The Role of Youth in Social Transformation through Entrepreneurship

Posted on 19 August, 2013 by Maiko Nakagaki |

Young people are pushing for systemic, democratic changes around the world through political and economic vehicles. In
Cambodia last month, youth (who are frustrated with corruption of the current ruling party and the status quo) vocalized
their desire for change before the national elections took place. In Sri Lanka, Youth Parliamentarians have been consulting
with senior policy makers to make sure their opinions and inputs are heard. And in Jordan, young tech entrepreneurs are
building a movement to reverse the controversial media censorship law through advocacy.
In this weeks Economic Reform Feature Service article, three winners from CIPEs 2012 International Youth Essay
Competition in the Social Transformation category discuss how youth entrepreneurs are helping build democratic societies.
Want to make your voice heard? CIPE is accepting submissions from bloggers of all ages for our 2013 Blog Competition.
In Prince Karakire Gumas Fostering Democracy in Uganda: The Unexplored Contributions of Young Entrepreneurs, Guma
talks about:

Youth entrepreneurs play a significant part in building Ugandas democratic society by contributing to the countrys
political and economic development, but their stories are often unknown or untold.
Youth in Uganda have a history of serving as social change agents. In the 1990s they contributed to post-conflict
nation building at both local and national levels, and Ugandan youth today actively participate in the countrys civil
society.
In order to sustain and deepen the involvement of youth entrepreneurs in Ugandas democratization process,
society must continue engaging and supporting their efforts through various means.

In Surath Giris Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Fostering Entrepreneurship: Lessons from Nepal, Giri offers best
practices from Nepal, including:

Local solutions to challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Nepal are worthy of sharing with other developing nations
to help build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in other countries.
Among many reasons, the main hurdles for Nepali entrepreneurs from reaching their full potential are the stigma
associated with profit-making, an unfriendly business environment, and a lack of support mechanisms.
Building an entrepreneurial ecosystem requires a multi-dimensional approach with cooperation among likeminded organizations and people to address different aspects of entrepreneurship development.

In Nivya Murthis Youth Social Entrepreneurship for Building a Stronger India, Murthi discusses:

India, a country with over half of the population under the age of 35, is full of young people with the energy to help
build a stronger democracy through social entrepreneurship.
Enthusiastic and active youth are needed to transform India, which is striving to achieve a balance between the
countrys growth and addressing social issues.

The Role of Youth in the Philippines

by VOICEMASTER, Philippines
Philippines today is tormented with various social afflictions poverty, crime, corruption, and indifference. Just as Jose
Rizal and others like him exclaimed, the task of cultivating the motherland is burdened upon the youth. Hence, how can we
address these social ills plaguing Philippine Society? What role does the youth play in addressing these social ills?
The youth, which by legal definition comprises those who are 15 to 30 years old, comprises almost one-third of the
countrys population. Given their large share in the Filipino population, the youth increasingly play a large role in the
development of the Philippine society. Their attitudes, values, mind-set, and priorities will determine the development of the
country in the future. With the crucial role the society has placed upon the youth, it is imperative to instill a positive outlook
upon todays youth that will orient them towards development. With that in mind, how does the youth view and react to this
challenge?
According to a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey, the youth acknowledge economic matters, crime, and governance as
the countrys main problems. However, despite the fact that they acknowledged the severity of these problems, most of
them respond with either helplessness or apathy when asked what they can do to help solve them. This is reflected in the

youths behavior towards involvement and participation in organizations and activities. According to SWS, Filipinos are not
joiners. Only one of eight Filipino youth are involved in religious or recreational organizations and only one oft of ten youth
organizations. Furthermore, the Filipino youth was found to have unexpectedly high incidences of involvement in illegal
activities such as illegal drug use, criminality, and illicit sex. Given these disturbing facts about Filipino youth, will they
have the ability to address the various social ills of the country?
The Global Partnership for Youth Development, suggested that one way to overcome the problems of the youth and to better
equip them towards the development of the society is through youth empowerment. Empowerment could be manifested
through greater opportunities for the youth. The Youth must be given opportunities to participate in community life and
capacity building. Their leadership needs to be harnessed? Hence, opportunities such as the Sangguniang Kabataan,
volunteer projects such as Habitat for Humanity, where youth volunteers build housing for the poor. Also the National Youth
Commissions Projects such as Green Brigade, National Youth Parliament and the National Youth Summit or (Pambansang
Ugong Ng Kabataan) which I am an alumni, are examples of events that some Filipino youth participate in to help solve the
country' social problems.
According to the Filipino Youth Study survey conducted by the Global Filipino Foundation in 2001, Media and technology
are the other big things in their life. TV and radio have the highest reach. Technology is still a function of class, but the
Internet Cafes mushrooming in our midst will democratize their availability to the youth. Globalization will happen faster in
this generation as the world opens up though media and technology. According to the youth, with the Internet, they can learn
about anything.
The Internet is a great tool for building youth empowerment. We can create our own web pages to promote youth
participation. Like my webpage: www.kabataan.htmlplanet.com. Youth can develop international solidarity by participating
in online discussions, such as those held by Takingitglobal.org and YouthActionNet.Org where I was one of the featured
youth leaders. We can use the Internet to connect with international youth organizations such as Advocates for youth,
International Student Activism Alliance, and Global Youth Action Network.
Unfortunately, computers and Internet access are not available to many youth, especially in Third-World countries. This
elimination in a technology-driven global community is equivalent to withholding humanitarian aid to victims of famine.
Therefore, one of the major tasks for youth wanting to ensure youth participation and development is to find creative
solutions to this imbalance. We could "encourage" generosity from big computer companies by asking them to supply
schools and libraries in third-world countries with computers. We could lobby Congress to give incentives to businesses that
bring computer technology and the Internet to all disenfranchised people.
Thus, the youth could inspire both hope and fear in the society. Fear in the form of apathy, criminality, and immorality.
Hope in the form of participation, concern and volunteerism. Solving the countrys social problems, then, is a challenge for
the youth to bring hope rather than fear into our society.
The youth have a crucial role to play in shaping the future of our county, have that there is no doubt. They have proven that
they can be powerful agents of change. The question is, are they up to the challenge?

Philippines youth dance to safe and resilient cities

Chika Muna Ball Pit: Taclobans youth easily overcame their shyness once discussions became
emphatic and served as a lens to real issues that affected them. In a matter of minutes, a crowd had
formed, excitedly waiting their turn at the ball pit.
Tacloban City, Philippines 31 October 2014 In the afternoon of October 23, 2014, droves of teens
and young adults headed to the Balyuan Grounds in Tacloban City despite gray skies, puddled
pavements, and light but steady rain for Kabataan: Kasugbong Ha Pag-uswag (Youth: Partners in
Development) a youth jam for safe and resilient cities.
The youth jam, organized by the city government in collaboration with UN-Habitat and UNICEF, was a
one-day series of activities designed for Taclobans youth to express themselves in terms of urban
issues and needs relevant to them and what they felt empowered to do about these issues and needs.
Among the initial series of activities, which started around two in the afternoon, was Project DIY.
Participants were told to bring old, worn-out items to be made over with a spread of various art and
craft materials made available to them. Volunteer facilitators from Tacloban youth groups YHES and
PYAP were at the ready to assist participants in painting and embellishing their old shoes, shirts, bags,
and other knickknack just waiting for a new lease on life.
Sharing a tent with the Project DIY area was the Chika Muna Ball Pit. Chika muna loosely translates
to lets chat a while and was a fun and casual way to engage the youth in a dialogue about questions
and issues that the citys youth groups themselves came up with, among which were the following:
What was your first greatest pleasure after Typhoon Haiyan? If you were a lawmaker, what law would
you pass for the betterment of the family? What are top five things you wish you could do with your
mother?

Photo Pledge Photobooth: Pledges ranged anywhere from more general themes like I promise to be
strong and resilient to more personal statements like We promise to be good educators.
Some yards away under another tent, people were busily hunched over chalk and black board for the
Photo Pledge Photobooth. People had their pictures taken complete with wacky props and wigs
holding up black board signs on which they scribbled the small but personal efforts they promised to
make for the betterment of their family, community, or city.
These tent activities went on until about four in the afternoon, after which a flash mob bust out of the
crowd and started dancing to hiphop music throbbing from the sound system. This signaled the start of
the program and ABS-CBNs Cholo Guy, the events emcee, urged people to start settling into the seats
across the stage.
Mayor Alfred Romualdez, decked in a bright orange wind breaker, walked onto the stage sans umbrella
to address the youth with a few words on resilience and the paradigm shift that was needed to thrive
amid climate change. City councillor Cristina Gonzales-Romualdez spoke next on the value and
relevance of such youth-oriented events, stressing the youths role in securing Taclobans future. UNHabitat Country Programme Manager Cristopher Rollo also took to the stage later on to discuss the
youths role in resilience-building.

Inaugural mark on the freedom wall by Mayor Romualdez:

The children of the storm! The future is in your hands!

The most anticipated part of the event, however, was the unveiling of the freedom walls, where the
event attendees were invited to grab a paint brush or marker and express themselves on the walls,
guided by two fill-in-the-blank statements: As a youth of Tacloban, what I need from my city is
and As a youth of Tacloban, I can help my city by
Student bands and dance troupes performed as work on the walls continued well into the damp sunset,
proving that the youth want to be more than bystanders in their citys development, and that if given the
opportunity, they would gladly make themselves heard, seen, and understood rain or shine.