virtual Vijana Forum is also an online,
one-stop information center which includes
digital documents, testimonials, stories and
recent photographs and videos of youth activities
countrywide. Wherever possible, the Info. Center
allows live streaming and audio les, including
podcast to be downloaded by freedom phone
software LAM application. e resources provided
on the Info. Center, among other things, enable
youth to make informed and precise decisions on
issues that directly or indirectly aect their day-to-
day lives.
Harnessing internet power in youth-led
initiatives
Access to internet is still very low in Tanzania,
especially in rural settings. About 21 million
Tanzanians, most of them urban youth, have access to
internet through mobile phones. e Vijana Forum
seeks to make productive use of the internet. ere
has been a realization that the lack of information
and networking opportunities negatively impact the
well-being of youth in Tanzania. e Vijana Forum
opens up opportunities for young people to network
HIGHLIGHTS
The Vijana Forum is divided into two components:
the Forum and Info. Center. The Forum is user-
generated and the Info. Center mainly consists of
publications.
About 21 million Tanzanians, most of them urban
youth, have access to internet through mobile
phones.
Inadequate access to information and networking
opportunities has been a major hindrance to youth
empowerment in Tanzania.
15
and share current information about their everyday
life. erefore, young people benet from a one-
stop information and discussion Forum where they
share breaking news, business ideas, projects, among
other things and get positive feedback from peers.
Why the Vijana Forum?
e Vijana Forum seeks to empower youth in
Tanzania through a one-stop information center
and Forum, which enhances youth mobilization,
networking, youth employment and community
development. As more and more young people
gain access to the internet, including rural youth,
the Forum will improve rural youths access to
information and livelihood opportunities. e
Forum will thus erase technology boundaries
between urban and rural youth and enhance rural-
urban networks.
e Forum will also act as a meeting point for
young Tanzanians in the Diaspora and for those
at home. Based on ideas from youth from diverse
socio-economic backgrounds, the Forum will be
customized to meet the needs of every Tanzanian
youth.
TDFY has faced some technical challenges in
implementing the Vijana Forum. Securing the
most user-friendly software and keeping up with
technology changes has not been easy. Having up-
to-date software and technology requires adequate
nancial resources, committed partners and well-
trained sta. TDFY lacks adequate resources to
withstand these challenges. Reaching out to rural
youth is also a problem given limited internet
access both through mobile devices and internet
cafes. Fortunately, local and international partners
are coming on board to ensure long-term success
of the Forum. Institutions such as Youth Vision
Association, Site Developers, UN-Habitat, among
others are working closely with TDFY to expand the
services of the Forum.
Lessons and Recommendations
Grown!
TDFY has learned that youth-led initiatives
employing modern high-speed internet has great
potential in urban Tanzania where most youth have
access to internet through mobile phones. Online
youth empowerment projects such as the Vijana
Forum eliminate the need for costly face to face
meetings. Geographic boundaries are also erased.
For TDFY, youth should have a one-stop virtual
space to express their ideas, engage each other,
network and collaborate on important aspects that
impact on their well-being. Strong partnerships are
also required to ensure long-term success of youth
development initiatives.
The Forum acts as a meeting point for young
Tanzanians in the Diaspora and for those at
home.
Securing the most user-friendly software and
keeping up with technology changes has
not been easy. Having up to date software
and technology require adequate nancial
resources, committed partners and well-trained
sta.
16
Vijana Forum launching in Dar es Salaam. Photo:
TDFY
Lets have a com-
mitted arrangement
to engage and listen
to young people.
omas Maqway,
Project Coordina-
tor for the Vijana
Forum
Vijana Forum launching in Dar es Salaam. Photo:
TDFY
ICT group computer awareness in Dar es Salaam.
Photo: TDFY
Photo: TDFY
Photo: TDFY
Photo: TDFY
17
d
forum for youth
Tanzania Development Forum Ior Youth (TDFY) is a
Non-Governmental, Non-Partisan, Not-For
Proft, Youth-led Organization. It was established
in 2005 and registered in February 2006 under the
Tanzania Non-Governmental Organization Act
oI 2002 with Registration No.00NGO/0643, Vice
President`s OIfce. TDFY`s vision is to see sustainable
development largely driven by youth perspectives
and initiatives. As a registered organization, Tanzania
Development Forum Ior Youth is mandated to work
in civil society and focus on developing and utilizing
youth potentials and their opportunities through
awareness raising and training programs. TDFY
operates at the national level (Tanzania Mainland).
TDFY`s main strategic objectives include Iostering
development and democracy through provision
oI civic education/awareness; HIV/AIDS awareness
with priority to young people in pastoral societies;
provision oI a Iorum Ior confict resolution between
pastoral and agricultural communities; and enhancing
young peoples engagement in agricultural and
business activities (www.tdfy.org).
Since 2007, Tanzania Development Forum Ior Youth,
in collaboration with other stakeholders, implemented
other major Projects including the Compact Seminar
Series on Development; establishment oI Youth
Network in Tanzania; and the E-Agricultural Portal.
The Future of the Vijana
Forum
TDFY has plans to have the Forum act as a major
employment portal Ior Tanzanian youth. The Forum`s
daily functioning currently depends on the support of
youth volunteers and the plan is to recruit as many
youth volunteers as possible to give them adequate
technical training to ensure that the Forum runs
smoothly. Given adequate fnancial resources, the
long-term plan is to employ permanent and paid
youth moderators Ior the Forum. TDFY is seeking
committed partners to assist in marketing the Forum
and offering technical support and ICT training to
youth benefciaries. The overall goal would be to
add value to young peoples ideas and ensure that the
Forum provides productive services to urban and rural
youth.
Contact Details
Tanzania Development Forum
for Youth (TDFY)
P. O. Box 15717
Arusha
Tanzania
Email: info@tdfy.org
http://tdfy.org/
Vijana Forum &
Info Center
Email: maendeleoyavijana@
hotmail.com; janonline2001@
yahoo.com; january@tdfy.org
http://www.vijanaForum.org/
infocenter/
http://www.vijanaForum.org/
Forum/Forum.php
For more Information about the
Vijana Forum please contact the
Project Coordinator:
omas Maqway
tmaqway@gmail.com;
thomas@tdfy.org
Tel: +255784715709
18
CASE STUDY 5:
YOUTH PARTNERSHIP FOR
PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT
EMPOWERS YOUTH IN POST
CONFLICT SIERRA LEONE
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Tizai Mauto
1
Employment challenges for youth in
Post-War Sierra Leone
Youth in post-war Sierra Leone, especially
those living in remote areas such as the Makeni
region face, serious unemployment challenges.
Most Sierra Leone youth have received little to
no education. ose youth with some education,
mostly primary education, nd it extremely hard to
secure meaningful employment in urban areas. e
youth unemployment challenge is compounded by
the fact that mainstream vocational training centers
are very expensive for the uneducated poor youth.
Mainstream vocational training centers charge
about $US200 for a 6-month training course. After
the training at mainstream Vocational Training
Centers, youth are awarded completion certicates
and nothing else. In response to worsening youth
unemployment in the Makeni region, the Youth
Partnership for Peace and Development (YPPD)
launched a year- long Sustainable Youth Livelihoods
through Vocational Skills Training (SYLVST)
Project nanced by the UN-Habitat Urban Youth
Fund. SYLVST sought to oer vocational skills
training to youth at no charge. In addition to the
skills training, youth graduates from the SYLVST
are also given certicates of completion, letters of
recommendation, and full start-up training toolkits.
Access to working space for youth
graduates
ough the problem has eased over the years,
access to working space for youth remains a
problem. Initially, youth graduates were given
operating spaces at the same training center they
used for their courses. YPPD has tried to improve
access to operating spaces for the youth by inviting
community members to graduation ceremonies. In
hopes that the community members will suggest
places where youth could start their projects. e
letters of recommendation given to youth also
assist youth in renting spaces from land owners.
e YPPD has also made a recommendation to
the Makeni City Council to have the City Hall
Mainstream vocational training centers are
very expensive for the uneducated poor
youth. They charge about $US200 for a
6-month training course and simply give youth
completion certicates after that and nothing
else.
Musa Ansumana Soko
(Executive Coordinator Youth Partnership for
Peace and Development )
19
leased out for youth skills training and employment
activities. At the moment, an agreement has only
been reached between YPPD and Makeni City
Council allowing the City Hall to be used for
YPPD graduation programs. Meanwhile, most
youth graduates continue to operate from their
homes, where they carry out employment activities
including dress making, tailoring, textile design, and
small businesses.
EMPOWERMENT STORIES
Beneciary Testimonials
Mabinty Kamara (Female, 30)
Personally, before now, I used to nd it very
dicult to listen to the radio especially when
there is no interesting sound track playing.
Well, this changed the day that I listened to the
SLBC Radio Station and heard a public notice about
YPPDs project that aims at helping people like us to
be better empowered economically. I am glad, I am
fortunate.
Zainab Kargbo (Female, 21)
NGOs come and go year after year but I
sometimes wonder what they really do to address
unemployment and societal problems. I am glad I am
a part of the Sustainable Youth Livelihood Training
Center of YPPD. Ill remain grateful forever.
Fatmata Bangura (Female, 30)
Being a young woman has brought nothing to me but
abandonment from my family and friends, because
they believed I could hardly do things on my own.
Here am I today. I am now a certied graduate, and
of course, with an opportunity of a lifetime I never
imagined. My start-up kits will forever be with me
as I continue adding more to it.
Testimonials...
Kadiatu Bangura (Female, 21)
Had a project like this been available
in Makeni, I would have gone far by
now to emancipate myself from the burdens of
unemployment and daily survival. I just feel like
enrolling again year-after-year but I need to move
on with my already-acquired skills that will help me
and my only daughter. I am glad I now have a way
of uplifting myself to the next level.
Memunatu Conteh (Female, 27)
Owning a business of my own has always been a
dream but I kept asking myself how I would achieve
that dream. rough YPPD and UN-Habitat, my
dream became a reality as I now have an apprentice
working with me in my small Tailoring Shop
YPPD invites community members to
graduation ceremonies with hopes that adults
from the community will assist youth graduates
in securing working space.
Above: Trainees listen to lectures at the YPPD Train-
ing Center, Courtesy, YPPD
20
Mainstreaming Gender, Micronance
and Informality
Reaching out to young women
Facilitating access to credit
More young women than young men generally
enroll in the training programs oered by YPPD
the ratio is roughly 80% female and 20% male. For
the February 2011 SYLVST graduates, there were
32 young women and 8 young men. e fact that
there are more young females than males undergoing
training and graduating from YPPD programs is not
by design but rather an indication of more young
females being interested in the training programs
compared to young males.
Young people nd it hard to access business
loans or credit in Sierra Leone due to stringent
repayment requirements. YPPD has partnered with
organizations such as BRAAC and Sierra Leone
Micronance Trust (SLMT) to facilitate young
peoples access to business loans. rough YPPDs
partnership with BRAAC and SLMT, youth can
access $US50 start-up loans with exible repayment
arrangements.
A problem is that YPPD has not been able to pay
the trainees any stipend as an incentive to complete
the training. ose youth who work in the informal
economy need their earnings to survive and take care
of themselves and their families. As such, its hard
for such youth to undergo any long-term training
with YPPD, where they will not be paid anything.
Musa Ansumana Soko
Executive Coordinator, YPPD
Mainstreaming informal youth activities
MSYLVS has sought to integrate youth informal
workers in several ways. First, the project targeted
youth lacking any meaningful formal education
and employmentmost of them working in
the informal economy. According the Executive
Coordinator of YPPD, the problem has been that
YPPD has not been able to pay the trainees any
stipend as an incentive for youth to complete the
training. ose youth who work in the informal
economy need their earnings to survive and take care
of themselves and their families. As such, its hard
for such youth to undergo any long-term training
with YPDD, where they will not be paid anything.
is has made it hard for YPPD to recruit some of
the poorest youth willing to receive the vocational
skills training. Young girls who work as prostitutes
in the streets, for example, can make $10-$20 a day
but will not make any money when they join the
YPPD training. An outreach program has since been
launched aimed at recruiting girl prostitutes through
educating them about the importance of the skills
training and the risks associated with prostitution.
rough the sustainable youth livelihoods project,
YPPD seeks to use youth graduates as resources in
their communities. Youth are taught to reach out to
other youth in the community through volunteering
and employing other less privileged youth in their
businesses.
A cooperative model
All of the 40 youth who graduated from the UN-
Habitat funded sustainable livelihoods project
are operating their own businesses, mostly in
pairs or small groups. Youth pair up for businesses
based on their places of residence. The idea
of working in groups was rst suggested by
youth trainees in 2008 and has been embraced
by graduates since then. By working in pairs or
small groups, youth can pull resources together,
share business skills and help each other in xing
broken machines.
21

YPPD has partnered with local and international

organizations to ensure the success of its projects.
There are several partnerships in the Northern Province
involving DFID, UNDP and local Civil Society
Organizations. YPPD has partnered with UNDP in
the United Nations Millennium Campaignan anti-
poverty initiative targeting unemployed youth. YPPD
is also working with DIFD and grassroots CSOs
through the Stand Up and Take Action Campaigna
worldwide initiative to mobilize and encourage
youth to fght poverty in their communities. The
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Network provided
campaign materials and training for youth. The
Holland-based Alert Fund Ior Youth Activities once
provided funding for the International Youth Day
commemoration. Except Ior the Water, Sanitation
and Hygiene Network, all partnerships existed beIore
the launch oI UN-Habitat Iunded Sustainable Youth
Livelihoods Project. Following the UN-Habitat
Iunded project, YPPD met oIfcials Irom the Makeni
City Council on several occasions with the consequent
result that relations and communication with the
Council improved. YPPD has also strengthened its
relationship with UN-Habitat whose regional oIfce
will soon be launched in the Makeni region. All the
partnering organizations have a central focus on youth
empowerment through poverty eradication.
Local youth-focused unions and federations also exist
for youth members. Youth entrepreneurs can join the
Petty Traders Union (PTU) and the Federation oI
Dress Makers (FDM). YPPD has yet to advise youth
to join any existing unions, federations, associations
and groups because the unions and federations are
still very passive in the area of youth entrepreneurship
and employment. As such, YPPD hasnt considered
any Iorm oI partnership with PTU or FDM. There is a
one-time membership Iee oI about US1.50 to join the
PTU or FDM. There is also the commercial-oriented
Bike Riders Association, which youth can join.
The Sustainable Youth
Livelihood through
Vocational Skills Training
Today
The SYLVS has been ongoing with Iunding Irom the
Mano Menima Development Foundation. Continued
Iunding Irom UN-Habitat has been declined because
YPPD failed to submit the names of its Board
Members to UN-Habitat by the due date as required.
Attempts to secure additional funding from ILOs
Youth Employment Network (YEN) have also Iailed
so Iar. Given the required fnancial resources, YPDD
plans to replicate the SYLVS in other remote places in
Sierra Leone that have worse living and employment
conditions than the Makeni Region. YPPD recently
launched the Empowering them for a Lifetime
Campaign as a means to scale up the SYLVS project
with particular focus on vulnerable young women
in post-confict Sierra Leone. To this end, an online
fundraising campaign has since been launched to raise
$5,000.
For Further Details Contact:
Youth Partnership for Peace and
Development
1st Floor, 30 Circular Road
Freetown, P O. Box 97
Sierra Leone
Tel: +232 78 639547
Email: info@yppdatwork.org;
coordinator@yppdatwork.org
22
CASE STUDY 6:
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
THROUGH SKILLS AND
KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION IN
HYDERABAD SLUM
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Sind community foundation
Javed Hussain & Tizai Mauto
1
Sindh Community Foundations
Ambitious Youth Project Transforming
Slum Areas
Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) is a
youth- led organization working to mobilize youth
for social development. To enhance its youth
development agenda, SCF received a one-year grant
from the UN Habitat Urban Youth Fund to launch
the Youth Empowerment through Knowledge and
Skills Project in the Hyderabad Slums.
e project was implemented from January
through December, 2010. e project aimed to
provide the Hyderabad Slum youth with access to
information technology skills, opportunities for
self-growth, opportunities to learn and understand
social issues and a chance to enhance young peoples
involvement in voluntary actions at the local level.
As part of the project, SCF developed an
ambitious integrated Youth Development Model
including youth group formation, capacity building
for leadership, skills development, career planning
sessions, and fun non-curricular activities. e
Youth Resource Center (YRC) is the nucleus of all
project activities.
e YRC has been strengthened through the
purchase of 7 computers and additional furniture
to provide an accessible IT education and learning
environment to poor youth from the slum areas
of Chandio Goth, Azizabad Colony, Marvi Town
and Bhittai Town of Union Council-3 of Taluka
Qasimabad of Hyderabad District.
rough the YRC, career planning and counseling
services have been provided to 201 youth (101 girls
and 100 boys). e YRC was rst set-up in 2007 with
an initial seed grant from the Population Council
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
The Youth Resource Center (YRC) is the nucleus
of all project activities.
Through the YRC, career planning and
counseling services have been provided to 101
girls and 100 boys.
With the Urban Youth Fund grant, YRC activities
and services have been strengthened. Many
library books for dierent subjects have been
purchased. The YRC library facility has also been
upgraded to accommodate more young girls
and boys from surrounding slum areas who dont
have access to library facilities and services.
23
of Pakistan and was boosted by the Urban Youth
Fund grant in 2009. With the Urban Youth Fund
grant, YRC activities and services were strengthened.
Many library books for dierent subjects have been
purchased. e YRC library facility has also been
upgraded to accommodate more young girls and
boys from surrounding slum areas who dont have
access to library facilities and services.
Access to working space
e privately owned YRC is being used as a focal
point for the Youth Empowerment through Skills
and Knowledge project. e space costs around
$450 per year and up to 120 youth can be trained
at the center over a 3 month period. e YRC is
also used as an examination center by local schools.
Most of the time, competition is strong for working
space. Access to urban land is generally dicult and
expensive for young people and their representative
organizations. Access to land is facilitated by
voluntary youth networks, organized youth groups,
collaborative initiatives with local NGOs and the
Youth Resource Foundation. SCF helps mobilize
youth groups and oers technical support to the
groups in the areas of land access, youth employment
and career choices.
As a result of the Youth Empowerment through Skills and Knowledge project, SCF has formed a youth
network on climate change and environment to engage youth in environmental activism and sensitize them
to environmental issues and problems. e youth network has over 1,000 students and youth activists from
Hyderabad and Jamshoro districts. Youth network members are planting trees and raising awareness at
educational institutions across Hyderabad.
The Youth Resource Center brings together
youth from diverse political, religious, cultural,
and socio-economic backgrounds. The ability to
bring groups together peacefully exemplies
successful youth development progress in
Pakistan.
Facility # of boy beneciaries # of girl beneciaries Total youth beneciaries
IT/Computer Educa-
tion
45 55 100
English Coaching 32 42 74
Library Facilities 101 35 136
Career Planning and
Counseling
100 101 201
Youth Leadership
Training Program
17 13 30
Youth Forums 123 222 345
News l et t er / Yout h
Voice
300 700 1,000
Total Number of
Beneciaries
718 1,168 1,886
Source: http://www.scfngo.org/SCF-at-a-Glance.pdf
24
Partnerships for Project Sustainability
Sindh Community Foundation uses an integrated
approach to ensure success in its projects. Critical
contemporary issues such as youth employment,
peace and tolerance, human rights and globalization
in Pakistan are addressed through youth forums.
e youth forums bring together youth from
diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. Women
and girl marginalization issues are addressed in
collaboration with girls associations already dealing
with such issues on the ground. SCF is also working
in collaboration with the Pakistan Youth Ministry
in the areas of voter education campaign, advocacy,
resource mobilization and other important areas.
Sindh Community Foundation has experienced
some challenges during the implementation of the
Skills and Knowledge project in the slum areas.
e challenges include the diculty in recruiting
young girls due to gender-based discrimination
and religious extremism and limited technical and
nancial support especially from the government
and the corporate sector.
Also, there are constitutional restrictions on land
ownership and rights for young people. Pakistan
youth do not have the right to own land under the
current constitution, which leaves over 70% of the
population landless. Restrictive land rights policies
work against sound entrepreneurship and micro-
credit programs.
SCF recommends that the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan and UNDP ght for
young peoples land rights in Pakistan. SCF also
recommends an international solidarity movement
toward secure land rights for youth in developing
regions. Finally, SCF recommends specic cultural
interventions by NGOs to address cross-cultural
youth development issues in culture-sensitive
regions such as Pakistan.
Utilization of the Youth Resource Center
The youth forums bring together youth from
diverse cultural and religious backgrounds.
Young girls learning computer skills at the Youth Re-
source Center. Photo by: SCF
Young people during a skills training course at the
Youth Resource Center: Photo by: SCF
25
Sindh Community Foundation has experienced some
challenges during the implementation oI the Skills and
Knowledge project in the slum areas. The challenges
include the diIfculty in recruiting young girls due to
gender-based discrimination and religious extremism
and limited technical and fnancial support especially
from the government and the corporate sector.
Also, there are constitutional restrictions on land
ownership and rights for young people. Pakistan youth
do not have the right to own land under the current
constitution, which leaves over 70% of the population
landless. Restrictive land rights policies work against
sound entrepreneurship and micro-credit programs.
SCF recommends that the Human Rights Commission
oI Pakistan and UNDP fght Ior young people`s
land rights in Pakistan. SCF also recommends an
international solidarity movement toward secure land
rights Ior youth in developing regions. Finally, SCF
recommends specifc cultural interventions by NGOs
to address cross-cultural youth development issues in
culture-sensitive regions such as Pakistan.
Looking to the Future
SCF has several plans Ior the Iuture including
stronger coordination with project donors and raising
funds through submitting more project proposals to
prospective donors, developing a strong institutional
capacity for organization, increased technical training
Ior SCF staII and volunteers, establishing and
strengthening 10 Youth Resource Centers, expanding
areas of operation by launching community programs
Ior women and youth in 3 more districts oI Sindh,
human rights training/camps for women, youth and
rural communities, Iormation oI 50 male and Iemale
groups/CBOs for community development, designing
activities and projects for social forestry, climate
change adaptation and sustainable environmental
management, initiating Peace Education Program
and Youth Leadership Program to strengthen human
rights and democracy and strengthening the Youth
Resource Center by buying more modern computers
and equipment. SCF will need signifcant fnancial
resources and technical support to Iulfll these goals.
Sindh Community Foundation Contact Details
HEAD OFFICE
Information and Resource
Development Center-IRDC
B - 14, Model Town
Chandia Goth, Near Happy
Homes Qasimabad,Hyderabad
Sindh, Pakistan
Tell:+92222918813
Email:info@scfngo.org,
sindhfoundation@yahoo.com
REGIONAL OFFICE
Street No4 Gulshan-e-Faheem
Colony,
Hala New District
Matiari Sindh, Pakistan
PROJECT OFFICE
Girls Youth Resource Center
Daoodani House Near Bait-ul-
Mall Oce,Town Hall, Memon
Muhalla Tando Mohammad,
Khan City, Sindh Pakistan
For more information about SCF
Youth Project, please contact
the Programs Manager: Javed
Hussain at javedsozhalai@yahoo.
com or visit http://www.scfngo.
org/
For testimonials, please visit:
http://www.scfngo.org/videos.
htm
26
CASE STUDY 7:
FISHERWOMEN ALTERNATIVE
LIVELIHOOD PROJECT IN
KARACHI SLUMS, PAKISTAN
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Participatory development
initiatives
Khalida Brohi & Tizai Mauto
1
PDI Revives Hope for Young Women in
Slums and Villages
e Fisherwomen Alternative Livelihood Project
(FALP) was launched by Participatory Development
Initiatives (PDI) with funding from the UN-Habitat
Urban Youth Fund. FALP sought to mobilize
sherwomen in coastal areas, train young women
in poultry farming, set-up sewing centers for young
women in the Karachi slums and villages and oer
micro-credit training and savings to credit womens
groups.
For young women and youth in general, shing
as an alternative livelihood is inherited from their
parents. PDI seeks to enhance young womens
shing activities through oering transportation
services, training and advice to Young Fisherwomen
Associations (YFAs) and marketing support for their
shing products. Around 300 young women have
joined the YFAs.
e destruction of coral reefs caused by pollution,
however, has initiated a decline in shing business
for coastal women. Young women have had to
depend more on embroidery and poultry farming
for their livelihoods. PDI set-up Sughar (skilled and
condent woman) Centers inside the slums to train
young women in traditional fashion design. Sewing
and embroidering have proved more eective for
young women with their restricted mobility. Over
100 young women have beneted from the sewing
and embroidery initiative.
Light of Hope
PDI aims to oer young women in slum
communities training on value-addition of the
traditional embroidery, while also providing means
for alternative livelihood in poultry farming,
embroidery and micro credit. Rakhi was very
Project Highlights
The damage to coral reefs has caused a major
decline in shing as a viable livelihood option
for young women in coastal areas.
The challenge for young women is that most of
them are not allowed to travel to market areas to
sell their productsmen act as middlemen for
young sherwomen to market & sell their sh.
Sewing and embroidery is a more viable
alternative livelihood for young women since
it can be done from inside their homes or at
nearby Sughar Centers.
27
successful with the program and she became the
envy and inspiration for others in her village as well
as for PDIs team.
With the recent launch of an embroidery center
in her village, Rakhi said, I am extremely happy
for this opportunity, which has given me a chance
to further improve on what I do...Now, I will know
how to add more value and importance to the
traditional forms of embroidery.
Many happy faces greet PDIs team each time they
visit Rakhis village and the other villages with FALP.
Not only do the amazing meetings with the village
women motivate PDIs participation but also the
huge genuine smiles from the women, which shine
the light of hope.
Spotlight on Rakhi
In the penetrating heat of afternoons in Haji Noor
Muhammad Goth slum, there are dirt ies almost
everywhere and inside everything, not sparing the
green leaves of neem trees which look like some
papers trimmed to look like leaves attached to bare
stems until it rains and washes away dirt clearing
the skies and earth bringing back a beautiful day
in Haji Noor Muhammad Goth. is village has a
population of sher folk on the coast of Karachi.
Rakhi, the wife of Murad and mother of 5 young
sons, becomes cheerful at this beauty of her small
village where she lived all her life until she got
married in her early 20s. Now she is 29, living in her
small home with her husband and children, helping
out in making sh nets and repairing their boats.
Its all we have been doing since I can remember,
she exclaims with usual smiles, Oh but there is just
one thing that I secretly do even though no one of
our family members did that. She shares this with
the PDI team on one of the visits to her community.
It was the 5th mobilization visit of the team to
Noor Muhammad Goth and the initiation of the
Fisherwomen Alternative Livelihood Project. e
FALP empowers local sherwomen economically
and socially by improving their lifestyles and bringing
them out of male domination in the form of family
income ownership rights through giving women
independent income generating opportunities.
...I have always loved to do embroidery for small
dresses of children, Rakhi continues almost out of
breath with excitement. Rakhi, among other young
sherwomen from the village who came to almost
all of the meetings held by PDIs team, was happy
for the new livelihood initiatives in her village.
Rakhis love for embroidery wasnt an ordinary
one, after explaining what she usually does, everyone
in the room looked at her in awe as she spoke. With
her husbands unstable income, she had always
found it hard to feed her ve children. Rakhi makes
beautiful dresses with beads and mirrors to sell in
Karachis city center. Her monthly home income
has since risen from $200 to $800 within the
second month. Rakhi found out that the traditional
embroidery she usually sells in her village was also
well received among the well-o families in Karachi,
thus, allowing her to generate higher income.
Above: Rakhi working on traditional embroidery
28
Hajra Joins Hands for Change
One can never tell that she is the one who runs
around fetching water for her family from a far o
water source, bringing wood to burn, looks after
her children and does everything to keep the house
in shape. During a whole days worker Hajra is as
joyous as a child, always ready to correct whats
wrong and make people happy.
I know I am no longer a young girl, she says
blushing, ...but I was a young girl once and have
wanted to do so much in life but never got the
opportunity to do it. ats what I want for the girls
now, to provide them with what I could not have.
I would do anything that can help make their lives
better, she adds.
32-year-old Hajra, is a mother of 4 children
and resident of Haji Noor Muhammad village, a
sherfolk slum in the coastal belt at about 45 km
from Karachis main city center. When she heard
about the Participatory Development Initiatives
(PDI) team coming weekly to visit and meet
the young girls of her Goth (Slum) to initiate
opportunities for them to gain skills and education,
she and others beamed with happiness.
Participatory Development Initiatives with the
support of UN-HABITAT Urban Youth Fund has
initiated the rst ever Fisherwomen Alternative
Livelihood Project in the coastal slums of Karachi, to
help empower the sherwomen. PDI provides them
socio-economic empowerment opportunities and
giving them means of alternative livelihoods to get
them out of poverty, violence and most importantly
gender discrimination, all central features in coastal
slums.
During the continuous mobilization meetings
prior the project, PDIs team ensured full
participation of villagers and their joint support
in establishing Women Embroidery and Literacy
Centers. Hajra and other slum women were really
excited at the news of Women Embroidery and
Literacy Centers opening in her village. Harja
would rush to each of the meetings held by PDIs
team with the village sherwomen, taking part in
the discussions and planning. It wasnt long before
she wholeheartedly announced her support for the
Project by giving one of her rooms in her home as
an Embroidery and Literacy Center working space.
God knows how one thinks, she says, I always
thought of helping these girls gain skills for their
income support, and now is the time I can really
make my wish come true.
PDIs team was rst surprised but pleased by her
announcement and asked her if there were any deep
reasons she felt the need to help PDI and the young
girls. Her only reply came as.
When was it we last heard that women income
generating programs are starting? If there is one now,
its going to bring a lot of change, and I want to be
part of that change making.
e Embroidery and Literacy Center aims to bring
self-empowerment to young women and girls, by
giving them means of ownership by providing them
with skills and access to small businesses. PDIs goal
is to put the young girls of Karachi slums one step
ahead in their communities and to be respected for
who they are. With the support of people like Hajra,
PDI is inspired to replicate similar Embroidery and
Literacy Centers in other villages, fully knowing
that real change is possible.
Above: Harja Speaks to young girls. Courtesy: PDI
29
Participatory development
initiatives
SParticipatory Development Initiatives |PDI|
is a youth-led non-proft and non-governmental
organization. Launched on June 24, 2004 by a group of
young community development professionals, human
rights activists, trade unionists, researchers, media
professionals and concerned citizens, PDI is registered
under the Societies Act 1860.The organization is
engaged in advocacy, community awareness, mass
mobilization, participatory community development,
participatory research, and networking on the local,
national as well as global issues negatively affecting
the lives and the livelihoods of the poor communities
especially women (www.pdi.org.pk).
PDI envisions a participatory development process
with active involvement from all stakeholders from
the conceptualization to planning and implementation
phases, making the development process people-
oriented, people-centered, and gender sensitive.
Overall, PDI strives to promote participatory, pro-
poor, and sustainable, environmentally friendly
and gender-balanced development, creating equal
opportunities and benefts Ior all.
PDI development programs include Climate Change
and DRR Program; Humanitarian Response Program;
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Program; Youth and
Gender Development Program; Sughar: Women
Economic Empowerment Program; Education
Development Program; and Land Rights and Food
Security Program.
The Fisherwomen
Alternative Livelihood
Project in Future
PDI hasn`t been able to replicate the whole FALP
in other slum areas and villages in Pakistan due to
limited fnancial resources. PDI now has plans to raise
enough money to ensure replication oI the FALP and
related livelihood activities in several slums areas
and villages around Karachi. PDIs plan is to visit
potential project areas frst to learn 'heart to heart the
challenges being experienced in such communities
to avoid the common mistake of imposing irrelevant
development ideas onto the community. For now,
the plan is for PDI to continue marketing and selling
young women`s fshing products, Iarming and poultry
projects while also offering marketing skills to the
young women. PDI will also continue to offer micro-
credit training and savings and credit schemes to
strengthen the structure of young womens sewing,
embroidery and Sughar Centers to make them
sustainable social enterprises.
Contact Details
Head Oce
PDI House, 2nd Floor,
Plot # 34-C, Street # 10,
Badar Commercial, DHA Phase- V
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan,
Phone : 92-21-35842762
Fax : 92-21-35842763
Email : pdi@pdi.org.pk
Website: www.pdi.org.pk
For more information on the Fisherwomen
Alternative Project and related PDI projects, please
contact:
Khalida Brohi
Program Manager
Email: khalidabrohi@pdi.org.pk
Tel: +9221353623353
30
CASE STUDY 8:
AWARE GIRLS EMPOWERS
YOUNG WOMEN IN MALE
DOMINATED PAKISTAN
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Challenges of Womens
Marginalization in Pakistan
Tizai Mauto
1
Male dominated Pakistan
YOUNG WOMEN are in a very dicult position
in Pakistan because of several cultural constrains.
Pakistani women have limited opportunities for
education, capacity building, and entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is limited mostly to men. For
women, both young and old, their role is mostly
conned to a house-wife or helper of husband, not
as an individual with a right to live independently.
Womens mobility is also very much restricted, and
in many parts of Pakistan, womens mobility and
decision making are heavily dependent on men.
Pakistani women struggle to become entrepreneurs
because of the restrictions on their mobility and
decision making. To become successful entrepreneurs
women have to rst challenge the oppressing gender
norms and culture of the Pakistani society, in
addition to other challenges of capacity building,
resource mobilization and linkages to the market.
EVEN the young women trained by Aware
Girls still nd it hard to secure working space in
open city markets. Worse still, Pakistani women
cannot be dealers in shops because it is a very male
dominated structure. According to the Aware Girls
Aware Girls Approach...
Employment opportunities for young women
are limited in conict ridden Pakistan. Investors
have shunned the country, forcing several
industries to close down and making it harder
for its 60-70% youth population to secure
livelihoods.
Aware Girls is a young women-led organization
working for women empowerment, gender
equality, and peace in Pakistan. It is working to
strengthen the leadership capacity of young
women, enabling them to act as agents of social
change in their communities.
Aware Girls trains women and builds their
capacity in a way that enables them to challenge
the norms of the society to have their own
individual human right, and capacitating them
to run small-scale, sustainable businesses. Over
the years, Aware Girls has provided mentorship
to young women, facilitating their womens
access to nancial resources and markets. Aware
Girls continues to provide young women with a
platform for capacity building, networking, and
advocacy, enabling them to act as agents of
womens empowerment.
31
Chairperson, Pakistan is unique regarding market
operators because one will only see men in the shops
(as dealers or owners). e situation is worse for
young women who nd it hard to expand from
home based businesses to central markets because
they are supposed to stay in closed spaces like homes
(and very few times in oces). ese young women
must increase the size of their businesses to a level
where they can assign men as care takers of their
enterprises in the open markets and dealer shops.
If you ever come to Peshawar, and you will
go to a market, the market gives the sense that
business is only for men.
AN INSPIRATIONAL STORY
The story of Gulalai Ismail
GULALAI ISMAIL is a 24-year-old young female
currently doing an MPhil in Biotechnology at the
Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad-Pakistan.
She is the founding member of Aware Girls, an
organization of young women established to provide
young Pakistani women with a platform for capacity
building, networking, and advocacy so they can
act as agents of women empowerment in their
communities.
Gulalai is also the Co-Chairperson of the Youth
Advocacy Network on Sexual and Reproductive
Health Rights in Pakistan. From the platform of
this network, she has been promoting sexual and
reproductive health rights of young people, not
only at the community level but also advocating for
policy changes at the national level.
ACTIVISM for women empowerment and
gender equality are Gulalais central passions. She
wants to become an entrepreneur to bring social
change leading to young womens empowerment
and strengthening of the womens rights movement.
- Gulalai Ismail (Chairperson, Aware Girls)
EMPOWERMENT
STORIES
Above: Young girls attending an HIV/AIDS train-
ing session organized by Aware Girls
32
e increasing religious militancy, Talibanization
and increased involvement of young people in the
Taliban movement motivated Gulalai to work
for peace promotion among young people in the
society. Worried by the growing involvement of
young people in the Taliban, she started the Peace
Education for Peer Educators who are playing an
active role in educating young people on issues of
peace, tolerance, and pluralism.
Gulalais advice to Youth-led NGOs
...one simple thing which is important is clarity
in goals, and clarity in understanding of the issue
is very important. Sometimes we, being youth led
organizations, are very much enthusiastic and
want to do everything but its important to be
specic to achieve our goals eectively.
PARTNERSHIPS FOR PROJECT
SUSTAINABILITY
Thriving from Urban Youth Fund Support
and Partnerships
With support from UN-Habitats Urban
Youth Fund, Aware Girls launched the Micro
Entrepreneurship Project for Young Women and
trained 30 young female entrepreneurs. Of them, 22
have already secured business loans from local Banks
such as Bank of Khyber and the First Women Bank.
e female entrepreneurs secured loans averaging
US $300 each. Aware Girls has also partnered with
a local organization called RISE. RISE is running
a skill building school and provides mentorship to
the young women trained by Aware Girls. RISE also
provides further training to Aware Girls graduates if
needed, and links the young women to the market.
Regrettably, the local Peshawar Municipality of
Pakistan does not support these kinds of programs
and partnerships.
e young women who were trained in partnership
with the RISE Skills Building School after the UN-
Habitat sponsored program have seen their incomes
almost double after the training. is has inspired
other young women to become economically
independent by developing their own livelihoods.
NOW other young women are approaching
Aware Girls to join the Micro entrepreneurship
Project. In response, Aware Girls strengthened its
partnership with the RISE Skills Building School to
train more young women. Trained women are now
more independent and mobile, thus better able to
challenge the prevailing cultural constraints and
gender norms.
If I describe my dream in one word I will say
Gender Equality. I have a dream of the world
where women are empowered, women are
respected as equal citizens, women have equal
access to health, education, employment,
justice, and other social services; a world where
women have the right to decide about their own
bodies and sexualities; a world where women
have the right to live a life of their own choice
Gulalai Ismail
33
The Road Ahead...
Aware Girls has plans on its wish list such as working with women who were victims oI recent foods. Funding
hasnt been secured yet but some partnerships with local organizations are already in place for technical and in-
kind support.
For the entrepreneurship program to continue, Aware Girls will need about US $25,000 to train 30 young Iemales
and US $50,000 to train 60 young Iemales. With this kind oI Iunding, Aware Girls will be able to continue with the
Micro Entrepreneurship Project for Young Women in the short-term.
Contact Information
Name: Gulalai Ismail
Position: Chairperson
E-mail: aware_girls@yahoo.com
Skype:gulalai.ismail
http://www.paragon100.asia
www.changemakers.com/
user/42951
House Number 296, Street 18
Sector F-5, Phase 6
Hayatabad, Peshawar
Tel: +9291586399091;
+92915594070
http://awaregirls.webs.com/
City: Peshawar
State/province: KPK
Country: Pakistan
34
CASE STUDY 9:
THE SUSTAINABLE YOUTH
EMPOWERMENT THROUGH
SKILL ACQUISITION AND
ADVOCACY PROJECT IN
MAIDUGURI NIGERIA
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Amina Abdullahi & Tizai Mauto
1
The Context of Urban Youth in Nigeria
and Maiduguri
Over 23 million Nigerian youth are currently
unemployed. e youth unemployment rate is
over 28%. e daily lives of many urban youth in
Nigeria are characterized by violence, crime and
poverty. Frequent strikes by teachers at institutions
of higher learning disrupt the education system.
Even educated youth now nd it very hard to secure
decent jobs.
e employment situation in the city of Maiduguri
is worsened by the presence of the violent Boko
Haram sect, whose members are mostly unemployed
youth. e struggles of young people to work and
earn income in Maiduguri are also compounded
by security forces and police deployed everywhere.
In some cases, security forces hunt and shoot down
innocent youth going about their everyday activities
in the city. Despite the unbearable employment and
security plight of youth in Maiduguri, most youth
continue to engage in multiple livelihood activities.
With support from the Urban Youth Fund, Friends
of the Habitat (FoH) launched the Sustainable
Youth Empowerment through Skill Acquisition and
Advocacy Project (SYESAA) in Maiduguri in 2010.
Roughly over 23 million Nigerians are
unemployed.
The youth members of the Boko Haram sect
have made life dicult for Maiduguri residents.
41 females and 40 males, have beneted from
the project.
43 youth were trained in computer operating
skills.
Friends of the Habitat has plans to train about
400 youth over the next 2 years at an average
cost of US$34 per trainee.
Funding agencies should release project
funds timely and communicate routinely with
grantees.
To minimize corruption, youth-led organizations
should ensure transparency when selecting
beneciaries.
In Maiduguri, the base of the Project, the Boko
Haram who are mostly youths have made life
dicult for the residents of the city. The soldiers
and police brought in to calm the situation and
bring things under control are worsening the
situation by hunting down innocent youths.
Amina Abdullahi
(Project Manager, FoH)
35
Enhancing Youth Livelihoods through
the SYESAA Project
rough SYESAA, youth beneciaries are taught
several skills, including repairing and servicing small
petrol engines, refurbishing old or scrap metal petrol
generators for resale, baking of cakes, meat pies,
doughnuts, and making fruit juices such as mango
juice, lemon juice, guava juice and mixed fruit juice.
ree beneciaries from SYESAA who were trained
in computer operating skills are currently operating
computer business centers. ey have also employed
seven other graduates from the SYESAA.
ree youth who graduated with computer skills
are working for other organizations.
Most of the youth trained through SYESAA were
from the slums, ve were male orphans and nine
were female orphans. Most of the beneciaries were
former political thugs and youth who without such
skills could easily have been used by unscrupulous
people for their political gains.
All the SYESAA trainees were also introduced
to a micro nance bank based in Maiduguri. 11
beneciaries have since accessed loans from the
bank. Five of the beneciaries have already fully
repaid their loans and are processing another loan
for higher amounts for their individual projects.
e rst loan amount is up to 10,000 Naira.
After repayment, the beneciary can apply for a
higher amount with an acceptable guarantor. e
repayments are made on monthly basis at the rate of
600 naira per month, and the loan should be repaid
after 10 months.
To this day, there are not many graduates who have
secured jobs in the formal sector. Only one female
has been employed by a foreign rm in Maiduguri.
e rest are engaged in their own businesses, using
their new skills to earn income on a daily basis.
Many of the computer training beneciaries are
self-employed. Some of the beneciaries have since
gone back to school with the savings they were able
to make. Overall, 40 male and 41 female youth
directly beneted from the SYESAA Project.
Addressing access to work space
constraints through the SYESAA Project
Friends of the Habitat (FoH) made use of
various training centers for the SYESAA Project.
Initially, the abandoned Maiduguri Metropolitan
Council Viewing Center was donated by the Local
Council with spirited support from community
leaders and the community at large. e Maiduguri
Computer training sessions in progress. Photo by:
Friends of the Habitat
Computer training sessions in progress. Photo by:
36
Metropolitan Council Viewing Center was very
convenient as it was located closer to the workshop
of the master trainer. At some point, FoH was also
using its oce space for training purposes so they
didnt have to rent physical space for the training.
e youth graduates who specialize in generator
repairs continue to use the training centers after
graduation.
Collaborative Opportunities
is implies that the youth would only need
work tables and they do not have to rent expensive
work space elsewhere in the city. e young women
beneciaries baking and confectionary businesses
are all home-based and the young women sell their
baking products to their immediate communities.
In both cases, the young women do not need rented
spaces in the City. Overall, SYESAA beneciaries do
not require any licenses for the working spaces they
are currently using and are therefore not paying any
tax to the local Maiduguri City Council.
Due to very high nancial and physical capital
start-up requirements, the SYESAA graduates are all
working as individuals in their livelihood activities.
As such, no cooperatives, associations or youth
groups have been formed by the youth graduates.
However, FoH is planning on introducing the youth
graduates as a group to the Ministry of Poverty
Alleviation and Youth Empowerment, hoping
that this will strengthen advocacy on youth policy
issues. During the training, FoH also approached
the National Directorate of Employment requesting
post-training mentorships with established
businesses. e National Directorate of Employment
has agreed to provide additional capital grants to
the trainees and the grant is expected by mid-2012.
Meanwhile, the wife of the Governor of Borno State
has since identied FoH as one of the organizations
that will help orphans and vulnerable children
under her Mercy Vincent Foundations Program.
e partnership with the MVF will lead to more
computers, training materials and allowances for
trainers, which will improve the overall training
program.

Recommendations and Lessons to
Funding Agencies and Youth-Led
Organizations
FoH recommends that funding agencies should
release project funds timely and communicate
routinely with grantees (noting, for example, that
UN-Habitat requests for SYESAA midterm and nal
project reports came late). FoH also recommends
that requests for information from commissioned
researchers should be introduced by the donor
instead of having each research initiative contact the
grantee separately. To other youth-led organizations,
FoH recommends that they should be careful in the
selection of beneciaries, particularly when selection
is done jointly with community leaders who may
corrupt the recruitment process. To this end, the
recruitment process should be transparent enough
Above: Children and youth attend computer train-
ing sessions at the Computer Center
Photo Courtesy by: Friends of the Habitat
37
to avoid imposition of unqualied beneciaries.
Pakistan does not support these kinds of programs
and partnerships.
e young women who were trained in partnership
with the RISE Skills Building School after the UN-
Habitat sponsored program have seen their incomes
almost double after the training. is has inspired
other young women to become economically
independent by developing their own livelihoods.
NOW other young women are approaching
Aware Girls to join the Micro entrepreneurship
Project. In response, Aware Girls strengthened its
partnership with the RISE Skills Building School to
train more young women. Trained women are now
more independent and mobile, thus better able to
challenge the prevailing cultural constraints and
gender norms.
Current status of the SYESAA Project
SYESAA youth trainees repair generators. Courtesy: Friends
of the Habitat
Given that the equipment and Iacilities purchased during the project are in good shape, the SYESAA will continue
into the Iuture. Using the same old and Iunctioning equipment and Iacilities, FoH has plans to train around 400
youth over the next 2 years at an average cost oI about US$34 per trainee. The SYESAA Project has generated
interest in the community Irom other NGOs working to reduce extreme poverty among youths and vulnerable
children. However, replication oI the project has so Iar only been done by trained benefciaries themselves. Some
graduates, such as generator repair technicians (pictured below), already set up workshops in the community
where they reach out, train and employ other youth. FoH is negotiating with several partners to scale up training
programs.
For the entrepreneurship program
Contact Information
Mohammed N Hassan
Position: Chairman
E-mail: herwainitiative@yahoo.com
Telephone:08035820512
Amina Abdullahi
Position: Project manager, Friends of the Habitat
Email: ameenahabdullahi@gmail.com
Address: 9/10 Bulumkutu ward,
Opposite NNPC lling station kano-Jos road,
Maiduguri Borno state Nigeria
City: Maiduguri
State/province: Borno State
Country: Nigeria
38
CASE STUDY 10:
NEPALESE YOUTH BENEFIT
FROM TEAM FOR NATURE
AND WILDLIFE TNWS
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
JOB/ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROJECT
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Tizai Mauto
1
Generating Urban Youth Employment,
Reversing Rural-Urban Migration
Rural-urban migration is a serious problem in
Nepal and most rural to urban migrants are youth
in search of employment opportunities in cities.
rough funding from UN-Habitats Urban Youth
Fund, a Kathmandu-based youth-led non-prot
social organization, Team for Nature and Wildlife
(TNW), launched the Youth Empowerment for
Green Job Project (YEGJ). YEGJ aims to help the
unemployed and needy youth based in Kathmandu
Valley pursue environmentally friendly jobs. Youth
graduates from the YEGJ project are engaged in
some form of self-directed peri-urban or rural
agricultural activities ranging from organic vegetable
farming, bee keeping, oriculture, to poultry
farming. Most youth graduates are conducting their
farming activities as individuals or in small groups
allowing them to combine resources together and
earn prots from their businesses. TNW continues
to oer advice and support to the young graduate
entrepreneurs as needed.
TNW reverses rural-urban migration by
encouraging and further supporting youth graduates
to start entrepreneurial activities in rural and peri-
urban areas.
TNWs Mission
Team for Nature and Wildlife (TNW) is a youth-
led, non-prot non-governmental social and
environmental organization founded for eco-
friendly development of the communities. It
has been established and legally registered
since 2007 and is aliated with the Social
Welfare Council of the Nepal government. The
organization works on 3 Es: Education, Economy
and Environment involving children, youth, and
women as the main beneciaries.
Highlights
Access to farming land is a serious problem in
urban Kathmandu, mainly because housing
provision is prioritized over urban farming.
The peri-urban and rural land used by the
graduates is mostly held by private individuals
and TNW negotiates access to farming land on
behalf of youth graduates
The Himalayan Agricultural Cooperative with an
annual operating budget of about $US63,100
(NRs 5,000,000) has emerged as a solid business
platform for youth farmers. Youth members of
the cooperative engage in a range of activities,
including vegetable and citrus farming,
mushroom farming, almond farming, bee
keeping, and oriculture.
39
e bureaucratic procedures youth have to
undergo to register their informal enterprises
require major assistance from committed
organizations and TNW has trained youth
working in the informal economy and assisted
them with the registration of their enterprises
after the training.
Mr BK Dalit (President, TNW)
Young Peoples Access to Working Space
and Markets
rough the YEGJ Project, youth receive skills
training in a range of activities including vegetable
farming, poultry farming, composting, bee keeping,
and candle making. Upon graduation, access
to farming land is a serious problem in urban
Kathmandu, mainly because housing provision is
prioritized over urban farming. However, youth
graduates can easily secure land for activities such
as vegetable farming and bee keeping in peri-urban
and rural areas. e fact that youth graduates mostly
access idle land for farming activities in peri-urban
and rural areas has seen an increased number of
youth going back to start farming activities in rural
areas where they originally came from. TNW plays
a central role in securing farming land for the youth
graduates. e peri-urban and rural land used by
the graduates is mostly held by private individuals
and TNW negotiates access to farming land on
behalf of youth graduates. TNW also pays around
$US200 per year to lease one hectare of land for
youth in peri-urban areas. Farming land is usually
cheaper and abundant in far-o rural areas, where
the maximum payment is around $US100 per
hectare annually. Youth do not require any licensing
to conduct farming in peri-urban and rural areas
private land owners simply require youth to have
some recommendation from TNW and be citizens
of Nepal.
Spotlight on Mr. Rai Bahadur Raia
young male farmer & entrepreneur
Mr Rai is a 36-year old young man who received
training in organic compost production, organic
vegetable farming, bee keeping, and oriculture
under TNWs Youth Empowerment for Green
Job Project. During the training at TNW, Mr.
Rai learned more about the value of team work
for the success of any business. After the training,
he inspired some of his TNW colleagues to set
up an agro cooperative. TNW facilitated in the
formation of the agro cooperative which has been
formally registered as the Himalayan Agricultural
Cooperative (HAC).
Mr. Rai became the General Manager and General
Secretary of the HAC. Following the formation of
the HAC, Mr. Rai and his friends moved back to
rural Kathmandu where they took two hectares of
land on lease for mushroom farming and o-season
organic vegetable farming. Under the guidance of
TNW, the HAC plans to establish an Organic
School to provide education and training to young
people on organic farming. More than 100 existing
farmers became share holders in the HAC and the
HAC now has a capital fund of NRs. 4 million.
e HAC cooperative has since grown to become
Mr. Rai & HAC members working on farm devel-
opment Courtesy: TNW
40
the biggest agro cooperative in the district. Moving
forward, the HACs mission is to continuously
supply cheaper organic vegetables to the people of
Kathmandu and beyond.
Spotlight on Ms. Sangeeta Bhusala
young female farmer & entrepreneur
Ms. Sangeeta is a 22-year old woman who is
currently studying for a Bachelors in Business
Studies (BBS 3rd year) at the Sankar Dev Campus
in Kathmandu. Ms. Sangeeta has always been
interested in organic vegetable farming. Following
TNWs Youth Empowerment for Green Job Project,
Ms. Sangeeta got an opportunity to receive training
in organic compost production, organic vegetable
farming and entrepreneurship.
rough the assistance of TNW, Ms. Sangeeta has
been connected to local agro-businesses and this has
made it easier for her to market and sell her organic
vegetables. In addition to organic vegetable and
tomato farming, Ms. Sangeeta will soon commence
livestock production as means to generate organic
compost and extra income from selling milk
and milk products. Recently, TNW facilitated a
collateral free loan amounting to NRs 1. 5 lakh for
Ms. Sangeeta so she could expand her farmland to
7 ropanis and begin organic tomato farming as well.
Ms. Sangeeta is currently paying NRs. 8000.00
($US100) per year per ropani of land. Ms. Sangeeta
has emerged as one of the most successful young
female agro-entrepreneurs in Kathmandu and she
has been featured in local newspapers and media.
Striving for a Gender Balance in Youth
Empowerment
TNW recruited trainees for the YEGJ project
on a 1: 1 basis or 50% female and 50% male.
Young women prefer vegetable farming and candle
making. Candle making is favored by young
females because its easy to do and can be carried
out from their homes. In winter, Nepal can get as
much as 18hrs of load shedding per day and this
makes candle making and selling a viable business
for most youth. Mainstreaming female youth
employment is also evident in the activities of
YEGJ graduates. Eleven female youth members
have formed a vegetable farming group; two female
youth engage in composting and earn about $80 per
month; seven female youth have formed a Candle
Entrepreneurship Group in which they make and
sell quality candles, earning about $300 per month;
and twenty-ve other young women are engaged in
both oriculture and vegetable farmingthey are
currently selling seedlings to the market and plan
to scale up their operations to provide opportunities
for other young females in the community.
Ms. Sangeeta Bhusal working in her vegetable farm-
land Courtesy: TNW
41
FOREWORD
Reaching Out to Informal Youth
rough the YEGJ Project, TNW has mostly
targeted youth who reside in slum areas and whose
livelihoods are dependent on the informal economy.
About 75% of youth recruited for training by TNW
reside in slum areas and 50% of the trainees have their
livelihoods completely dependant on the informal
economy. TNWs overall goal is to recruit and train
unemployed slum youth who are willing to receive
the training. According to TNW President, the
lengthy bureaucratic procedures for youth to register
their informal enterprises require major assistance
from committed organizations and TNW has
trained youth working in the informal economy and
assisted them with the registration after the training.
ere are also other informal business groups among
youth in the areas of candle production and selling
worm farming for the production of composting to
sell at the market, and nursery activities on barren
slum lands, among others. TNW is focused on
having the graduates register their businesses with
the Department of the Small and Cottage Industries
and Oce of Company Registration under the
Ministry of Industries and Commerce.
Mainstreaming Access to Credit
Youth graduates secure collateral free loans of up
to NRs 150,000.00 ($US1875) from private banks.
e Nepal Business Youth Foundation (NBYF)
helps facilitate and manage the loan application
process for the TNW graduates. e loan facility
has given relief to some youth willing to start their
businesses but it hasnt been enough. Most youth
graduates prefer to work in groups so they can use
combined nancial resources instead of private bank
loans. Five youth graduates, one female and four
males, have so far received loans from the DCBL
Bank. Two of those who received the loans ventured
into poultry farming and the remaining three,
including the female youth, chose organic vegetable
farming. All youth graduates from the YEGJ Project
are self-employed.
About 75% of youth recruited for training by
TNW reside in slum areas and 50% of the trainees
completely depend on the informal economy for
their livelihoods.
Most youth graduates prefer to work in groups
so they can use combined nancial resources
instead of private bank loans.
42
Partnerships & Capacity
Building for Project
Sustainability
Given that the equipment and facilities purchased
during the project are in good shape, the SYESAA
will continue into the future. Using the same old
and Iunctioning equipment and Iacilities, FoH has
plans to train around 400 youth over the next 2
years at an average cost oI about US$34 per trainee.
The SYESAA Project has generated interest in the
community Irom other NGOs working to reduce
extreme poverty among youths and vulnerable
children. However, replication of the project has so far
only been done by trained benefciaries themselves.
Some graduates, such as generator repair technicians
(pictured below), already set up workshops in the
community where they reach out, train and employ
other youth. FoH is negotiating with several partners
to scale up training programs.
For the entrepreneurship program
The Youth Empowerment
for Green Jobs Today
TNW currently lacks enough Iunding to train youth on
a long-term basis. Training can only be conducted for
Iew days due to limited Iunding. On 16th November
2010, TNW set up an 'Organic School (http://
tnwnepal.org/org_school.html), in coordination
with the Central Vegetable Seed Production Centre
(CVSPC) under the Ministry oI Agriculture and
Cooperatives, to provide organic vegetable farming/
entrepreneurship training with the technical support of
CVSPC. Through the organic school, TNW provided
training to twenty-eight youth Irom September 19-21,
2011. Likewise, 16 youth received similar training on
13th-15th January 2012. TNW aspires to be a leading
global youth-led NGO in the provision oI eco-Iriendly
youth entrepreneurship and eco-friendly community
development. TNW believes that they are part oI a
global social movement to raise awareness regarding
the importance of promoting environmentally friendly
youth entrepreneurship activities. TNW is currently
in talks with local business organizations to launch a
Youth Entrepreneurship Award (YEA) for successful
individual youth and group enterprises in Nepal.
The YEA will coincide with the International Youth
Day every year. TNW has also launched the Youth
Entrepreneurship Campaign (YEC) 2020 as a means
to expand on the YEGJ project. With YEC 2020,
TNW seeks to have at least 2020 successIul youth
entrepreneurs in Nepal by the year 2020. However,
lack oI adequate fnancial support has hindered
progress. For instance, about fve hundred youth have
already applied Ior Iull training with TNW but there is
currently no funding to train them.
Team for Nature & Wildlife Contact Details
Mr BK Dalit
President
Team for Nature and Wildlife (TNW)
P.O.Box 7403
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: 977 1 44 79 173
Email: bkdalit@tnwnepal.org;
tnwnepal.green@gmail.com
Website: www.tnwnepal.org
43
CASE STUDY 11:
CONCERNED YOUTH
ORGANIZATIONS ICT FOR
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT, BLANTYRE
MALAWI
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Jackson Mtungila & Tizai Mauto
1
The Context of Urban Youth in Malawi
In Malawi, access to computer skills and
knowledge is limited to the few young people who
can aord the fees for colleges, which oer computer
training. ere are also a few others whose schools
have computer learning facilities. Many of the
Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS), which
are attended by the majority of secondary school
students, do not have computer training facilities.
Records show that there are 15,741 students
attending 108 CDSS in the South West Education
Division. e majority of them do not have
computer training at their schools. e Concerned
Youth Organization (CYO) and the Blantyre City
Council with funding from the Opportunities Fund
for Urban Youth-Led Development of the UN-
HABITAT, jointly implemented a project aimed at
training the youth in computer skills. As a result, they
were economically empowered for the betterment of
their livelihoods and that of their communities. e
project was called ICT for Youth Development and
it ran from May 2010 to May 2011. e project was
initiated with the understanding that basic computer
knowledge is a key requirement for youth seeking
employment. In addition, it has been proven that
basic computer knowledge can quickly and easily
be translated into entrepreneurial endeavors by way
of self-employment. is is evidenced from the
boom in the computer services cafes/bureaus that
oer secretarial and Internet services. To this end,
the objectives of the ICT for Youth Development
Project was: to equip young people with computer
knowledge, build capacity of the youth towards
establishing micro-enterprises in ICT, to increase
access to information and knowledge sharing among
the youth through Internet, and to raise youths
chances and competitiveness towards employment.
Accomplishments
About 90% of Community Day Secondary
Schools in Malawi do not have access to internet
120 youth including 60 females and 60 males
have beneted from the CYO ICT Project
Lesson
Strong partnership with well equipped Blantyre
City Council provided solid mentorship, nancial
management & administrative services to CYO.
Recommendations
Funding agencies should disburse funding in
a timely manner especially in the context of an
inationary environment such as Malawi.
UN-Habitat should provide adequate funding
when neededthe bigger the grant, the bigger
the project
44
Impact of the ICT Project on Youth
Beneciaries and the Community
rough the ICT project, 120 underprivileged
students with equal gender representation,
particularly those attending CDSSs within the
City of Blantyre, were oered full scholarships and
training in basic computer knowledge. e students
were trained in Microsoft WORD, EXCEL,
ACCESS, POWER POINT, PUBLISHER, and
Internet Surng for two weeks. Upon completion,
the students graduated with certicates of attendance
and a training manual.
Testimonials From Beneciaries
e reception of the project among various
stakeholders went remarkably well. e project not
only caught the interest of the youth in beneciary
CDSSs but raised the interest in ICT and the use
of computers. Furthermore, the teachers and the
youth not attending school expressed interest in the
training. ey have asked if the training could be
extended to others. It is certain that such interest
will increase the quest for knowledge in the use of
computers and information sharing among young
people in the impact area of the project. Several
individuals have already given their opinion of
the project. e keen interest demonstrated by the
South West Education Division was of great value
through their approval of the project and support
of the activities. See below the comments made at
the launch of the project on September 9, 2010 by
Mrs. L. Kamsesa, representative of the Division
Manageress, and by Sir Dambo.
...when this project was rst introduced to
us, it caught our interest outright because we are
striving to ensure that ICT is well integrated into
our education system. However, we are held back
in our eorts because of limited resources. ere are
108 Community Day Secondary Schools under the
South West Education Division in which most of
them do not have computer facilities. However, these
schools, like all other Government Schools, enroll
most of the secondary school going students in the
city. at speaks volume of how great the need for
computer training in our schools is. erefore, when
CYO approached us oering this training to our
students, we did not delay to scrutinize the project
e world is becoming more computerized thus
we needed the computer packages taught in ICT
for Youth Development for us to cope with life
Daniel Gulaimfa (Student at Chirimba Community
Day Secondary School)
e students will need the acquired computer skills
in the professional training they will undertake after
their secondary school studies
Mr Edmond Mwenefumbo (Teacher, Chirimba
Day Secondary School)
45
FOREWORD
concept and implementation plans for satisfaction
of our requirements. In the same vein, we commend
CYO for coming up with this initiative... and ask
them to extend this project to more schools and to
increase the number of students it is enrolling from
each school
Above, the rst and the third training sessions in progress with Facilitators
The course will help me and people in my
community.
Yasinta Nzinde, (Student at Chirimba CDSS)
46
PARTNERSHIP
FOR PROJECT
SUSTAINABILITY
Unique and Strong
Partnership with Blantyre
City Council
By design, the ICT project has two main implementing
partners: Concerned Youth Organization as the
principal implementer and Blantyre City Council
as the fnancial Iacilitator. This arrangement took
advantage of the already existing cordial and long time
working relationship between the two institutions. The
roles of the Concerned Youth Organization during
the implementation of the ICT Project included:
conducting project awareness initiatives, project
planning; leading procurement of project equipment
and materials, recruitment oI benefciaries and
trainers, logistical arrangements, co-ordination and
supervision of training, communication, organization
of graduation, and project reporting. The roles of the
Blantyre City Council included administration of
the project fnances, hosting oI training sessions and
graduations, monitoring and evaluations, leading
in short listing oI benefciary schools, and advising
and supporting procurement of project materials and
meetings. The project also has various stakeholders
guided by their specifc roles and infuence in the
project. Generally, the signifcance oI the stakeholders
is constant throughout the implementation period. In
addition to CYO and BCC, the other organizations
that participated include: the South West Education
Division OIfce (SWED), UN-Habitat Malawi OIfce
(Project Financiers), Technical, Entrepreneurial
and Vocational Training Authority (TEVETA),
Administrators oI Community Day Secondary
Schools, youth organizations` working in the City
of Blantyre, some international organizations,
media, National College oI InIormation Technology
(NACIT), trainers, and benefciary students and
suppliers of project materials.
CYO has been inspired by the warm reception and
support the project has received. The ICT Project
generally matches with the current global ICT
development initiatives; addresses the interest of non-
beneftting youth and in many cases it allows teachers
in Community Day Secondary Schools to have a
chance to access computer training skills. To this end,
CYO is already working on ways of replicating the
project to the entire City of Blantyre. The Concerned
Youth Organization plans to continue offering
computer training to youth in the city. The Blantyre
City Council expressed interest in continuing to partner
with CYO, and they promised that CYO will still use
the same room for trainings. In terms of funding, the
benefciaries will pay a reasonable amount which
will be set aside Ior computer maintenance. Some
institutions also expressed interest in supporting the
sustainability of the ICT Project.
Contact Information
Jackson Mtungila
Project Manager
Concerned Youth Organisation (CYO)
Kachere Township
O Blantyre - Zomba Road
P.O. Box 5430
Limbe
Malawi
Tel.: +265 1 607 232
47
CASE STUDY 12:
THE TEARS ARTS AND PEACE
EMPOWERMENT VILLAGE
TAPEV PROJECT, NAKURU
KENYA
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Raphael Okumu & Tizai Mauto
1
The Context of Urban Youth in Nakuru
Nakuru has been at the center of political violence,
especially during national elections, in Kenya.
Unemployed youth are the most dominant group
of people in both the vigilante and political witch
hunt groups, which are at the center of political and
tribal conicts. In 2010, Nakuru was named the
fastest growing town in East Africa, yet the majority
of Nakuru youth do not have decent jobs. High
unemployment in the Nakuru community is mainly
due to the collapse of many local manufacturing
and processing industries such as the Kenya Farmers
Association, Nakuru Tanners, and Rift Valley Textile,
among others. e Kenyan education system has
also contributed to youth unemployment by mainly
focusing on academic skills instead of talents,
mentorship, apprenticeship and vocational skills.
In general, the Nakuru Town case represents part
of the Kenyan youth population, which comprises
65% of the total national population. Over the
years, the Kenyan government has been reviewing
the existing education system with a shift from
classroom-based learning to a more practical and
talent-based approach. As a result, the Tears Arts and
Peace Empowerment Village (TAPEV), supported
through the Urban Youth Fund, was implemented
by the Tears Group Kenya (TGK) considering the
social and employment priorities of urban youth
and the Kenyan government in general.
Access to Working Space for Youth
Graduates
Most graduates from the TAPEV Project
form youth groups and partnerships while still
undergoing training. is has been made possible
through entrepreneurship training for business plan
development, which encourages partnership and
collaboration to combine unique talents.
In 2010, Nakuru was named the fastest growing
town in East Africa and yet the majority of
Nakuru youth do not have decent jobs.
Youth comprise about 65% of the Nakuru
population.
49 informal youth workers, 21-35 years-old,
engaging in street vending, hawking and small
scale businesses have received entrepreneurship
and business development skills training.
Graduates from the TAPEV project have since
formed youth groups such as SPEAK and Dance.
Comprehensive partnerships are required to
eectively address the interconnected issues of
urban poverty and youth development
48
In addition, while forming and working in groups,
the TAPEV Project acts as an incubator for outgoing
trainees, which oers advice and connections to
available local resources.
e youth groups that have been formed so
far include band clubs, a street art studio, and a
clothing line establishment. Some TAPEV graduates
are also using dierent community organization
oces as space for product displays and marketing.
TGK has also documented a number of former
trainees (including Henry Ngeges Tatoo and
Arts studio) who are renting spaces in the Central
Business District (CBD) where they developed
robust commercial businesses. In the CBD, the
graduates are paying US$140 as annual rent for
commercial spaces. e rental payments allow the
graduates to secure business licenses. However, the
annual US$140 business license excludes other taxes
and advertisement fees to the local municipality.
Working in groups has made it easier for youth
graduates to access available government resources,
such as business licenses. e Music Department
also has a musical band responsible for coordinating
music and poetry in Nakuru Municipality. TGK has
also initiated a music band and a visual arts network
and encourages graduates to join other associations
for expanded business opportunities.
Impact on Beneciaries Income and the
Community
rough the TAPEV Project, TGK has reached
out to 49 informal workers (21-35 years-old)
engaging in street vending, hawking and small scale
businesses. e informal youth workers all received
entrepreneurship and business development skills
training. e training also included leadership
application and value based decision making skills.
Graduates from the TAPEV project have since
formed youth groups such as SPEAK and Dance
5.6.7.
.the TAPEV acts as an incubator for outgoing
trainees and oers advice and linkages to
available local resources they can tap on. Among
the groups created includes performing Band
Clubs, Street Arts Studio and Clothing Line
establishment. Some youth groups use dierent
community organization oces as space for
product displays and as market outlet.
Raphael Okumu ( Programs Support &
Operations Team )
...the income from the Henry Ndgeges of Street
Art Studio can be a case study since with his
business he can make up a maximum of USD
110.00 on a good business day and an average
of USD 90.00 on slow business day. The Henry
Ndgeges has three partners earning a living
from the business.
Raphael Okumu (Programs Support &
Operations Team )
49
FOREWORD
Omari (above in the brown jacket ) joined TAPEV
in October 2009 and completed in February
2010. He formed a three member band known as
SolfaTamu Band in 2010. e band is currently
among the leading local bands in Nakuru. Today
he plays as lead guitarist and a soloist in the band.
A journey and experience of four months shaped
his destiny and passion as he testies. e above
photos were taken during a street band performance
in Kisumu Kenya during 1st World AIDS Day
celebration in 2011. Omari is among the few to get
family support for talent Development in Kenya.
However, today parents are facing the realities
with the new proposed education system in Kenya.
Omaris story will inspire many to face reality.
e eatre Group has also been successful in
its performances across the Nakuru community.
e performances are staged to raise money or as
an outreach programs to recruit more youth from
the community. e TAPEV Music department
has established a Musical Band that is successfully
coordinating music and poetry in the Nakuru
Municipality. e Department also established
Visual Arts Network and a few of the graduates have
since joined other associations. e Musical Band
now raises its own income from music production,
composition and live performances
TAPEV Music Band members compose music at the TAPEV Music Department in Nakuru.
Source: www.tearsgroupkenya.org
Omari and the SolfaTamu Band members perform
in Kisumu during the 2011 World AIDS Day Cel-
ebration in Kisumu, Kenya. Photo Courtesy: Tears
Group Kenya
TAPEV eatre Group on an outreach performance
to recruit more youth into theatrical programs.
Source: tearsgroupkenya.org
Spotlight on Omari, the Theatre Group and the Music Band
50
PARTNERSHIPS
FOR PROJECT
SUSTAINABILITY
TGK currently builds the capacity of youth groups
through leadership and program development. The
Music Band is currently engaged in peace building and
violence prevention through musical performances.
The income of the music band and of the arts business
trainees fuctuates, depending on the season. The
Henry Ndgeges oI Street Art Studio, Ior example,
can make up to US$110.00 on a good day and an
average oI US$90.00 on a 'slow day. The Henry
Ndgeges oI Street Art Studio now has three partners
earning a living Irom the business. Some TAPEV
graduates have also formed a community theatre
group that recruits other youth from the community.
These graduates are conducting on the job training
on theatrical and other creative works where they
are passing along their skills to the other community
youth. The theatre group has also volunteered in
community civic education and social mobilization.
Graduates who received fashion and design training
have also started a tailoring shop making school
uniforms at affordable rates. Within the same tailoring
shop, the operators are transferring their skills to their
family members through on the job training.
Recommendations and
lessons to other youth-led
organizations
Tears Group Kenya believes that comprehensive
partnerships are required to effectively address
the interconnected issues of urban poverty and
youth development. TGK also recommends that
implementation of educational youth development
programs should emphasize an informal setting that
will catalyze new innovations and creativity. For
other youth groups or youth-led organizations, TGK
recommends that such youth groups and organizations
specialize in areas of their strength and avoid unhealthy
competition and undercutting. Specifcally Ior the arts
training programs, TGK thinks that such programs
and projects should focus on life skills training for
value-based decision making, creative arts skills for
talent development, and entrepreneurship integrated
with technology as a full package for the development
of a talented youth artist.
The Road Ahead
The TAPEV project is still ongoing, even with limited
fnancial resources. In 2011, without much external
funding, the program trained over 99 youth through a
self-reliance approach. TKG has fundraising plans to
scale up the TAPEV Project in Nyanza Province and
other Counties in Nyanza, including Kisumu Town
and Siaya County by the end oI 2015. TEARS has
secured partial funding towards administration and
laptops Ior extended training through HIPLIFE. The
TGK has initiated a social enterprise program and
is seeking partners to build a youth social enterprise
and innovation program for sustainability and self-
reliance.
Contact Information
Raphael Okumu
Programs Support & Operations Team
Old Bishop House Catholic Diocese of
Nakuru, Moi Road
BOX:17205 -20100, Nakuru, Kenya
E-mail: info@tearsgroupkenya.org
Phone:+254 722 867673
+254 720 697634
+254 202 130381
For more success stories or testimonies, please visit the following
links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ4EwqCLguk&feature=email
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46oGI8Ot0qA&feature=email
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdvD6geDpO4&feature=email
To learn more about Tears Group Kenya, please visit:
http://www.tearsgroupkenya.org/
51
CASE STUDY 13:
ENDURANCE YOUTH
ASSOCIATIONEYA DRIVES
URBAN YOUTH OUT OF
POVERTY IN ETHIOPIA
Catiliq uonsulvili,
Tizai Mauto
1
Urban youth struggle to make ends
meet in Ethiopia
Youth unemployment is one of the main priorities
of the Government of Ethiopia, and its clearly
supported through the National Youth Policy
document and also the urban and rural youth
development programs.
e challenge is that youth aged 15-29 years-old
make up 28% of Ethiopias population and 74% are
under the age of 35 years-old. Most urban youth in
Ethiopia work in the despised informal economy.
With support from UN-Habitat Urban Youth Fund,
Endurance Youth Association launched the Helping
Urban Opportunity Neglected Youth (HUONY)
in 2009.e HUONY targeted youth aged 18-35
years-old according to African youth charter. By
targeting the 18-35 year old, youth below 18 years
old were left out of the project.
EYA launched HUONY project to provide
training, business skills and business start-up loans
to unemployed youth. e project focused on
making vulnerable youth self-sucient through
inductive training and experience sharing.
e HOUNY Project supported those youth
who completely lacked both formal and informal
EYAs Mission
Endurance Youth Association is a non-for-prot
membership based Ethiopian resident charitable
society that is concerned with and working
towards empowering, (technical, economical
and environmental) opportunity neglected
youths of through strengthening their capacity
through networking and catalyzing wider action
across Civil Society and Government at all levels
for sustainable youth development (www.eya.
org.et).
Highlights
10 youth groups with 53 youth members,
including 25 young women and 28 young men
beneted from the Helping Urban Opportunity
Neglected Youth Project funded through the
Urban Youth Fund
Youth graduates mostly work in groups
making it easier for them to get start-up loans
from EYA and to share knowledge and skills.
The coee making group members have
doubled their income within 2 years. They
started with a US$2,500 Responsive Seed
Sponsorship Fund (RSSF) from EYA in 2009 and
now their capital has reached US$5,500 and they
repaid 98% of the RSSF.
52
employment opportunities. EYA considered that
those youth with informal businesses were already
working and supporting themselves and their
families and didnt require urgent assistance.
According to EYA, the complex nature of
informal businesses makes it harder for a single
NGO/CSO to address the challenge. To deal with
multifaceted urban youth challenges EYA would
require adequate resource mobilization, volunteers,
technical support and local funding to supplement
funding from international development agencies.
Sub-city WORDAs boost youth graduates
access to working space and markets
Youth graduates access working space mainly
through the assistance/permission of a small unit
of government (WORDA). WORDAs provide
small working space or shades which will be given
to youth groups. ere are 10 sub cities in the
Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa. e 10 sub-cities
have a combined total of 119 WORDAs and EYA
is working in WORDA 01, 05 and 09 in Kolfe
Keranio. EYA would rst organize the youth before
approaching the WORDAs to secure working space
or shade for youth groups. Four youth groups with
5-8 members have already secured working space
through the WORDAs. Even so, access to secure
working space remains dicult and expensive for
most youth, and so far six, youth groups havent
been able to secure working space.
e 6 groups are renting expensive working space
from private land owners. e youth groups who
acquire land with the assistance of WORDAs pay
much less rentals per month compared to those
who acquire working space from private land
owners. Dairy groups for example, pay $10/month
for working space through WORDA compared to
$110/month for the same space obtained through
individuals.
Empowerment Stories
Spotlight on Zuriash Teni
Zuriash Teni is a 22 year old young female working
in the kitchen at the Bisrat Caf group enterprise
in Addis Ababa. e group enterprise consists of 5
young females and 3 young men. Zuriash lives with
her ve young brothers and one sister. Her parents
income is not enough to feed the family and that
is why she is working at the Bisrat Caf. Zuriash
and her group members rst came to EYA looking
for a loan even though they didnt know what they
were going to do with the loan. Zuriash and her
business partners then participated in EYA training
under the Helping Urban Opportunity Neglected
Youth Project. After receiving the training from
EYA, Zuriash and her group members secured a
45,000.00 birr (US$2,647) loan to start their own
small Bisrat Caf.
Its a great opportunity to work as a group. We
do have dierent experiences but collectively we
make meaningful dierence. After participating in
the training, I developed condence to step ahead,
now I earn money from my job and am beginning
to support my siblings. EYA and the Bisrat Cafe
project changed my status.
Zuriash Teni
53
FOREWORD
Spotlight on Tsige Haileselasie
Tsige Haileselasie is a 29 year old young female
who is energetic and passionate about her work. She
was born in Mekle located 700 km from Addis Ababa
and there she stayed with her father and a young
sister. When Tsige was in high school, her father
died in a car accident and she began fending for
the survival of her sister and herself. She left Mekle
and came to Addis Ababa with her sister looking for
their mother who was living with their stepfather. In
Addis Ababa, Tsige and her young sister began living
with their mother but their stepfather was not happy
about it. is forced Tsige and her sister to emigrate
to the Middle East in search of a better life. In the
middle east, Tsige began working in a beauty hair
salon whilst her younger sister worked as a house
maid elsewhere. Unfortunately, Tsiges young sister
passed away and Tsige couldnt stay in the Middle
East because she was depressed. Tsige decided to
return to Addis Ababa.
Back in Addis Ababa, Tsige had to live with her
mother and stepfather again since she didnt have
a job to support herself. She was not happy to be
dependent on her family again and for that reason
she decided to get married. Even though her husband
is working, Tsige is still expected to nd a job and
help supplement the family income. When Tsige
learnt that Endurance Youth Association was giving
training and nancial support to organized and
unemployed youth, she gathered her unemployed
friends to join EYAs Opportunity Neglected Youth
project. During the training, Tsige and her friends
formed a group enterprise named Ten Groupa
total of 10 unemployed youth with 7 young women
and 3 young men. After the training, Tsige and her
Ten Group friends started a women hair dressing
salon and they got a 45,000.00 birr (US$2647.00)
loan from EYA .
Zuriash (center) and her team members at the Bisrat Caf
-EYA
It is a good opportunity to work with Endurance for us because we
get a loan without interest, that will be paid back within two years
and this is enough time for our business to stand on its own. In addi-
tion, we took packages of training from EYA for team work, entrepre-
neurship, nancial management, conict management, communica-
tion skillsthose trainings gave us various kills. If we work hard we
can change ourselves. From now onwards, we can earn better salary
from our job and we can help our families.
Tsige Haileselasie
Tsige working at the Ten Group Hair Saloon
54
EYA Helps Youth Overcome Group
Challenges and Access Start-Up Loans
e EYA prioritizes the idea of having trainees
and graduates work in groups as opposed to
having them work as individuals. Having youth
work in groups has proved to be cost eective for
EYA since it has been possible to address multiple
operational challenges with minimum resources.
Between 2009 and 2011, the EYA has managed to
organize 10 youth groups with 5-8 members and
EYA is working actively with 5 youth groups. e
youth groups specialize in diverse entrepreneurial
activities ranging from animal husbandry, buying
and selling of dairy products, wood and metal work,
caf or small coee shops, hair salons, music and
circus, and construction work. From 2012, EYA also
began to work with individual youth entrepreneurs
to encourage creativity and innovation among the
trainees and graduates.
e individual approach is also being encouraged
following challenges experienced in some youth
groups. Some youth graduates are not willing to
work in groups given limited team spirit, conicts
and limited benets. However, EYA continues to
encourage youth to form groups to share knowledge
and skills and also facilitate access to working
space through WORDAs and more importantly
to secure start-up loans through joint collateral.
e EYA gives youth groups a US$2,500 interest-
free business start-up loan through the Responsive
Seed Sponsorship Fund (RSSF). e EYA also oers
conict management training to help foster and
sustain group projects.
Obtaining collateral is a challenge for youth.
rough EYA, youth groups can secure start-up
loans with minimum collateral. EYA asks youth to
bring a relative or friend earning a monthly salary of
at least US$29. Asking for some collateral increases
responsibility among groups and encourages them
to work hard. Some youth members in a group
cant get collateral at all but if the majority of group
members get collateral the RSSF will be released
and some group members will provide collateral for
those who cannot. e $2,500 RSSF start-up loan
has been adequate for some businesses such as hair
salons and coee making but it has been inadequate
for wood and metal work and large scale dairy
business. Wood and metal work require expensive
machines and EYA encourages youth groups to
buy used materials. For a large scale dairy business,
US$2,500 is only enough to buy 3 cows.
Mainstreaming Gender in Youth
Employment
EYA has so far empowered 10 youth groups with
53 youth members, including 25 young women and
28 young men. Economic opportunities for young
women are still limited compared to young men in
Ethiopia and EYA is striving to close the gap. e
EYA targets a 60% young women enrolment and an
increased focus on communication skills training,
leadership training, team building, nancial
management, and assertiveness training for young
women. e 25 young women beneciaries have all
received start-up loans from EYA through the RSSF.
e $2,500 given to the young women or men is to
be repaid in 18 months at the rate of $138/month.
e EYA has also linked some young women
graduates to micro-nancing sources elsewhere. In
the larger Addis Ababa community, the EYA gives
uniforms, stationery and supplementary classes to
low-income young girls in school.
If there is an integrated eort we can change
the situation. The lives of 53 youth have been
changed. Youth need attention and space
to make a dierence. Working with youth is
challenging but productive.
-Mekdes Adebe,(Youth Program Ocer, EYA)
55
dsW
YThe UN-Habitat Iunded HUONY project has
fostered partnerships between EYA, Governmental
bodies and CSOs. There are now strong partnerships
between EYA and the WORDAs yielding eIfcient
recruitment and access to secure working space
for the graduates. Collaborative activities have also
increased between EYA and CSOs such as Live
Addis, Emanuel Development Association and DOT
Ethiopia all working on youth development issues.
Partnerships with other CSOs saw increased sharing
of experiences, knowledge and expertise. On the
other hand, international development organizations
including Cordaid, CIDA and Finland Embassy
provided Iunding post UN-Habitat`s Urban Youth
Fund.
EYAs Advice to UN-Habitat
and Youth-Led NGOs
TUN-Habitat should provide long-term support to
youth-led organizations as opposed to short-term
support. The issue of youth unemployment is serious
and integrated eIIort between UN-Habitat and
benefciary organizations is required. Small-scale
organizations cant adequately address the issue of
youth unemployment alone. Youth-led organizations
should ensure that their projects are replicable
elsewhere to make large-scale project expansion
easier. The World should give attention, space and
opportunity to youth.
Looking into the Future
The past three years oI HUONY project have been very
effective and EYA is planning to increase the number
oI youth benefciaries by expanding the project to
other WORDAs in Addis Ababa. EYA would require
additional funding to scale-up the project and continue
with the project. Large scale intervention is required
for a remarkable transformation of young peoples
lives in populous Addis Ababa. EYA is only working
in 3 WORDAs out oI the 119 WORDAs in Addis
Ababa. For now, the HUONY is continuing through
June 2012 with funding from CORDAID.
Endurance Youth Association Contact Details
Mekdes Adebe
Youth Program Ocer
Email: mekdiatu@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.eya.org.et
70877 Ethiopia
Phone: +251 11 653 29 38
Mobile: +251 911 11 58 29
enduyasso@ethionet.et
Catiliq uonsulvili,
SECTION 3:
METHODS, DATA
AND CASES
57
SECTION 3: METHODS, DATA AND CASES
58
59
SECTION 3: METHODS, DATA AND CASES
Catiliq uonsulvili,
SECTION 4:
FINDINGS IN
EIGHT AREAS
61
SECTION 4: FINDINGS IN EIGHT AREAS
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
The Need for Decentralizing ICT-enabled Gov-
ernance Rwanda
Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, Rwanda has
made ICT a national priority, having made signicant invest-
ments designed to make ICTs accessible and aordable on a
massive scale. Kagame has set a powerful personal example
of how leaders can utilize ICT tools to engage with their citi-
zens, listening and responding to their needs. National minis-
ters are following suit, opening up their ICT channels to these
avid technology users to express their views and ideas online.
Even more signicant, Kagame merged the national ministries
of Youth and ICT in April 2012 and appointed a new Minister
of Youth and ICT. This is a groundbreaking move both in terms
of ICT and youth, with youth ministries commonly grouped
with sports or culture.
It is puzzling to note that these extraordinary national devel-
opments are not reected in the policy and practice of lo-
cal government in Rwanda. The Municipality of Kigali is only
beginning to plan for developing ICT tools for government-
citizen interaction, with no specic consideration or strategy
regarding youth in the context of governance. Why is this so?
The research points to two main factors: 1) limited ICT capac-
ity on the local level and 2) greater public interest in national
political issues and processes than local ones. The need for
the decentralization of national ICT policy should also be
examined as a possible key explanatory factor.\
Refer to Rwanda Case Write Up in Appendix I for
details and references
70
is paper aims to develop a conceptual frame-
work to accommodate rapidly changing dynamics
in three areas of urban development: the demo-
graphics of the fastest growing segment of urban
populations, youth (ages 15 to 24); information and
communications technology (ICT) and particu-
larly mobile phones; and governance, particularly
local government in the developing world. With
its advanced draft on ICT-enabled governance, the
UN-Habitat has laid the groundwork by addressing
issues of urbanization and ICT-based government
1
.
e present paper seeks to add the youth dimen-
sion in a way that builds upon the advanced draft
and takes into account the special characteristics of
young, technologically savvy citizens.
e present review covers published and unpub-
lished literature, internet searches, and direct inter-
views with youth activists who are exploring the im-
pact of ICT and local governance on young people,
among them beneciaries of the Urban Youth Fund.
In all, data were gathered on 51 cases, of which 17
were obtained through direct personal interviews or
by Skype. More detail on the cases and methods of
data collection appear in Appendix I.
One of the striking observation from the case data
gathered for this review is that young citizens intro-
duce an entirely new dimension in ICT and govern-
ance.
1 ICT-Enabled Urban Governance in the Developing
World, UN-Habitat 2012. This document serves as the
key reference for the research conducted.
ICT in the hands of youth has become a rapidly
evolving tool that reaches beyond ICT-enabled con-
ventional governance, dened in the advanced draft
as covering four pillars: 1) adopting technology to
improve outcomes, 2) balancing inclusiveness and
responsiveness when using technology, 3) public
openness through technology and 4) engaging citi-
zens as partners in urban governance.2
Nor is the subject matter any longer merely gov-
ernance of youth. Rather, the scope of concerns
crosses into new and uncharted territory as govern-
ance itself is transformed by fast-moving changes
of ICT in the hands of the young. For one thing,
dynamic boundaries of ICT are being pushed for-
ward on a daily basis because of the pervasive pres-
ence of mobile platforms and the inventiveness of
young people in adapting technological devices to
meet their needs. Young people are developing mo-
bile phone applications in large numbers that aect
many areas of local governance and community life,
such as leadership and inter-governmental relations.
Moreover, the impact of creative energies by young
people goes beyond just governance of youth. It ex-
tends also into governance for all, as this report will
show.
Accordingly, we shall suggest that several addi-
tional elements be integrated into the present four
pillars of ICT enabled governance.
2 The 4 pillars are described in ICT-Enabled Urban Gover-
nance in the Developing World, UN-Habitat 2012.
71
ese include capacity and leadership, level of
government, and technology. Each of these three
dimensions reects additional depth and content to
the relationship brought to governance by ICT in
the hands of youth.
Other specic highlights include:
Mobile platforms, by far the most important ICT
tool aecting youth, are used primarily by and for
youth to enhance participatory engagement in local
government aairs and also to foster inclusiveness
and responsiveness. Less youth-focused activity has
been found in other pillars, namely outcomes and
public openness.
Young citizens have moved very quickly to carve
out new applications in relation to local governance,
opening a gap in capacity between local govern-
ments, which are often staed by individuals with
far less digital experience, and their youthful con-
stituents, who have been quick to adopt new tech-
nologies.
e sharp asymmetry between youthful, digital-
ly-active citizens and lagging practice of local gov-
ernments leads to disruptions in subsidiarity, for
instance, central governments cutting in to local
aairs, and to the growing importance of fostering
leadership at the local level.
Youth initiatives such as crowd-sourcing and
opinion sampling turn conventional ideas of par-
ticipation on its head: youth are leading the way
toward closer examination of, and greater account-
ability from, local governments.
Geo-referencing capabilities are increasingly avail-
able, and these lead to added dimensions in young
peoples relationship with their communities and
local governments, as evidenced in programs such
as community mapping (Map Kibera) and seeclick-
x, programs that draw attention of authorities and
to a wider constituency to problems or circumstanc-
es that are overlooked or ignored by ocials of local
government in urban communities.
Governments begin to see youth dierently, not as
passive recipients of government services, but as par-
ticipants in solutions, even leaders in governmental
reform in such activities as sousveillance (turn-
ing the monitoring functions of cell phone cameras
onto public ocials).
Mobile platforms have a leveling inuence also in
the rural urban divide: many applications are mak-
ing it easier to engage in communication, education,
health care, and businesses from rural settings, even
though these services have not been the focus of
youth-related initiatives in urban areas.
It should be noted that the distinction about
youth and the ICT tools of modern democracy are
almost irrelevant in many cities, for example in India
and some special cases in Africa. In the rst place, a
large fraction of the population falls into the youth
denition anyway, and these are the people who are
driving change by using ICT simply because they
are digitally literate and practiced with mobile plat-
forms. Still, the specic consideration of youth
needs is an important dimension that can enhance
the outcomes of governance for young populations.
Greater attention to this issue is needed in policy,
academic literature and in practice.
In sum, this fast-moving eld is to an important
extent in the hands of youth, and the developing of
new applications poses a challenge for local govern-
ments unlike any of the major trends in the past 40
years, including environment, gender, sustainability
and indeed, good governance itself. Local govern-
ments will need to add basic operational aspects of
ICT to curriculum in training (if not in crash cours-
es) to get up to speed with the growing digital litera-
cy of youthful constituents. Local ocials may also
need special skills to promote youth engagement, to
level the playing eld for females and the poor, and
Catiliq uonsulvili,
SECTION 5:
CONCLUSIONS
AND POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS
to safeguard the moral and ethical downside of open
access societies.
e population of the developing world is increas-
ingly young and urban. Today, the young (ages 15 to
24) number more than 1.2 billion, and an estimated
87% live in developing countries.
3
ey comprise
the largest youth cohort in history, often referred
to as the youth bulge. e majority lives in cities,
with cities of the developing world accounting for
over 90% of urban growth worldwide.
Despite their growing number, youth are largely
excluded from participation in the decision-making
which aects their present and future, leaving them
socially and politically marginalized.
4
Moreover,
they are often viewed as part of the problem, rather
than part of the solution. For example, while young
people in the Arab States comprise approximately
one-third of the regions population, they are of-
ten excluded from decision-making on issues that
directly aect their lives, such as lack of education,
high unemployment and poverty. Many govern-
ments and organizations are beginning to rethink
their engagement with youth
5
.
While events in the Arab Spring gained wide
media attention, the UNFPA predicts that deeper,
more fundamental changes may be in the ong.
3 UN International Year of YouthBrochure, Retreived in June
2012 from: http://social.un.org/youthyear/links.html
4 Young People: Participation and Sustainable Development
in an Urbanizing World, Tatek Abebe, Anne Trine K rholt,
UN-Habitat, 2011
5 UNFPA State of the Worlds Population 2011, p. 24.
e power of young people not in the spotlight,
using their numerical strength and their vision of
the societies they want, may in the long run change
the world in even more fundamental ways.
6
e
demand for political participation matching youths
proportion of the population has been repeatedly ar-
ticulated in various international forums and confer-
ences. is also forms the core focus in the Youth 21
agenda spearheaded by UN-Habitats Youth Unit.
e Youth 21 initiative aims to bring youth into
decision-making processes at local, national and in-
ternational level. One of the activities in Youth 21 is
the work to establish a Permanent Forum on Youth
Issues in the UN.
7

6 Ibid.
http://edebates.globalyouthdesk.org/Download/Download.
aspx?fcat=doc&fname=Youth.pdf

7 Young People: Participation and Sustainable Development
in an Urbanizing World, Tatek Abebe, Anne Trine Kj rholt,
UN-Habitat, 2011.
73
SECTION 5: CONCLUSIONS AND
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Indeed, a growing recognition is evident among
policy makers and practitioners that youth are a
major human resource for development as well as
for positive social change and technological innova-
tion. However, few governments have been eective
in mustering the necessary resources and capacity
to harness this potential
8
. One of the most di-
cult barriers has been to devise clear strategies and
proven mechanisms for eective engagement of
youth in governance processes. Only a handful of
international agencies and NGOs have piloted pro-
ject models. In short, now that awareness has been
raised regarding the what and why of youth par-
ticipation, more work is now needed to address the
how. e UN-Habitat Urban Youth Fund plays
an important role in this work, where youth-led
groups are given nancial support and training to
be change-agents in their own community, includ-
ing governance processes locally and nationally, of
which some have been highlighted in this report.
Youth: Champions of ICT
Only a few decades ago, the internet brought
new hope as a tool for development. Young people
quickly became the majority of those online in both
developed and developing countries. ITU 2011 sta-
tistics show that 45% of the worlds Internet users
are below the age of 25; in developing countries,
30% of this age group use the internet compared to
23% of those above the age of 25.
Comprehensive statistical data for ICT usage
among youth from public agencies in the past two
to three years is dicult to attain. Updated, com-
prehensive reports by institutions such as the World
Bank and ITU in 2011 and 2012 documenting the
most recent trends in ICT usage have not placed a
specic focus on young people. One reason for this
dearth of information appears to be the general as-
sumption that youth are the majority of ICT users.
8 Interview, Roxana Widmer, ITU.
As a senior manager from ITU stated: e high rate
of ICT use by youth is already a fact, we dont need
statistics to let us know this, they are using ICTs
from a very early age.
9
e data that is available
clearly illustrates the high rate of ICT usage among
youth, as demonstrated by the graph below
9 Use of Information and Communication Technology by
Children and Youth, ITU, 2008.
74
Going back a bit further, a 2008 report by ITU
was explicit in its conclusions: youth aged 15-24 are
much more likely to use computers, Internet and
mobile phones than the general population in nearly
all countries
10
. Indeed, data indicated that for most
countries, peak use of these technologies occurs in
the 15-24 year age group, with high use also for the
younger group, 5-14.
11
Among the factors attrib-
uted to this relationship between ITU usage and
young people are the following
12
: Enthusiasm dem-
onstrated by young people for technology and their
capacity to learn to use it quickly
10 Ibid, p. 41.
11 Ibid, p 42.
12 ICT4D 2012: Maximizing Mobile, World Bank.
t Higher literacy of young people in most econo-
mies
t Leisure time available to young people not yet
in the full-time workforce compared with older
people and leisure opportunities oered by ICT
t Critical mass eect of communication me-
dia whereby one needs to adopt the methods
of communication being used by ones social
group
t Presence of computers and/or Internet access
in schools and educational facilitates predomi-
nately used by young people.
75
SECTION 5: CONCLUSIONS AND
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
The Mobile Revolution
e logic that drives internet use among the young
is accelerated by the economic incentive of low cost of
cell phone devices. Mobile phones have become the
most ubiquitous form of modern ICTs. According
to a recent World Bank report, three-quarters of the
worlds population has access to a mobile phone
13
.
Dubbed the mobile miracle, the developing world
now is more mobile than the developed world. Of
the nearly six billion mobile-cellular subscriptions,
global penetration reaches 87% worldwide and 79%
in the developing world.
14
Mobile subscriptions in
low and middle income countries rose by more than
1,500 percent between 2000 and 2010, from 4 to
72 per 100 inhabitants. Combined with a young
population, increasing income and decreasing mo-
bile prices, the mobile revolution is contributing to
social, economic and political transformation.
e question now is not so much the issue of
accessone of the dominant themes of the past
decadebut of usage.
15
Mobile phones are rapidly
gaining new capabilities, evolving from a simple
voice device to a full-edged multimedia tool for
social networking, banking, news consumption, or-
ganizing, entertainment, and in the public domain,
public services. e shift in usage runs parallel to
the emergence of mobile-government or mGov-
ernment from the e-government topic of only a
decade ago.
16
See accompanying chart.
13 The World in 2011:ICT Facts and Figures, ITU 2011.
14 This is a key point made in the Maximizing Mobile
World Bank report, p. 4. It is also discussed widely by the
ITU.
15 For a full overview and typology of mGovernment, see
Siddhartha Raja and Samia Melhem, Chapter 6 Making
Government Mobile of the Maximizing Mobile Report
World Bank, 2012.
16 Measuring the Information Society 2011, ITU, p. 1.
e authors recognize that the emergence of mo-
bile broadband networksalready underway, but
still incipientwill radically advance the impact of
the mobile revolution and open up enormous op-
portunities for development. According to the ITU,
access to wireless broadband Internet is the strong-
est growth sector, with the rise in mobile-broadband
subscriptions representing the single most dynamic
ICT development in 2011.
17

Prices for smart phones will continue to fall, and
new, inexpensive versions developed specically for
developing markets are reaching below the $100
threshold that is described as a condition for con-
necting the next billion people to the internet over
mobile devices.
18
For example, 350,000 Kenyans
purchased an $80 smart phone launched in 2011
by the Chinese rm Huwei a notable development
given that 40% of the Kenyan population lives on
less than two dollars a day.
19
is is only the begin-
ning of a trend that is expected to ourish in com-
ing years. Indeed, the percentage of the population
covered by 2G mobile cellular network (90%) today
is twice as high as the population covered by 3G net-
work (45%).
20
Although subscriptions have grown
quickly (up by a factor of three in the past year in
the Philippines and more in South Africa), mobile
broadband is out of reach for the majority of devel-
oping country users, with advanced mobile devices
still prohibitively expensive, but rapidly decreasing
in price.
17 Smartphone Usage Expands in Emerging Markets,
Tony Daltorio, Wall Street Blogspot. Retrieved in July
2012 from: http://wallstreetmess.blogspot.co.il/2012/02/
smartphone-usage-expands-in-emerging.html
18 $80 Android Phone Sells Like Hotcakes in Kenya,
the World Next?, Jeremy Ford, Singularity Hub.
Retrieved on July 15, 2012 from: http://singularityhub.
com/2011/08/16/80-android-phone-sells-like-hotcakes-in-
kenya-the-world-next/
19 ICT Facts and Figures, ITU 2011.
20 ICT4D Maximizing Mobile, World Bank p. 13.
76
e research and cases reviewed reveal the upsurge
of countless applications and innovations that over-
come the challenges of aordability and limited ac-
cess to broadband. In particular, youth together with
mobile operators and industry developers are con-
tinuously nding ways to utilize even simple mobile
devices to meet the needs and interests of technology
users young and old. Accordingly, the fast moving
pace of mobile telephony is providing new avenues
through which to bridge the Internet Divide.
Narrowband Social Networking for
Mobile Participation
e limitations of broadband have led to the de-
velopment of innovative narrowband mobile com-
munications applications tailored for users in devel-
oping countries. Low-end phone capabilities such as
text messaging and simple internet access is facilitat-
ing scaled-down versions of social networking, pay-
as-you go mobile data access and web searching.
21

In essence, mobile phones are now providing new
avenues for increasing numbers of citizens in the de-
veloping world to access the benets of broadband
internet. A summary of some of the most popular
narrowband applications mentioned in the literature
as well as by interviewees is provided below:
21 See the SMS in Action website for a useful resource to
locate established and on-going pilot SMS-based solutions
designed to support development or provide for the social
good: https://smsinaction.crowdmap.com/main
APPENDIX I SELECTED CASE WRITE UPS
77
APPENDIX I: SELECTED CASE WRITE UPS
As these stripped down technologies have shown,
text messaging (SMS) is one of the most popular
types of mobile phone usage in developing coun-
tries. Nearly ve trillion text messages were sent
worldwide in 2010, with mobile owners reporting a
much higher percentage of usage for text messaging
then other mobile functions (see chart below). SMS
can be an aordable alternative to more costly voice
services and can serve users who do not have mobile
internet access.
It is important to note that text messaging has been
a key function for applications in the mobile-for-
development context. Popular examples include ag-
ricultural pricing and health programs for rural resi-
dents, citizen alerts sent by governments and various
crowd sourcing applications
22
.
22 Instruction by UN-Habitat Task Manager for this assign-
ment.
78
One implication is that new ICT services for youth
should be largely based on SMS usage in one of its
many forms.
e widespread use of mobile phones together
with innovative forms of social networking is creat-
ing new spaces for citizens to engage in civic activ-
ity and governance. ey are being initiated from
the bottom-up and often call for social and political
change, transparency and inclusion. ey are also
being implemented from the top-down, with ICT
tools for enhanced citizen participation and service
delivery. Either way, the role of youth is a crucial
element not carefully examined. e young are not
only forging new tools, but also they stand to ben-
et from the improvements in governance oered
by ICTs.
e rapid conversion of mobile devices merely
as phones to wider engagement in governance is il-
lustrated richly in numerous cases reviewed for this
paper. A body of empirical data of more than 50
cases was developed for the present review. e data
provide many examples and promising guides to
answer the question of how to engage youth in
governance. is section describes the data gather-
ing methods and provides a brief overview of cases
covered in this study.
e review covers literature and web searches,
giving specic attention to the youth dimension
in applications of ICT that aect local governance.
A starting point is a list of grantees from the UN-
Habitat Urban Youth Fund to 26 youth-led groups
from dierent parts of the world covering a wide
variety of activities for youth, for instance, jobs,
theater, journalism, participation in local aairs,
and the like. Eleven of the cases touched directly or
indirectly on governance, and eorts were made to
contact this subset by phone, email, and skype. We
were successful in interviewing seven organizations
from this group, most of which are written up in
descriptive narratives in Appendix I.
79
Additional cases were uncovered in the course of
experience review, some were found through pre-
vious or present work with the World Bank, UN,
NGOs, or other sources. is resulted in another
ten cases, some of which were subject of more cur-
sory interviews for fact nding and verication. To
these were added 26 additional cases discovered by
internet search. In total, 51 cases were identied.
See Appendix 3 for complete list. e geographic
distribution and scope of agency (i.e., whether glob-
al, national, or local) appear in Tables One and Two.
Note: Some case applications are implemented in several
countries, so the total gure exceeds number of cases
recorded.
Most of the applications reviewed here were devel-
oped at the national or global level, but a signicant
number were born within the city or locality.
Note: Some case applications are implemented in several
countries, so the total gure exceeds number of cases
recorded.
Governance and Pillars
Each of the cases was classied in relation to the
governance pillars identied in the UN-Habitat
document ICT-Enabled Urban Governance in the
Developing World. e reader should note that
often, the cases are multi-dimensional in nature and
can easily represent more than one of the four pil-
lars. Notwithstanding this possible methodological
noise the cases seem to indicate that applications
of ICT and youth cluster primarily in two key areas,
inclusiveness and engagement. See Table ree, be-
low.
80
We can make no claim that the cases considered
in this analysis are in any way representative of the
myriad of applications that might be found of youth-
related ICT on governance. At the same time, there
is no obvious bias in the method by which theses
data were collected. e results are suggestive that
the concentration in pillars 2 and 4 (inclusiveness
and engagement) reects a logical outcome of ICT,
particularly mobile platforms, in the hands of youth.
Mobile platforms with such applications as social
networking naturally favor horizontal linkages of
exchange among peers. Pillars 2 and 4 also intrinsi-
cally involve dimensions of connectedness, commu-
nication and exchange.
On the other hand, pillars 1 and 3 (outcomes of
government services and public openness and trans-
parency) refer to somewhat more internal aspects of
local government, ones that require deeper engage-
mentby both citizens and government-to develop
and share knowledge about internal processes and
to improve government services like water, health,
jobs or facilities that citizens care about.
ese preliminary observations should be tested
further, both to verify whether they are true or that
some other explanation or indeed outcome might
emerge with a larger, more carefully controlled sam-
ple. For the time being, the preliminary ndings
indicate that the four pillars are valid, but that more
attention may need to be given to enhancing out-
comes of governance for young population and in
the area of openness and transparency.
Towards a Typology of the
Youth Dimension of ICT-Enabled
Governance Directionality of
Impact
e four pillars of ICT-enabled governance pro-
vide a solid approach for exploring how information
and communication technologies are impacting ur-
ban governance on a general level. When applying a
youth lens to this dynamic arena, additional dimen-
sions are needed to adequately cover the full range of
eects observed in the data.
Since, youth are (a large) part of the overall popula-
tion, they naturally stand to benet from ICT initia-
tives implemented for the general public. However,
young people have specic characteristics, needs and
interests that require distinct consideration in plan-
ning, policy making and implementation. A youth
dimension of ICT-enabled governance recognizes
that general approaches in this eld have not been
sucient to eectively address the youth agenda.
It also recognizes the urgency of the task, given the
enormity of opportunities and challenges related to
an exploding youth population in developing cities.
We have therefore processed our observations by
relating to the original four pillars and adding the
new dimensions that emerged. It should be noted
that we were encouraged to put the greatest em-
phasis on issues of engagement, interaction and
openness, and less on service delivery.
23
is focus
is evident in the structure and content of the obser-
vations. It is also important to point out that there
is often conceptual overlap among the pillars, and to
this extent the classications of data are not always
tidy nor exclusive.
23 The Challenge and Promise of Youth-Led Initiatives by
Carole MacNeil. UN-Habitat report 2012
81
Examination of other features of the cases illus-
trates the need for additional elements in a frame-
work for youth and ICT-enabled governance. e
cases were classied according to the directionality
of impact each kind of project (case) was intended to
have, for instance, whether it was youth-for-youth
program, for instance, or youth for community, or
indeed, local government for youth. In fact, the
cases are protean in nature, and require many cat-
egories, nine in all. See Table Four. e results show
that almost half of the total involve programs or pro-
jects where youth are developing ICT initiatives for
all citizens, and NGOs are designing ICT programs
for youth. Many of those cases classied as NGO
programs can be seen as originated by youth, but
complete data on this score was not available. Only
a small handful of cases were youth only for youth.
ese observations reect the creative and dynamic
nature of ICT in the hands of youth as they explore
ways to connect with others in relationship to com-
munity and local government.
As stated earlier, youth in many ways are the lead-
ers of ICT governance initiatives for all citizens
innovating technology, generating content and de-
veloping applications. eir contributions do not
necessarily target only youth beneciaries; they ben-
et a much wider population. On the other hand,
governments, NGOs and youth leaders are develop-
ing ICT tools and programs with the specic goal of
empowering or engaging young people, and these
types of activities have an explicit youth focus. is
perspective is also echoed in the UN-Habitat report
titled: e Challenge and Promise of Youth-Led
Development by Carole MacNeil where the per-
spective of youth to citizen/community is signi-
cant. e report shows how most youth-led initia-
tives have a focus that transcend (?) youth-centered
issues and have a clear focus on how youth can be a
change agent in the wider community they reside.
24

24 We have included local government services in this cat-
egory, such as education, health and job creation.
Turning to more detailed, qualitative analysis, our
principal ndings are organized in eight categories,
taking into account the youth lens of the four pil-
lars, together with three new categories, and a set of
additional considerations that deserve to be noted.
ese are:
1. ICT Impact on Outcomes for Youth
25
2. Balancing Inclusiveness & Responsiveness
when Using Technology
3. Public Openness through Technology
4. Engaging Young Citizens as Partners in Urban
Governance
5. Capacity & Leadership
6. Level of Government
7. Technology
8. Additional Considerations
1. ICT Impact on Outcomes
for Youth
ICT is a tool, and its eective use in the hands of
youth only underscores the need for youth-oriented
policies and programs that view youth as assets in
development and shape budgets for youth-oriented
implementation. Of course, mobilizing political
will is imperative to meaningfully engage youth in
urban governance.
25 Interview with ICT Manager of the City of Kigali, July
2012.
82
ese larger processes will have a decisive impact on
the potential for ICT initiatives to positively impact
urban governance for youth. Without a youth-fo-
cused policy approach, the large potential benets of
ICT may fall short both for young people as well as
for local government.
e outcomes for youth in governance processes
and services depend on improved sensitization and
capacity at the local level. In processesparticipa-
tion, deliberation, priority setting, and monitor-
ingthe cases have shown that ICT is a powerful
enabler to engage youth in governance decisions.
ICT can be utilized to measure and quantify the
results of youth-focused urban initiatives, thereby
helping to demonstrate impact and break through
barriers to increasing resources for such programs.
In a similar way, ICT has potential to serve as a
youth mainstreaming device that helps to coordi-
nate youth services across ministries and levels of
government. e cases have oered some clues
about what is possible, and they all point to the
importance of sensitization and increased capacity
of local governments towards the specic needs and
aspirations of their younger urban citizens. is is
a critical requirement of any governance initiative
designed to impact youth, including but not limited
to ICT.
erefore, capacity building among local govern-
ment ocials must be twofold: ICT skill-building
and youth sensitization. is observation was il-
lustrated best by the ICT Manager of the City of
Kigali. When discussing upcoming plans to develop
social media and interactive components to the
municipal website and service oerings, he noted
that they had not considered the specic dimension
of youth (which, as in most municipalities, is not
currently mainstreamed but siloed o to a specic
department), but when presented with the idea it
was clear to him that this is a crucial element to be
The national government has an aggressive ICT policy, with
all major government agencies using social media. There is a
Q&A session with the President on YouTube. This is very much
missing on the local level there is much room to develop
such tools beyond the ministries on the local government
level. There is still a great need for local government to com-
municate with youth, this is not happening right now.
-Sangwa Rwabuhili
Youth Activist, Kigali
African youth possesses the energy, passion and dedication
to use these technologies to address global challenges and
truly benet from ICT. Our duty as leaders is to build the right
environment and promote the necessary investments to allow
them to fulll their potential. Let us not wait another century
to recognise that broadband was another missed opportunity
for Africa.
Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda
Broadband Commission Meeting, Kigali,
Rwanda September 8-9, 2011
83
taken into account: Currently, we are not focusing
on young people, but this is important. We have
not considered that with the help of young people
we can achieve more, this is something that we can
discuss with the department dealing with youth.
26
As a large part of the population, youth benet

from general ICT enabled services implemented by
local governments such as administrative measures,
transportation and safety. Platforms such as Hu-
duma in Kenya oer mobile-based communication
avenues for citizens to voice, SMS or email service
needs or comments directly to authorities and ser-
vice providers.27 Similar platforms and services exist
in Peru and Lima28. However, the research shows
a dearth of youth-focused services in this context.
Youth face specic challenges that are specic to
their stage in the life cyclea premium on educa-
tion and employment, for exampleand they can
benet from ICT services to enhance their opportu-
26 www.huduma.com
27 http://datea.pe/info/todos-somos-datero
28 Interview with Surabaya Municipality
nities in these areas. Examples might include ICT
services for job placement, job readiness, entrepre-
neurship and e-learning. Municipal health services
can take on a youth dimension, focusing on aware-
ness raising and prevention.
84
For example, in Indonesia the Municipality of
Surabaya provides internships for high school and
university students, oering an opportunity to gain
experience with ICT and help the municipality.29
Local government ICT programs for youth are
heavily focused on ICT training. Increasingly,
youth require ICT skills as part of their preparation
for entering the workforce and participating in the
global knowledge economy. Training programs often
work through community institutions or schools.
In Surabaya, Broadband Centers are located in
strategic locations across the city. Business Devel-
opment Centers equipped with high speed internet
and ICT equipment are being set up in each of Ki-
galis three districts as part of a national initiative to
develop ICT usage.30
2. Balancing Inclusiveness &
Responsiveness when Using
Technology
A dening feature of many cases is the way in
which young people are reshaping civic discourse by
means of ICTs, particularly mobile platforms. ICTs
are already transforming the relationship between
government and youth in general. Instant commu-
nication and rapid ow of information are leading to
an increased voice on the part of youth, increased
consideration of youth viewpoints, and in some cas-
29 Interview with Cedric Umuhire, ICT Manager of the Mu-
nicipality of Kigali, July 2012 and Interview with Surabaya
Municipality, July 2012.
30 Interview with Sangwa Rwabhuhihi, July 2012.
es new or more responsive services.
ICTs are breaking the traditional codes between
youth and government. Cheap and ubiquitous cell
phones and social media create a daily bond among
young citizens and between youth groups and lead-
ers.
APPENDIX II: LIST OF INTERVIEWEES
85
REFERENCES: CITED OR CONSULTED
is phenomenon was not only non-existent as re-
cently as a decade ago; it also represents a potentially
momentous change in government-youth relation-
ships. As a veteran youth leader from Kigali noted
A few years ago, a leader would usually go down to
the eld one day and go back to the same place only
one year later. And in between there would be no
way to reach him or make him accountable. Now
the bond with social media is daily. Leaders cant
just promise things and disappear
31
. e increased
volume of trac puts pressure on governments that
is increasingly dicult to ignore. Instant commu-
nication and social networking trends oer young
people unique and unprecedented tools to leverage
opinion and political inuence. As interaction be-
tween youth and government increases, old percep-
tions begin to be replaced with a new perspective on
both sides. On the one hand, there is a new respect
and willingness to listen and respond, on the other
hand, ICT tools also allow for anonymous expres-
sion by youth who can now dare say what they have
on their minds.
Increased responsiveness on the part of early adop-
ters in government (local and national) gives young
people new access to leaders and leadership posi-
tions. In many cases, electronic communications
shortcut conventional modalities of citizen-munici-
pal communication, obviating the slow and cumber-
some personal appointments and ocial meetings in
municipal oces. Today an ordinary young person
can communicate directly with government oces,
see rapid results of appeals, and even communicate
31 http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_62001.html
directly with the president of a country and get a re-
sponse. is is something that was unthinkable just
a few years ago.
REFERENCES CITED OR CONSULTED
86
ICTs can improve outcomes for youth by provid-
ing faster, new, and often user-generated informa-
tion to local governments through which they can
better understand the status, needs and potential of
youth. Conversely, youth groups are more aware
of the limitations and possibilities of local govern-
ments in providing services. User-generated content
among youth is a key ingredient to this process. In
Uganda, a UNICEF supported program run by lo-
cal youth organizations entitled Ureport, a platform
for strengthening communication and dialogue
around core development issues through SMS and
the radio. With over 89,000 Ugandans signed up
and participating as of March, 2012, young social
monitors are sent regular polls, gather data on com-
munity services and issues, and receive useful facts
for action and advocacy providing the pulse of
Ugandan youth32.
e sharing of information is empowering youth
to civic action. Social media and mobile phones
are key drivers here. e spread of ICTs in socie-
ties where access to information has been limited is
making ICT an even more critical tool. At the same
time, closed regimes can still eectively limit or close
communications if they choose to do so. is was
for instance seen during the uprising in Egypt where
the regime tried to cut the access to Internet and
services like Twitter and Facebook.
ICT allows for the eective scaling up of youth
participation eorts and their increased inclusion.
Young leaders can reach unprecedented numbers of
youth with their projects and programs, including
the previously unengaged and disadvantaged, giving
a voice to people who feel they have yet to be heard.
32 This is a UNICEF initiative implemented with local NGOs,
for more information see: https://smsinaction.crowdmap.
com/reports/view/137
For example, several community mapping exer-
cises illustrate the power of ICT tools to draw in
a wider circle of activists. Young and old residents
alike quickly perceive the eectiveness of putting
their community on the map. ese applications
then spread to new and sometimes unforeseen im-
pacts in health, security, and community cohesion.
Radio still remains the most eective tool for
reaching citizens en masse, particularly when it
comes to disadvantaged and poorer communities. In
Nepal, the Voices of Youth project enables teens to
use Text messages (SMS via toll free mobile phone
number) for self expression and peer-to-peer support
on a radio show heard by up to 6.3 million youth.
Youth are invited to speak or text on a range of top-
ics. e station has received over 33,000 messages
since the launch, which comes from approximately
4,000 listeners. e toll free initiative is a pyramid-
like linkage that connects the website, mobile and
the radio network33. In another example, an in-
novative youth-led mobile radio program in South
Africa demonstrates the dramatic increase in impact
and reach through a radio station connected to so-
cial media and mobile phones.
33 http://politmer.kg/ru
87
REFERENCES: CITED OR CONSULTED
3. Public Openness through
Technology
e negative impacts of corruption aect young
people today, as well as their outlook for the future.
e cases oer several striking examples of the need
for youth to channel their creativity and innovation
in the ght against corruption. ICT can empower
young citizens to engage constructively in the devel-
opment of new mechanisms to increase accountabil-
ity and transparency, thereby contributing to good
governance.
e majority of ICT applications and tools devel-
oped to follow public ocials, monitor governance
processes and increase public access to information
is not necessarily youth-focused, but appear to be
youth-driven. It seems that young technology en-
trepreneurs and software developers are those that
are coming up with these tools and bringing them
to the wider public. Young Kenyans have devel-
oped successful applications geared toward making
open data information more understandable, user-
friendly, and usable, including edWeb, Virtual City,
and Mzalenddougo. In the Kyrgyz Republic, the
Poltimer website is being used to track the promises
made by politicians during elections once they are
in oce. Citizens can submit promises online that
they heard elected ocials make in public, and these
commitments are then veried, categorized and
monitored by the Politmer team through the site
34
.
A preliminary conclusion can therefore be that the
majority of activity relating to public openness ts
the youth-to-citizen and youth-to-government di-
rectionality.
34 http://www.excelencias.org.br/
NGOs focusing on issues of transparency are also
joining the move to ICT-based tools, which tend
to reach youth by virtue of their greater online par-
ticipation. For example, a number of websites have
been developed to collect information on public of-
cials, monitor their behavior and provide online
platforms for decision-makers to interact with citi-
zens. Excelencias in Brazil is a well-known example,
developed by Transparency International Brazil and
widely used by journalists to increase accountability
through reporting. e site provides open access to
public information at various levels of government
from parliament to state legislatures and municipali-
ties. Available information includes budgets, costs,
spending, campaign donations to elected ocials,
absences of decision-makers from assemblies, link-
ages of ocials with the private sector and more35.
ere is no specic reference to youth or publicized
data of usage according to age, but it can be assumed
that youth are among the more active participants
in this initiative, given their greater presence online.
4. Engaging Young Citizens as
Partners in Urban Governance
e upsurge in ICT usage has had a direct impact
on increasing civic engagement among youth, giv-
ing them new avenues through which to become in-
formed, shape opinions, get organized, collaborate,
and take action. e spread of ICTs is clearly linked
to civic engagement on the part of youth. e usage
of mobile phones has signicantly increased political
awareness and activism among young users.
35 Interview with Thomas Maqway, July 2012.

Experiences and Lessons DRAFT 2-9-12

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Experiences and Lessons DRAFT 2-9-12

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

REPORT 3: EXPERIENCES

YPPD has partnered with local and international

As a large part of the population, youth benet

You might also like