Special group in Rural development

Lecture two
Youth
• YOUTH is best understood as a period of
transition from the dependence of childhood
to adulthood’s independence. That’s why, as
a category, youth is more fluid than other
fixed age-groups.
• Yet, age is the easiest way to define this
group, particularly in relation to education
and employment, because ‘youth’ is often
referred to a person between the ages of
leaving compulsory education, and finding
their first job
 What does the United
Nations mean by ‘youth’?
• The United Nations, for statistical
purposes, defines ‘youth’, as those
persons between the ages of 15 and
24 years, without prejudice to other
definitions by Member States.
• The Secretary-General first referred to
the current definition of youth in 1981
in his report to the General Assembly on
International Youth Year (A/36/215,
para. 8 of the annex) and endorsed it in
ensuing reports (A/40/256, para. 19 of
the annex)
• However, in both the reports, the
Secretary-General also recognized
that, apart from that statistical
definition, the meaning of the term
‘youth’ varies in different societies
around the world.
• When the General Assembly, by its
resolution 50/81 in 1995, adopted the
World Programme of Action for Youth to
the Year 2000 and beyond, it reiterated
that the United Nations defined youth
as the age cohort of 15-24.
• the General Assembly resolution
A/RES/56/117 in 2001, the Commission
for Social Development resolution
E/2007/26 & E/CN.5/2007/8 in 2007
and the General Assembly resolution
A/RES/62/126 in 2008 also reinforce the
same age-group for youth
• Several UN entities, instruments and
regional organizations have somewhat
different definitions of
• youth, which the United Nations
secretariat recognizes. The following
table summarizes these differences:
Entity/Instrument/ Age
Organization

UN Secretariat/UNESCO/ILO 15-24
Youth:
UN Habitat (Youth Fund) Youth 15-32
UNICEF/WHO/UNFPA Adolescent: 10-19, Young
People: 10-24, Youth: 15-24
UNICEF /The Convention on Child until 18
Rights of the Child
The African Youth Charter Youth: 15-35
• Definition of youth perhaps changes with
circumstances, especially with the
changes in demographic, financial,
economic and socio-cultural settings;
however, the definition that uses 15- 24
age cohort as youth fairly serves its
statistical purposes for assessing the
needs of the young people and providing
guidelines for youth development
 Challenges faced by Youth
• Today, 87% of young women and men
living in developing countries face
challenges brought about by limited
access to resources, healthcare,
education, training, employment an
economic opportunities.
1. They often have little to no
opportunity for education, few
possibilities to improve their living
conditions, face poverty or multiple
forms of discrimination.
• At the same time, as we consider
innovations and global historic
events inspired by youth, we
recognize the energy, vision and
potential for transformative change
that youth bring to the table.
2. Globally, in 2010, 74 million women, between
the ages of 15 and 24, and 48 million men
were illiterate2. Also, 56.3% of young men
compared to 40.8% of young women
participated in the labour force this is
compounded by the fact that women are
more likely to be engaged in vulnerable
employment which impact access to a steady
income and services.
3. one billion of the world population
lives in poverty, facing daily the
unacceptable conditions of hunger and
malnutrition, disease, homelessness,
unsafe environments and social
exclusion, and that the majority of this
population consists of young people,
three quarters of them living in rural
areas.
• the youth continue to face serious
health issues, in particular the HIV/
AIDS pandemic, which is the biggest
challenge facing our generation
• armed conflict, and that their status
as equal partners in youth
development and empowerment is
essential in overcoming the societal
imbalances that continue to prevail;
4. sixty-six million young people are
reported to be unemployed throughout
the world, representing more than 40
percent of global unemployment, and
that hundreds of millions more work
fewer hours than they wish, and still
others, work long hours with little gain
and no social protection in the informal
economy
Youth and Development
• The UN Secretary-General has
highlighted the urgency to address
the needs of the ‘largest generation
of young people the world has ever
known’ as part of his five-year
agenda.
• Globally, there is a realization that
the involvement of youth is key to
achieving growth and development,
and therefore there is a need to
discuss how development actors can
engage with youth and translate
priority areas into development
programming and policies.
• What are some of the persistent
challenges and positive experiences
and lessons that can be learned
from countries that have
empowered and engaged youth in
finding sustainable development
solutions?
• Should we be pursuing a sectoral
approach to addressing youth exclusion
or invest more in a cross-cutting and
capacity development approach so that
youth are equipped with the technical
skills and leadership qualities to
respond effectively to the development
challenges in their communities?
• As a key development agency present in
over 170 countries and part of the UN
system, how best can UNDP support
national partners, including youth and
youth-led organizations to fully
contribute to and benefit from
sustainable human development?
 priority areas
• Support to and capacity development of
young people and youth organizations,
including leadership and
entrepreneurial skills development, and
seed funding support for initiatives
implemented by youth led and youth
based organizations.
• Youth policy development, including
the facilitation and formalization of
dialogue between youth representatives
and the state. Support for the
development, implementation and
monitoring and evaluation of policies on
youth,
• as well as the building of youth
capacities and creation of an enabling
environment for them to participate in
political and social conversations at all
levels, including through better access
to information. Knowledge
management, monitoring and
evaluation tools at various levels should
support the improvement of
programming in this area.
• Youth mainstreaming and advocacy,
including a transversal approach to
incorporating youth perspectives
and needs into all strategic planning
and programming.
• This should be accomplished by
establishing and strengthening
youth consultation mechanisms and
involving more youth in the
strategic and day-to-day work of the
organization
• The above three suggested priorities have
as a cross-cutting theme the development
of partnerships with governments, youth-
led organizations, academia, civil society
organizations, the private sector, the
media and UN partner agencies in order
to enhance commitment and holistic
youth development policy and
programming.
• Development of these priority areas
should also be guided by the
principles of empowerment,
accessibility, inclusivity, gender
equality and women’s
empowerment, and accountability