While we are all aware of the correlation between high number of out-of-school youth and instability, we seem less sure about how best to address the situation and how our interventions can best lead to good results.

For example, very few out-of-school youth have the hope of getting into the types of programs that are designed for them. Programs are still struggling with how to reach large numbers of marginalized youth, and host-country policies continue to remain largely non-youth centered. For example, access to land or housing can seriously marginalize youth, yet such policies seldom help youth directly. Similarly marginalized youth are often clustered in the informal sectors of the economy and have little possibility of entering the private sector without critical outside intervention.

Moreover, programs focus on studying the beneficiaries - their characteristics, responses, and onward pathways. By neglecting to fully examine the large numbers of youth that do not benefit from programs, we miss the opportunity to develop strategies to fully reach the marginalized.

Great point Seema.  Your note raises underlying issues with the way we monitor these issues.  For too long and too often, we have focused on collection of data around who is there, as opposed to doing more to understand who is not.   The question - very relevant to this discussion and those going on in parallel - is how do we recast our eyes/priorities on those outside those programmes we operate, or support?  

Warm greetings to you and all!

Dear Seema, Jon and AP-YouthNet members,

Many thanks for sharing your ideas and insights and emphasizing the importance of looking towards the fringes of society and targeting the most vulnerable and marginalised young people in our emergency programming.

The correlation between youth exclusion and social insecurity and instability is highlighted by Seema and it is important to consider “pathways” to youth exclusion before, during and after emergencies in contexts where:

(a)     Youth exclusion (directly/indirectly) contributed to emergency

(b)     Emergency exacerbated existing or created new forms of youth exclusion

[I have created a new Conversation (3) exploring ‘pathways to exclusion’ for youth before, during and after emergency in some more depth. In this way we can develop a holistic situation analysis and develop an evidence base for our ongoing work]

A number of critical areas for discussion and development are raised in targeting excluded youth including:

Policy gap and impact analysis

Disaggregated data collection and analysis

Monitoring and evaluation of progress and change

[I will start a new Conversation (4) on Policy to pick up on Seema’s comments on the direct and indirect effects of policy on young people before, during and after emergency]

I would like to re-present Jon’s excellent question for further discussion and exploration this week as we consider issues of inclusion and participation of young people in emergencies:

 “How do we recast our eyes/priorities on those outside those programmes we operate, or support?”  

Can members please share:

Examples of data collection tools and mechanisms for identifying and tracking excluded youth before, during and after emergencies?

Strategies and resources for ensuring the perspectives, interests and priorities of young people are heard and understood, and that young people are active participants in monitoring and evaluating emergency programming progress

Models and frameworks for monitoring and evaluating progress and change in youth inclusion and empowerment in emergencies

With warm thanks for your ongoing interest and engagement,

Anne-Marie

Thanks to Seema and Jon for initiating this discussion focussing on "Who" and "Who is not" and thanks to Anne-Marie for clarifying that the discussion should relate to "Young People in the context of Emergency" only. Seema's comment on high drop out rate in the schools is valid for normal as well as emergency situations. This is so because, high drop out rate from schools and lack of livelihood opportunities and frustration are some of the factors that trigger instability and violence leading to emergency situation in most countries.

Over the past 2 decades, I have been involved the formulation and implementation of post conflict recovery initiatives in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Solomon Islands, Cambodia and Nepal. In all conflicts, youth are on the front line. They can easily be misguided or exploited by their mentors for petty political and personal gains.

During emergency situations, youth having tasted the power of destruction during war often resort to grey areas of economy (easy money) activities like smuggling, drugs trade, extortion and terrorism. After a Peace Accord is signed, the peace situation is volatile and there is high level of mistrust between various actors including the youth groups. Maintaining the Peace is extremely important while formulating various strategies for demobilisation, disarmament, reintegration and reconciliation with the stakeholders. Therefore, various "Quick Wins" are designed and launched to diffuse and divert the destructive energy of youth group to some constructive activities through participatory processes as part of the confidence building measures . These are part of the Early Recovery and the scope of these activities is further extended to longer term through more exhaustive developmental activities. While early recovery processes are ongoing, it is important to initiate the "Conflict Analysis" which should analyse in details the factors that triggered the conflict.

Currently, ILO is involved in the implementation of "Jobs for Peace" project in the Terai districts in Nepal Currently, ILO/FAO are involved in the implementation of "Jobs for Peace" project in two Terai districts in Nepal. This project aims at 12,500 jobs creation for youth through self employment, cooperatives and rural infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance activities. Mapping of youth in these districts indicate that most of them are interested in non-farm activities and currently they have plenty of options available in gray economy activities such as cross-border smuggling of goods and drugs, extortion and other anti-social activities. The project aims to create enabling environment for them through skills development, enterprise, access to finance and many other activities that would lead to consolidation of peace and confidence building

To my mind one of the most important aspect that emerge as trigger for conflict is the lack of suitable livelihood opportunities in the rural areas in most countries. Youth are most vulnerable and get easily frustrated due to poor governance and often take up arms to deal with the situation. The Maoist movement is slowly moving from Nepal to India and almost one fifth of India is affected. For example, India is a country so young that 50 percent of its population is still not eligible to vote. Nowadays, with the upcoming globalization, youth are the children of liberalization who have entirely different perspective on traditions and policies compared to the policy makers. Youth are willing and more open to new ideas and interested to test them out.

The trend of an ageing, shrinking population now visible across much of the developed world. It is now for developing countries in Asia and Africa to benefit from the much awaited demographic dividend. In 2020, the average Indian will be only 29 years old compared to average of 37 years for China and USA, 47 years in Western Europe and 48 year in Japan. If the developing countries wish to realize this one time opportunity than investing in youth and preparing them to meet the future challenges is the only option. Otherwise, this demographic dividend can turn into a "demographic nightmare" if these youth continue to indulge in conflict activities !!

Thanks Mukesh for bringing to light the very powerful argument of the youth bulge in developing countries. Indeed, this can be seen as an opportunity, and the enegy of youth can be harnessed for more peaceful and community-service type activities with effort. The power of technology to connect and network with youth will likely be a useful force and could be used to direct and engage youth in learning, information, and productive activities.

Perhaps we should also begin to think about gender differences among youth in emergencies and those affected by conflict. While it might be a too much of a stereotype to consider some youth (women and men) who are largely  victims and others who largely become perpetrators -- it nevertheless forces us to think about the groups differently in terms of what strategies for participation and action may be appropriate for different types of youth. This is to underscore that youth in emergencies is not a homogenous group, but rather a diverse group characterized by gender, ethnicity, location, education, income, and resource differences.

It is an important and useful discussion. Some very expereinc hands have also contributed. I would like to re-inforce the point about Youth Buldge - paricularly in South Asia and elesewhere. As we know Youth already disadvantaged (due to lack of education, skills, opportunities, voice and so on) becomes extreemly vulnerble in case of emergencies - casued by natural clamaities or man-made (conflict, war). The role of ILO in providing technical assistance to our consituents (Govt, Employers, and Trade Union) in terms of preventive and rehablitative appraches needs to be well articulated.

Preventive in terms how we could empower our constituents to respond effecively in case emergency occuers to prevent Youth from becoming further marginalized. This could be more of policy level and up-stream work. Perhpas this is relatively new area and procedures and products will be more fine tuned, and ILO may also need to work with non-traditional partners and ensure Youth Issues are properly reflected in the national emergencies response preparedness. 

It appears that in ILO during last five-six years have gained more first hand knowledge to respond to rehabiltative approachs while dealing with emergencies. This has been evident from the ILO response afer the Tsunami in Far East and Eathquakes in Pakistan, and the products like  "Cash For Work" has been tuned. But this products is only useful during the "recovery" phase. This has also been effectively used with the youth. It is important that both young women and men to be invoved in the process.

I fully agree with Saifullh that natural calamities equally cause similar sufferings to the youth and we need to address this by harnessing the power of youth. While "Cash for Work" etc are good to provide immediate relief to the affected population other longer term sustainable livelihood solutions should be designed so that there is smooth transition from the emergency phase to the early recovery / short to medium term development phase.

Seem is absolutely right in suggesting that we can not have "One size fits all" type of strategies for all the youth. We have the gender diffrences, we have the youth groups who are victims and we have the former militant youth and they are not a homogeneous group. Sometimes, the relief packages for the "former combatants" weigh more while the victim groups are marginalised. This is recipie for creating more friction and destabilising the peace because the victims feel that the perpertrators are being rewarded for their nuisance power. Therefore, the packages for each Group Type have to be tailored keeping in mind their strengths and weaknesses. But pre-requisite for designing such strategies is to  discuss and understand the perspectives, interests and priorities of young people.

Dear AP-YouthNet members,

Welcome to the third and final week of our online discussion and thank-you for your ongoing exchange of information and ideas.

It has been very valuable to hear Mukesh and Saifullah’s experiences in the formulation and implementation of post conflict recovery initiatives for youth, and insights into the triggers and underlying causes of conflict. Understanding and analyzing youth exclusion in emergency contexts is the foundation for relevant, effective and inclusive programming that addresses the specific priorities, vulnerabilities and risks faced by specific groups of young people.

Colleagues also emphasise the importance of youth engagement in and contribution to recovery processes to ensure young people’s perspectives, interests and priorities are represented and responded to.

I would like to draw your attention to an interesting study, produced in partnership by the University of New South Wales (School of Public Health and Community Medicine) and Plan International in Timor Leste:

Like Stepping Stones in the River: Youth Perspectives in the Crisis in Timor Leste (2007):

http://www.plan.org.au/mediacentre/mediareleases/3061/3064

More than 450 East Timorese youth aged between 15-25 years from Dili and the surrounding districts participated in the research, sharing their experiences and ideas on the civil unrest. This research project was designed to provide the opportunity for young people:

·         To reflect on their experiences during and after the conflict

·         To document positive ways in which youth are responding to displacement and supporting their families and communities

·         To examine how youth reslience can be furthered strengthened

In line with rights-based approaches and commitment to processes that fully involve children and young people in their own development, the project created and used a range of participatory methodologies, allowing  young people to express their hopes, concerns and opinions about the future in Timor and the roles young people can play in community recovery.

Key perspectives and opinions expressed by young people during this study included:

·         Leaders authored the crisis

·         Most youth did not participate in the violence

·         Cycles of payback are fuelling the fighting in Dili

·         Youth do want security, justice and a resolution to the crisis

·         The crisis has impacted all youth

·         Young people are looking for ways to contribute to peace and development

Can members please share further examples of:

·         Different approaches for understanding and analysing youth exclusion, particularly youth-centred methodologies and tools that promote the participation of young people?

Seema makes an important point on the power of technology to connect and ‘network’ youth as a useful force in and engaging youth in learning, information, and productive activities. Furthermore, ICT has an important role to play in the mobilisation and constituency building of youth in expressing their voice and advocating for change.  The Plan-ed (http://www.plan-ed.org/) School Linking project connects children and creates bonds between schools in the UK and Kenya, Sierra Leone, Malawi and China, supported by a range of resources to foster collaborative learning and dialogues about global issues, including issues and impact of climate change (http://www.planschoolslink.org/home)

Can members please share other examples of:

·         Youth 'networks' (alliances/coalitions/forums) working towards youth empowerment in the context of emergencies

·         The use of ICT in empowering young people in emergencies

Seema also raises the critical issue of gender (inequality) in emergency and the need to consider traditional gender roles and expectations in both understanding and responding to the priorities, interests and experiences of both young women and men. Adolescent girls and young women are often overlooked in emergency response and recovery programming, particularly in conflict-contexts were most attention is given to the rehabilitation and re-integration of young men, as former combatants, ‘perpetrators’ of violence, and an ongoing risk factor to security and stability.

Without having addressing the power imbalances that impact negatively on relationships between men and women, and on social progress and justice, adolescent girls and women already experiencing multiple-discriminatory factors will be further marginalised by emergency situations.

However, emergency situations can also provide ‘windows of opportunity’ in reaching out to previously excluded groups of youth by opening up structures and systems for reform and development, mobilizing large-scale awareness of and funding for marginalised youth issues and generating changes in societal attitudes and behaviours that shift gender norms and roles, sometimes forever.

Can members please share:

·         Examples of interventions promoting gender equality through attitude and behaviour change and the shifting of power imbalances between (young) men and women in emergency contexts

·         “Windows of opportunity” presented by emergency contexts in reaching the ‘unreached’ i.e. previously excluded (groups of) youth including adolescent girls and young women, and related strategic / programmatic response

I look forward to engaging in our ongoing exchange of information, insights and ideas around youth in emergencies in our final week of discussion.

With best regards,

Anne-Marie

I am delighted that the conversation is going so well. I am particularly interested in what has been dicussed on Conflict analysis - as I do believe that it is imprtant to better understand the triggers of conflcit and other emergencies. The issue is one of being able to measure the triggers as they affect different segements of the population - including youth.

Dear AP-YouthNet members,

As we reach the end of our 3-week discussion, I wanted to send a personal note and thank-you for your contribution and commitment to developing our discussion on vulnerable youth, focusing on youth in emergencies.

Key information, ideas and insights have been shared and will form the foundations for ongoing discussion and dialogue in this ‘developing’ area of youth empowerment in emergencies.

We will in due course share a synthesis and analysis of discussions for your information and interest.

In the meantime I would like to wish you all the very best in your ongoing work in promoting the rights of vulnerable youth.

With warmest regards,

Anne-Marie