Including youth

Thursday, 13 August 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

YOUTH have to be an integral part of the decision-making process, in their country and elsewhere in the world if they are to be recognised as a full-fledged stakeholder. Many acknowledge the problems faced by youth, but the solutions are usually made by adults, with little or no input from youth. This is in many ways the basis of empowers that many look at on World Youth Day.

Education, healthcare, employment and social problems are rampant among youth. Many struggle to gain an education that makes them employable and usually face huge social pressure when making crucial decisions. In Sri Lanka youth are more likely to be unemployed, particularly if they are women, and have to grapple with being recognised in a society that is usually led by adults.

For women the challenges are even greater. Many have to tackle education and employment in adverse conditions. Worse still social issues such as marriage and sexual decisions are more strongly dictated to women than males in the same age group. Clearly such a deep grip on their lives should come with some say from the youth themselves.

In recent years, the importance of youth participation in civic society has been increasingly recognised. Today, 122 governments around the world have adopted national youth policies that focus on empowering young people. In 2012, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, made working with and for young people a priority of his five-year agenda.

He requested the Inter-agency Network on Youth Development, a group of some 40 UN entities working together to advance youth issues, to develop an action plan. During the 2014 World Conference on Youth in Sri Lanka, world leaders supported an inclusive approach to youth participation in the post-2015 discussion.

Within the context of the future of the UN’s development agenda, the open working group on sustainable development goals includes specific targets for developing the skills young people need to thrive and find employment in the 21st century.

Despite this emphasis on youth, tapping into the energy and resources young people bring to the table often translates into providing “youth forums” on the margins of larger international meetings and conferences. Similarly, many organisations select “youth representatives” through an open, competitive process to attend and participate in these forums. But more often than not, the voices of these overwhelmingly urban, educated and often privileged young people are not truly representative of the broader youth community. Many today even call such events an instance of “youth-washing”.

The World Conference on Youth held in Sri Lanka can be seen as an example for not only was representation limited it did not trickle down to any clear policy implementation on the ground. In fact many were amused by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech at the event given the deaf ear turned to many youth problems, especially at the university level.

The current Government and whoever takes over the reins have to formulate a comprehensive policy and implement it to empower all youth. Concentration of employment alone is insufficient for this, though financial empowerment is a large part; it also includes changing and evolving social attitudes of both adults and youth.