mapping urban youth-led development

8/12/2019 Mapping Urban Youth-Led Development

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MAPPING URBANYOUTH-LED DEVELOPMENT

OPPORTUNITIES FUND FOR URBAN YOUTH-LED DEVELOPMENT



MAPPING URBANYOUTH-LED DEVELOPMENT

OPPORTUNITIES FUNDFOR URBAN YOUTH-LED DEVELOPMENT



Copyright © United Nations Human Settlements Programme(UN-HABITAT) 2010

All rights reservedUnited Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)P.O. Box 30030 00100 Nairobi GPO KENYATel: 254 20 7623900Fax: +254 20 7624588www.unhabitat.org

DISCLAIMERThe designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do

not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the secretariat ofthe United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area orits authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries regardingits economic system or degree of development. Excerpts may be reproduced withoutauthorization, on condition that the source is indicated. Views expressed in thispublication do not necessarily reect those of the United Nations Human SettlementsProgramme, the United Nations and its member states.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Compilation: Nottawasaga Institute - [email protected]

Design & Layout: Conrad Mudibo - [email protected]

Printer: Ecomedia Limited - [email protected]

Publisher: United Nations Human Settlements Programme



CONTENTS

Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1

Purpose of the mapping exercise .................................................................... 1

Rationale for UN-HABITAT Involvement in Youth Development .................. 2

Methodology ........................................................................................................ 3

Key Findings ......................................................................................................... 4General ndings ............................................................................................... 4

Africa Findings .................................................................................................. 6

Asia Findings ..................................................................................................... 8

Latin America and Caribbean Region (LAC) Findings .................................. 10

A Comparative Analysis of the Findings across the Continents Surveyed .. 13

Database to manage information .................................................................... 17

Recommendations ............................................................................................. 18

Annexes

I. Organizations surveyed ........................................................................................... 20

II. Data entry formIntroduction .................................................................................. 24



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INTRODUCTIONUN-HABITAT recognises that young peopleneed to be active participants in the futureof cities. Its “Strategy for Enhanced Engage-ment of Youth” aims to promote the leader-ship and participation of young women andmen in all its efforts to improve the lives ofpeople living in the rapidly expanding cities ofthe world. It sees the urgent need to createopportunities for youth to play a much moreactive and constructive role in making citiesthe engines of development.

The 21 st UN-HABITAT Governing Council

met in Nairobi from 16-20 April 2007, andresolved to establish an Opportunities Fundfor Urban Youth-Led Development (resolu-tion GC 21/7). The fund is meant to bean important mechanism for ensuring thesustainability and expansion of the agency’sefforts towards youth-led development.

The fund was established to support urbanyouth-led initiatives in pursuance of theHabitat agenda, the work programme ofthe United Nations Human SettlementsProgramme and overall strategy within thefollowing areas:

• mobilising young people to helpstrengthen youth-related policy formu-lation;

• building capacities of governments, civilsociety organisations and the privatesector to better address youth needs

and issues;• supporting the development of interest-

based information and communication-oriented networks;

• piloting innovative approaches to em-ployment, good governance, adequateshelter and secure tenure;

• sharing and exchanging information onbest practices;

• facilitating vocational training and

credit mechanisms to promote entre-preneurship and employment for youngwomen and men, in collaboration with

the private sector and with other UNbodies;

• promoting gender mainstreaming in all

activities of urban youth.

PURPOSE OF THE MAPPINGEXERCISE

The Opportunities Fund aims to contributeto the knowledge base and learning regard-ing strategies for enhancing the contribu-tion of youth to development. An impor-tant outcome of the fund, thus, will be toprovide tangible input to strengthening in-ternational and national policy formulation,such as through the Youth EmploymentNetwork, established by the UN SecretaryGeneral, and through the Cities Alliance.

While the operations of the fund will buildthis knowledge over time, it is also impera-tive that early results are seen in order toverify the impact value of the programmeand encourage more partners to contributeto and support the fund. To do this, it willbe important to ensure that early recipientsof grants have a high potential to achievesubstantial and timely positive outcomes.Consequently an inventory, or mapping, ofyouth-led initiatives was undertaken duringthe inception phase to identify and assess ex-isting organisations and initiatives that wouldenhance the effectiveness of the fund.

The objectives of the mapping exercisewere:• to identify potential beneciaries of the

fund from selected countries who couldqualify for the rst phase of funding;

• to develop a database of youth-led ini-tiatives in Africa, Asia and Latin Americathat can be used to analyse the charac-teristics of youth-led organisations onthese continents.

The mapping report, through the estab-lishment of a data base on youth-led, and



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youth serving projects and programmes, is alsointended to initiate a mechanism in which theOpportunities Fund will aim to contribute tothe knowledge base and learning regardingstrategies for youth development for UN-HABI-

TAT and its partners in urban development.

RATIONALE FOR UN-HABITATINVOLVEMENT IN YOUTHDEVELOPMENT

In 2006, the world’s population was 6.55billion people. Approximately 5.1 billion people live in the developing world and ap-proximately 48.8% of the world’s populationlives in urbanized areas. Estimates suggestthat 60% of the world’s population will livein cities by 2030 and that as many as 60% ofurban dwellers will be under the age of 18.Most urbanisation will occur in cities in thelow-income countries, where already 30%of the population lives below ofcial povertylines1. Many urban dwellers have limited orno access to basic services, employment, andadequate housing.

The challenges arising from this urban growthexceed the capacity of most cities to meet eventhe most basic needs of large proportions ofthe urban population 2. For this reason, invest-ing in urban children and youth is not only aquestion of human rights and social justice. Itis also about potential economic benets andincreasing citizen security, as young people aresupported in their efforts to become integratedmembers of society 3. The challenge keeps

growing since it is typically youthful popula-tions that leave rural areas for urban destina-tions in search of jobs, adding to already largenumbers of youth living in cities in the low-income countries. Those who leave their homecountry, for economic and other reasons arealso predominantly young people (McKenzie2007).

1 Creating Livable Cities for All Ages: Intergenerational Strategiesand Initiatives (Willem van Vliet- University of Colorado, USA)



Over the years, youth have been particularlyaffected by growing urban poverty. This isdemonstrated in the growth in trafcking ofchildren and young people, sexual exploitationof young people, especially girls and young

women, the high levels of unemployment, agrowing phenomenon of street children, crimeand violence by young people, youth gangs,the recruitment of child soldiers, the destruc-tion of family patterns, environmental degra-dation, worsening health conditions and itsimpacts, such as the transmission of infectiousdiseases, and the emergence of new diseases,as well as the continued growth of the HIV/ AIDS pandemic. Urban areas should provideopportunities in terms of access to better hous-ing, health services, education and employ-ment. The majority of those growing up in cit-ies in developing countries, however, face morerisks than opportunities. These include healthrisks from overcrowding and poor sanitation,increased vulnerability to natural disasters, andthe risks of eviction and economic vulnerabilitybecause of the lack of secure employment.These issues foster continued vulnerabilitiesin urban populations and, therefore, have far-

reaching impacts on future development.

It is for these reasons that UN-HABITAT hasprioritised youth engagement in order toachieve its mission of “Shelter for all andSustainable Urbanisation.” The facts areclear – youth remain one of the most margin-alised groups in terms of decision making andengagement in communities, leaving themvulnerable to the ravages of poverty. Youth

engagement provides both solutions to pastproblems and opportunities to foster sus-tainable development. There are numerousworking examples of youth-led developmentinitiatives where young people are taking thelead in providing solutions to the issues thataffect them. Making resources available foryouth to replicate their successful initiativeshas been a challenge and UN-HABITAT isdemonstrating its commitment to youth em-powerment through the recently establishedOpportunities Fund for Youth-Led Develop-ment which is now operational.



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METHODOLOGYThe mapping was conducted by three teamsof consultants. One team focussed on Asia,one on Africa, and the third was to havefocussed on Latin America. However theteam working on Latin America attendedvarious youth events and, therefore, hadthe opportunity to conduct one-on-oneinterviews with youth from continentsother than Latin America. With that oneexception, all teams conducted the exercisemainly via a desk-study using the followingmethods of gathering data:

•

a questionnaire sent to selected youth-led organisations;• internet research;• consultation with Youth Networks.

The organisations surveyed had to meet thefollowing basic criteria:

• adherence to the principles of youth-leddevelopment, namely:

• youth dene their own develop-ment goals and objectives;

• youth have a social and physicalspace to participate in developmentand to be regularly consulted;

• adult mentorship and peer-to-peermentorship are encouraged;

• youth act as role models to helpother youth engage in develop-ment; and

• youth are integrated into all localand national development pro-grammes and frameworks.

• relevance to focal areas of the fund;• organisational capacity and potential

for scaling up;• evidence of past achievement of results;• opportunities for adding value through

investment from the fund;• potential for documentation of tangibleresults from investments from the fund.

A combination of survey techniques wasadministered directly.

This report is based on a consolidationof the data collected by all three surveys.Some background information has beenprovided on each of the continents surveyedto enable contextualisation of the ndingsand recommendations.



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KEY FINDINGS

GENERAL FINDINGS

As stipulated in the operational guidelines,the fund will initially concentrate on sup-porting projects related to the creation ofemployment, peace-building and environ-ment. The rst analysis of the ndings has,therefore, explored the engagement ofyouth in Asia, Latin America and Africa inthese three areas.

Focal Area AcronymMobilising young people to help strengthen youth-related policyformulation POLBuilding capacities of governments, civil society organisations and the

private sector to better address youth needs and issues CBSupporting the development of interest-based information andcommunication oriented networks NETSPiloting innovative approaches to employment JOBSPiloting innovative approaches to good governance GGPiloting innovative approaches to adequate shelter and secure tenure SHELTERSharing and exchanging information on best practices PRACSVocational training TRAININGCredit mechanisms MFIPromoting gender mainstreaming in all activities of urban youth GDR

353025201510

5

0Jobs

Graph showing the proportion of surveyed

organizations focusing ondiferent focalareas of the fund

Peace Env.

Of the 210 organisations surveyed acrossthe three continents, 32% are involved inprojects focussed on youth employment. Asdemonstrated in the graph above, 10% and6% of the surveyed organisations are in-volved in environmental and peace-buildingprojects respectively.

The second focus of the survey analysedthe involvement of youth in the focal areasof the fund. For the purposes of the analy-sis, the focal areas of the fund have been

classied as shown below

As the graph below demonstrates, employ-ment was a primary priority with 32% ofthe organisations implementing projectsrelated to this focal area. The key issues ad-dressed under this theme include:

• policy advocacy on employmentincluding workers rights;

• vocational training;• credit mechanisms.



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Most organisations that were mapped inAfrica were engaged in more than one areaof focus:• 63% of the organisations are engaged

in economic enhancement and

employment related projects;• 33% 0f surveyed organisations areinvolved in policy related projects;

• 1% of the organisations surveyed workon shelter related projects.

Employment, as demonstrated in the tablebelow, remained the primary focus:

Key issues addressed by the organisationsunder employment were:• small scale micro-enterprises operated

by youth organisations;• entrepreneurship skill building and

vocational training;• savings and micro-credit schemes.

Eleven percent and 16% of the organisa-tions are engaged in training and micro-credit programmes respectively.

Of the organisations surveyed, 32%focussed on governance issues and ofthese, 56% were also engaged in policyadvocacy related work through projects inthe following areas:

• human rights;• conict resolution;• youth participation in governance.

Most organisations working in the health

sector were focussed on HIV/AIDS. HIV/ AIDS prevention and awareness campaignswere key activities undertaken by youth inthis sector.

Environment issues addressed includedecological restoration programmes involv-ing tree planting, and conservation. Waterand sanitation projects primarily addressedaccess to or provision of clean drinkingwater.

In Africa, the organisations surveyed:• were urban based;• were legally registered as either local

community-based organisations ornon-governmental organisation, andhad bank accounts;

• had contact details available;• demonstrated some track record based

on the projects implemented in the

past or had on-going projects.

Of the surveyed organisations, 51% havebeen in existence for a period of ve ormore years.

P O L

R e p r e s e n

t a t i o n ( %

)

Fund focal areas

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Percentage representation of various focal areas of the fund among

youth organizations in Africa

N E T S

G G

R A C S M

F I C B

E M P L T

S h e l t e r

T r a i n i n g

G D R



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(International Labour Ofce, 2006). 12

It should be noted that employment andunemployment gures mask problems ofunderemployment and poverty amongworking youth. Since the dynamics

of economic growth help determine acountry’s capacity to absorb new entrantsto the labour market, employmentprospects for young people are moresensitive to economic growth than arethose for older workers (Morris, 2006). 13

Although opportunities for education andemployment are generally better in urbanareas than in rural areas, inexible labourmarkets and education systems have notalways been able to absorb urban youthadequately, making the members of thisgroup more vulnerable to poverty andsocial exclusion. The relatively high rateof joblessness among educated youth isbelieved to derive at least partly from themisalignment or lack of correspondencebetween their training and the skillrequirements for the types of jobs created byglobalisation

Globalisation: Globalisation has had apolarising effect, widening inequalitieswithin and between countries andpopulation groups. Many are restrictedby inadequate education and poverty, orare outside the reach of basic informationand communication and of the goods andservices that have become available withglobalisation. Factors such as the changing

nature of work, diminishing demand forunskilled labour, and the emergence ofnew and less secure forms of employmenteffectively prevent young people fromparticipating fully in the global economy.

12 International Labour Ofce 2006: Global Employment Trendsfor Youth 2006. Geneva: International Labour Organization,

August.

13 Morris, Elizabeth (2006). Globalization and its effects on youthemployment trends in Asia. Paper presented at the RegionalExpert Group Meeting on Development Challenges for YoungPeople, Bangkok, 28-30 March 2006.

ASIA FINDINGS

Youth issues in the region

Urban residents in Asia—more than 270

million of whom are youth—currentlyaccount for almost 50% of the world’s totalurban population. East Asia is the mosturbanized part of the region and South-Central Asia, the least urbanized, with city-dwellers accounting for 41.6 and 29.8% ofthe respective populations (Hugo, 2003). 8

Key Problems

Poverty: Poverty ranges between 12% and40% in urban areas, and in many Asian cities,30-40% of the population live in slums. 9

Slums: In 2005, the slum populations ofSouth Asia and East Asia were estimatedat 276 million and 272 million respectively.The slum population in Asia far exceeds thatin any other region of the world. 10

Challenges

Growing youth population: By 2030,the number of youth living in urban areasin Asia is expected to climb to 533 million;the region’s total urban population isprojected to increase from 1,553 million to2,663 million, with the proportion of urbanresidents rising from 40% to 55% of theglobal population (United Nations, 2005b). 11

Unemployment: In South-East Asia andthe Pacic, youth are ve times more likelythan older workers to be unemployed, andin South Asia and East Asia they are almostthree times more likely to be without a job

8 (Hugo 2003). Migration and Development: A Perspective from Asia. IOM Migration Research Series, No. 14

9 (Hugo 2003). Migration and Development: A Perspective from

Asia. IOM Migration Research Series, No. 1410 United Nations, 2005b: World Population Prospects: The 2004

Revision. New York.

11 United Nations, 2005b: World Population Prospects: The 2004Revision. New York.



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Opportunities

Youth bulge: The size of the youthpopulation in Asia gives the region amajor advantage in terms of development

potential. Out of a global youth labourforce of 633 million in 2005, some 353million (55.7%) lived in Asia. By 2015,the Asian youth workforce is expectedto increase to 361 million. Countriesin the region have been able to reapa “demographic dividend” from theproduction capacity of a labour force thatis sizeable in relation to the dependentpopulation; indeed, it is estimated thatone third of East Asia’s economic miracle(occurring between 1965 and 1990) can beattributed to this phenomenon. 14

Globalisation: In Asia, globalisation hasgenerated extraordinary opportunities. Newavenues for education and employment havebeen created; improvements in technologyhave helped to increase the productivityof individuals as well as manufacturingand agricultural output; and many people,

14 Bloom, David E., and David Canning (2003). The health and poverty of nations: from theory to practice. Journal of HumanDevelopment, vol. 4, No. 1 (March), pp. 47-71.

including youth, are reaping the benetsof major public health breakthroughsand interventions. Many of the new jobopportunities created by globalisation,especially in manufacturing, have been in

occupations dominated by women. Historicaland cultural factors have combined withspecic developments in the industrial andservice sectors of cities to expand employmentopportunities for women. 15 Globalisationhas improved the accessibility of a goodeducation for many young people in Asia.Large numbers of previously un-served youthare beneting from a wide range of innovativeeducational options, including opportunitiesoriginating outside their national borders.Distance education is particularly importantwithin this context. ICT-based distanceeducation has been used to overcome time,space and geographic restrictions, allowingteachers and students to interact and sharelearning materials. In China, there are2,735 radio and television universities at thenational, provincial, prefecture and countylevels offering more than 18,000 classes. In

15 Lim, Lin Lean (1993). Growing economic interdependence andits implications for international migration. Paper presentedat the Expert Group Meeting on Population Distribution andMigration, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 18-22 January 1993.

1 - Philippines

2 - Sri-Lanka3 - India4 - Bangladesh5 - Nepal

6 - China

7 - Parkistan8 - Afganistan9 - Indonesia

9

3

5

6

7

8

2 1

4

KEY



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of the political agenda. 21 This is probably anindicator of existing space for participationin Latin America which should be exploited.

The Mapping Exercise in Latin

AmericaIn the LAC region, the majority of theorganisations are focussed on capacitybuilding geared towards equipping youthwith skills necessary for them to participate21 Reel, Monte (2006). Chile’s student activists: a course in

democracy. Washington Post ForeignService (25 November).

meaningfully in decision making and policyadvocacy. Some capacity developmentefforts are also focussed on buildinglife-skills, enabling youth to make validdecisions about career and life in general.

Of the surveyed organisations, 69% wereengaged in implementing capacity buildinginterventions.

Employment and mobilisation tostrengthen youth-related policy formulationemerged as the second priority, with 38%of surveyed organisations involved in thesetwo focal areas. The activities undertakenare enterprise development related andinvolve offering services such as marketing,business management and businessdevelopment to youth actors.

Mobilisation to strengthen youth-relatedpolicy formulation goes hand in handwith capacity building, with 68% ofthose organisations implementing policy-related projects having a capacity buildingprogramme.

Micronance projects in this region havetaken the last slot with 6% of the surveyedorganisations engaging in related activities.

KEY1 - Argentina2 - Colombia3 - Caribbean

Percentage representation of various focal areas of the fund among youth

organizations in LAC region

R e p r e s e n

t a t i o n

( % )

P O L

Focal areas of the fund

N E T S

G G

R A C S M

F I

C B

E M P L T

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1

2

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A COMPARATIVE ANALYSISOF THE FINDINGS ACROSS THECONTINENTS SURVEYED

The following section compares thendings in the individual continents,taking into consideration the ndings forall of the 121 organisations surveyed, andanalysing the data in accordance withthe focal areas of the fund. The graphbelow demonstrates the aggregated data,presented as a comparison between thethree continents.

In the combined sample analysis, results

indicate that employment is the mostimportant issue among youth organisations.However, when the data is classiedregionally, it reveals differences in the keyfocus areas. Where African youth haveplaced employment at the forefront, it rankssecond in the LAC region and 4 th in Asia.

Job creation in Asia ranks a distant fth,while in Africa it ranks rst with 63%.

With 38% of the organisations surveyedengaged in job creation in the LAC region,it is the second most popular activity foryouth organisations in the LAC region.

This could be attributed to the fact thatweak infrastructure and civil unrest havecreated a relatively hostile environment,

and Africa has, therefore, not benetedfrom the positive effects of globalisationon employment as has been experienced inAsia and Latin America. The opportunitiesfor employment are, therefore, compara-

tively limited. Governments have begunto address this issue in some ways as isdemonstrated by the emergence of fundstargeted at youth development in variouscountries across the continent.

Micro-nancing is almost equally commonacross Asia and Africa with 14% and 16%respectively. In the LAC region however,only 6% of the organisations surveyed areengaged in MFI related activities.

The world is facing a growing youth un-employment crisis. Both developing anddeveloped economies are faced with thechallenge of creating decent and sustain-able jobs for the large cohort of youngwomen and men entering the labourmarket every year. 22 Youth employment isa major focus of the Millennium Develop-ment Goals (MDGs) and was reafrmed

by the Ministers and Heads of Delegationsparticipating in the High-Level Segment ofthe Substantive 2006 Session of the Eco-nomic and Social Council (ECOSOC) whocommitted themselves to “develop[ing]and implement[ing] strategies that give22 Global Employment Trends For Youth, ILO 2006

Percentage representation of various focal areas of the fund among surveyed youth

organizations in different regions

Asia

Africa

LAC R e p r e s e n

t a t i o n

( % )

P O L

Focal areas of the fund

N E T S

G G

R A C S M

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youth everywhere a real and equal oppor-tunity to nd full and productive employ-ment and decent work” 23. Youth nowrepresent close to half of the world’s 192million jobless people. In many countries,

they are more than three times as likelyas adults to be seeking work. This presentsan especially urgent challenge for develop-ing countries, home to 89% of the world’syouth (www.freeworldacademy.com, www.un.org, www.prb.org, www.unicef.org).

Youth unemployment or situations underwhich youth give up on the job search incurcosts to the economy, society, individualand the family. In order to make povertyhistory, youth as drivers of economic devel-opment have to be brought on board as akey stakeholder group. In its 2004 GlobalEmployment Trends for Youth report, theILO estimated that halving the world’s youthunemployment rate, and thus bringing itmore in line with the adult rate while al-lowing for some natural differences, wouldadd between an estimated $US2.2 and 3.5trillion of the 2003 value, or between 4.4%

and 7.0%, to the global GDP.

On the other hand, idle youth is a costlygroup. They are not contributing to theeconomic welfare of the country – quite thecontrary. The loss of income among theyounger generation translates into a lack ofsavings as well as a loss of aggregate de-mand. Some youth who are unable to earntheir own income have to be nancially sup-

ported by the family, leaving less for spend-ing and investments at the household level.Societies lose their investment in education.Governments fail to receive contributionsto social security systems and are forcedto increase spending on remedial services,including crime or drug use preventionefforts. All this is a threat to the develop-ment potential of economies. Focussing onyouth, therefore, makes sense to a countryfrom a costs-benets point of view 24.

23 ECOSOC High-level Segment: Ministerial Declaration, 5 July2006, E/2006/L.8.

24 Global Employment Trends For Youth, ILO 2006

As much as 89% of the world’s youth wereliving in developing economies in 2005.The youth labour force growth will con-tinue to be concentrated in sub-SaharanAfrica, South East Asia and the Pacic, and

in the Middle East and North Africa – re-gions where insufcient economic demandalready results in signicant unemploymentrates for youth. Between 1995 and 2005,these regions were projected to add another24 million, 11 million and 865,000 younglabour market participants respectively. 25

If current trends persist, by 2025 about57% of the world’s population will live inurban areas, up from about 50% today.By 2025, the world will add another eightmega cities to the current list of 19—allexcept one of these eight will be in Asiaand sub-Saharan Africa 26.

Given that most people who move tourban areas are youth, UN-HABITAT faces agrowing urban unemployment challenge.Furthermore, there is a proven link betweenyouth unemployment and social exclusion 27.

In addressing this, UN-HABITAT needs tocontinue engaging governments and youthin nding lasting solutions to the problemsthat hinder access to decent work amongthe youth in poor societies. It is clear fromthese ndings that youth unemployment isa barrier to poverty eradication.

In Asia and Africa, youth have not beentraditionally engaged in decision making

processes, both formal and informal, dueto cultural constraints. While the youth inthese areas recognise the importance ofpolicy and good governance, the oppor-tunities for them to engage in meaningfuldialogue are few. In Asia, however, withimproved economic status as a result ofglobalisation, there is possibly a greaterrecognition of youth in development and,therefore, the opportunities for youth en-gagement are increasing.25 Global Employment Trends For Youth, ILO 2006

26 Global Trends 2025

27 See, for example, Ryan, 2000, and ECA, 2005.



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Mobilisation for youth-related policyformulation is most popular in Asia witha majority of 57%, as compared to 38%and 33% in LAC and Africa respectively.There is a strong correlation between this

focal area and capacity building. Observa-tions from the three regions indicate thatmost of the organisations involved in policyadvocacy activities have a capacity buildingcomponent.

In Africa, mobilisation for policy advocacyis related to governance, having 56% ofthose organisations with a governanceprogramme concurrently advocating forpolicy change.

There is a large variation between the con-tinents in the proportion of organisationsinvolved in the sharing of best practices.In Asia, the organisations engaged in theexchange of best practice are 40% of theinstitutions surveyed, 12% and less than10% in Africa and LAC respectively. Inaddition, in Asia 50%, in LAC 19% and inAfrica 8% of surveyed organisations have a

networking strategy.

Clearly there is a correlation between theexistence of a networking strategy and thesharing of best practice. In Africa, the lowlevels of networking and sharing of bestpractice could be attributed to weaknessesin the capacity and the mechanisms avail-able for documentation and dissemination.Whereas, in Asia, 40% of the organisations

surveyed are engaged in networking, ow-ing to good communication mechanisms.In LAC, the low levels of networking aresurprising, and it is not clear what causesthis. As is evidenced in the youth politicalmovements, youth are able to come to-gether effectively and undertake collectiveaction. Therefore, it is unclear as to whythey are not better engaged in networkingand the sharing of best practice.

By the end of 2000, more than half thepopulation in developed regions had ac-

cess to the Internet, compared with 7% indeveloping regions and less than 1% inthe 50 least developed countries (ww.free-worldacademy.com, www.un.org, www.prb.org, www.unicef.org ). In addition, an

estimated 130 million of the world’s 15-to 24-year olds cannot read or write (www.worldbank.org, www.unicef.org, www.nationmaster.com).

These, among other reasons, could bewhy one of the ndings of this report wasthat only 10% of the organisations werefound to be sharing information on bestpractices. Given that most of the organisa-tions surveyed have been in existence fora number of years and have successfullycompleted projects, the fund’s knowledgegeneration potential is vast. For examplein Africa, 51% of the surveyed organisa-tions have been in existence for a period ofve or more years and some for as long as20 years. Such organisations already haveevidence of what youth-led developmentcan achieve. A platform created for shar-ing such knowledge and experiences can

enhance the benets of the fund. This isneeded given the fact that only 8% of thesurveyed organisations in Africa are shar-ing information on best practices. In Asia,50% of the surveyed organisations aresharing best practices; however, this couldbe attributed to the fact that half of themare networking organisations. Barriers toinformation sharing should be addressed inorder to facilitate knowledge generation,

documentation and dissemination.Shelter-related activities are the least popu-lar in Asia and Africa and even in LatinAmerica; the percentage only makes thesecond last rank from bottom because of aUN-HABITAT project included in the survey.This could be attributed to the fact thatyouth rely on adults for the provision ofshelter. It could also indicate a lack of op-portunity, and skills for youth to engage inshelter-related activities. Shelter provisionis considered the domain of the private



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sector, the planning of which lies with lo-cal authorities. Neither of these sectors isequipped to engage youth in the decisionmaking and implementation processes.

Results from the Ideas to Action reportshowed that 90% of respondents statedthat adults were involved in their project.Mentors constituted 75.6% of the total;53% were involved in administration andthe same percentage were involved in theboard, and 33.3% were involved in pro-gram delivery. There are, therefore, differ-ent types and levels of adult involvement.This could either enhance or strangle theability of youth actors in designing solu-tions to youth issues. There is a need todene the nature of adult involvement toensure that it enhances youth engagementand increases effectiveness. The boundar-ies of engagement should be guided byproper research and should be entrenchedin policy in order to safeguard the conceptof youth-led development. The Opportuni-ties Fund should attempt to draw les-sons from organisations that have adults

involved in some way and seek to denepositive parameters for their involvement.

Employment tops the list in Africa, capacitybuilding in LAC, while mobilisation for

youth-related policy formulation takes thelead in Asia. While there are various reasonswhy this could be the case, there is notenough information available to make a clearcut analysis on the factors that inuencethese trends. It is not clear whether theengagement of fewer organisations in aparticular focal area reects that the area isunderserved and, therefore, requires moreattention from the implementation of thefund, or if it is indicative of the needs andpriorities of youth; therefore, calling uponthe fund to focus its attention on thoseareas where there are a large number oforganisations already engaged. To guide thisdecision, it is imperative that more researchbe carried out to enable the Partners andYouth Section (PYS) and its partners to betterunderstand what drives the trends revealedand, therefore, guide the implementation ofthe fund.



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Parallel to the mapping exercise, a data-base was developed to map existing initia-tives and key organisations, and the same

database is intended to form the basis ofthe information management system fortracking the activities of the fund. Thedatabase was designed in consultationwith UN-HABITAT IT staff, and aimed to beconsistent with and complementary to theexisting Best Practices database.

The consultant’s scope of work in relationto the database to manage information

was limited to the design of the databasein consultation with UN-HABITAT staff. Thedatabase was designed and developed inMicrosoft Access.

The process involved:• identication of the nature and type

of data required. This was done viaa consultative process at the steeringcommittee level whose aim was todetermine what kind of data needs to

be captured. This formed the basis forsetting the data entry elds;

• classication of data required was

then done to group similar typesof data e.g. that which relates toinstitutional issues, areas of focus i.e.programme or project issues, donors,implementing partners, etc.;

• development of the database inMicrosoft Access based on the agreeddata entry elds which were classiedor grouped according to the specicinformation they relate to, e.g.

organisational information, donor-related information, etc.

It was agreed at the steering committeethat UN-HABITAT Partners and Youth Sec-tion will ensure that the database is popu-lated and maintained within UN-HABITAT.

Samples of the database’s data entry formsare attached as appendix II.

DATABASE TO MANAGE INFORMATION



18

RECOMMENDATIONSi. Increase the engagement of youth in

shelter-related work. While shelteris an important focus area of thefund, it is clear that currently thereis not much focus on this amongyouth organisations. The strategyunder development with the UN-HABITAT Shelter Branch needs tobe linked to the Fund in order toidentify and develop pilot initiativesthat can generate models and toolsto be used in promoting broaderyouth engagement in shelter-related

activities, and building their capacitiesin this area.

ii. One of the seven focal areas of thefund is “facilitating vocational trainingand credit mechanisms to promoteentrepreneurship and employment”.The mapping exercise found only14% of organisations are engaged inmicro-nance type activities. It will beimportant to undertake research onthe reasons for this low participationin order for the fund to developappropriate strategies to ensureeffective use of the funds that may beapproved for credit mechanisms.

iii. Capacity building for youth remains acrucial matter. The correlation existingbetween policy advocacy and capacitybuilding is an indicator that the ability

of youth to engage at this level islimited. This factor will need to betaken into consideration in assessingapplications to the fund for advocacyinitiatives; proposals of this type shouldeither show evidence of advocacycapacity or include a component forcapacity building. Additionally, indeveloping training tools with theUN-HABITAT Training Capacity BuildingBranch (TCBB), advocacy capacityneeds should be addressed.

iv. The wide variation between theregions in the levels of networkingand information-sharing raises

many questions that will need tobe addressed in future research.There may be lessons that Africanorganisations can learn from Asianones in this regard. The nding arguesfor differential priority focusses in thedifferent regions, for example targetinga stronger focus on supportingnetwork development in Africa, whileundertaking case studies of successful

networking in Asia.v. The wide variation between the

regions in the levels of focus onthe above and other areas begs thequestion why certain ones are quitelow. Is it due to a low perceived needto address such areas or becauseof political, social, capability orinstitutional constraints obtaining inthese regions? It is also possible thatwhere the engagement of youth insome areas such as lack of housing islow, this problem is not considered tobe a youth problem. Further research isneeded to determine the reasons, andthen to develop strategies to addressconstraints if they exist.

vi. Gender integration should be requisitefor all the projects funded through

the Opportunities Fund, as it is oneof the focal areas stipulated in theGoverning Council decision. However,given that only 11% of the surveyedorganisations are incorporatinggender in their projects, it is likely thatthere is a lack of capacity in youthorganisations to address gender. TheGender Unit should be requested toassist in developing a strategy formainstreaming gender in the fundoperations, with a specic focuson building the capacity of youthorganisations in this area.



19

vii. Because ‘youth’ is a transitional groupwith varied needs at different stages oftheir development, the OpportunitiesFund ought to establish more specicage targeted interventions. The data

collected does not reveal the targetedage group for their projects i.e. 15-19,20-24, and so on.

viii. Adult involvement needs to be clearlydened. Further research should bedone to dene the parameters ofengagement necessary to guaranteethat initiatives are youth led.

ix. An important way to build capacityand empower youth organisations isto strengthen their ability to mobiliseresources. Data available throughthe hundreds of applications to thefund can provide a rich overviewof how and where different groupsaround the world are obtaining theirnancial and other support. This data

should be collected and analyzed ina systematic way in order to build aknowledge base of resources availablefor youth work, rst and foremost asa tool to assist the youth organisations

themselves. The data can secondarilyassist in identifying opportunities forcollaboration and augment resourcesfor the fund’s future sustainability andimpact.

x. Finally, relating to all of the aboverecommendations, it will be criticalto use the information managementtools of the fund (application forms,report formats, evaluation instruments,etc.) to gather data that addressesthe knowledge gaps identied in themapping exercise and, thus, makes asubstantial contribution to buildingthe knowledge base of UN-HABITATon best strategies and mechanismsfor promoting youth engagement insustainable urbanisation.



20

Eastern Africa, Tanzania1. Arusha Women Legal Aid and HumanRights Centre

2. Kagera Youth Forum3. Africa Youth Development Foundation4. Lindi Youth Development Foundation5. Tanzania Youth Vision Association6. Tanga Youth Development Association7. Newala Youth Network8. Kilosa Youth Development Organization9. FCTP Singinda Youth Centre10. Vijana Jitulize11. Youth Empowerment Tanzania12. Shake Hands Youth Organization13. Rise Alive Youth Association14. Tanzania Development Forum for Youth

Wazo La Wiki15. Youth and HIV Awareness16. Lughano Network for Vulnerable

Children17. I AM YOUTH-Supporting Youth

Tanzania18. E-Agriculture Portal

Eastern Africa, Rwanda1. Training for Peace Rwanda2. Family Planning Education Project3. Rwanda Youth and Capacity Building

Project

Eastern Africa, Ethiopia

Enhancing Youth and Child Rights in Schools

Eastern Africa, Kenya1. Young People for Peace and

Development2. Peace Caravan3. Kenya Disabled Action Network4. Sexuality of Young People Prenatally

Infected With HIV/Aids5. Mrembo Girls Program6. Dudu Baya Youth Group7. Friends of Ngaira8. Taka Ni Fashion Na Arts Awards

9. Participatory Education Theatre forHealing and Reconciliation10. Sculpture Designing and Modeling11. Child Youth Media Project12. Embu Youth Development Initiative13. Holiday Science Camp Under Cosmos

Education14. Pambazuka Fishing and Farming Project15. Kaswesha Self Help Group16. Kenya Youth Business Trust17. Kenya Reconstruction Express18. Youth Drugs Control Centre19. Community Watch and Rescue Team20. Dandora Youth and Football Club21. Kamukunji Youth Welfare Alliance22. Youth Alive Africa23. Society Empowerment Project24. Padhola Youth Group25. Thicka District Young Leaders Initiative26. Let’s Work for The Future

Eastern Africa, Uganda1. Hope for Youth Uganda2. Community Alliance for Change3. Yohana (youth organisation for

humanity and nature)4. Vei Education and Development Agency5. Youth With a Vision6. Trust Youth Environment Centre7. Alpha Youth Uganda8. Forum for Youth Advocacy

9. Con-Trust Youth Environment Centre10. Magoro Youth Group11. Kazinga Youth Volunteer Program12. Bulondo Youth Unti-Aids Association13. Masaka Youth Association14. Youth With a Purpose15. Youth Alive Uganda16. Growing Futures Project17. Prevention of HIV Transmission Program

For Young People18. HIV/Aids Environment for Mission for

Youth Rights19. Youth Entrepreneurship Environment

Skills

ANNEX ISURVEYED ORGANIZATIONS: OPPORTUNITIES FUND

FOR YOUTH LED DEVELOPMENT



21

20. Magora Local Poultry Project21. Lugingi Youth Ox-Plough Project22. Osukuru Youth Fish Farming Project23. Youth Crime Watch24. Transformation of Women And Youth

Organization25. Empowerment Project-Makindye YouthDevelopment

26. Community Transformation FoundationNetwork Mission for Youth Rights

27. Tororo Millennium Computer Training28. Rural Youth Empowerment Project29. Community Child

Eastern Africa, Burundi1. Centre De Formulation Et

D’escadrement Pour Paix Et LeDevelopment

2. Centre De Liguaiteka Youth Commission3. Casobu4. New Generation Association

West Africa, Sierra Leona1. Africa Youth Coalition Against Hunger2. Africa Youth for Peace and

Development

3. Africa Youth Coalition Against Hunger4. Sierra Unit Network5. Global Youth Network for Peace and

Development6. Ilearn Sierra Leone7. Yedem Training Centre8. Global Youth Network for Peace And

Development9. ICT To Close The Digital Gap in Post

Conict Sierra Leona

10. Sustainable Livelihood Through SkillsTraining for Youth

West Africa, Ghana1. Edikafo Progressive Foundation2. Vision for Alternative Development3. Abusua Foundation4. Waves International5. Young People We Care6. The Avert Youth Foundation7. Young People Experience for Change

Western Africa, Cameroon1. Youth to Reinforce Forest Policies2. Extension3. Local Youth Corner4. Change Centers for Unemployed Youth

and Young WomenWestern Africa, LiberiaAfrican Child Peace Initiative

Western Africa, Nigeria1. Anambra State Nynet Ha Youth

Resource Centre2. Centre for Peace Education and

Democracy3. Liberian Youth Congress4. Liberia National Student Union5. Aid Foundation6. Blossom7. Foundation for Turning Community

Concern Into Citizen Action8. ICT a Panacea for Effective RA and HIV/

ADISs Programming9. Book Drive for Vulnerable Children10. Stop Crime- Take The Lead Nigeria11. Youth Reform Initiative Project

12. Vanguard for Development13. Vision for Sanity14. Save a Soul Project15. Urban Community Development

Initiative

Western Africa, Congo1. Jeunes Entrepreneurs Congolias

Network2. Youth and Climate Change Mitigation

3. Mazombo Menga RodolpheWestern Africa, Cote d’Ivoire1. Struggle Corruption at School2. KAYIGA

Southern Africa, Mozambique1. Accord. Association of Cooperation for

Development2. Aro Education Information and Youth3. Associacao Ds Proprietaires Immoveis4. Associacao Mocambicana Dos Amigos

De Alemanha5. Associacao Republica Mozambicana De

Amizadee



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6. Associacao De Prevencao AsToxicomanias – Kubessa

7. International Relations StudentsAssociation

8. Mbeu

9. Mozambique National Association forWomen10. Mozambique Youth Union11. National Democratic Youth12. Jierdemo13. Organization of The Mozambique

Youth

Southern Africa, Malawi1. Counseling of The Adolescent and

Youth Organization2. Together for Mzuzu Youth and Orphans3. Dedza Youth Advocacy Organization4. Girls Empowerment Network5. Active Youth Initiative for Social

Enhancement (AYISA)

Southern Africa, ZimbabweWork4Peace

Southern Africa, South Africa

1. Stop HIV/AIDS Abstinence Group,Curtaining HIV/AIDS Spread

2. Youth Enterprise Society

Southern Africa, Zambia1. The Infotainment Movement2. The Movie Posse Band

Northern Africa, Egypt1. Global Youth Partners

2. Sustainable Development Organization3. Nahdet el Mahrousa4. Entrepreneurs Business Forum Egypt5. Future Youth Club6. Peace Youth Coordination

Asia, Bangladesh1. National Federation of Youth

Organizations in Bangladesh (NFYOB)2. YES Campaign 2002 – 20123. UNESCO: Breaking the poverty cycle of

women4. bEARN Youth Programme

5. Young Power in Social Action (YPSA)6. Advocacy for a Public Policy to Ensure

Human Rights in Ship breaking Industry7. Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST)8. The Youth Parliament (YPF)

9. Vishwa Yuvak Kendra10. Indian Committee of YouthOrganizations (ICYO)

11. The Self-Employed Women'sAssociation (SEWA)

12. Centre for Development and PopulationActivities (CEDPA)

13. Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of YouthDevelopment

14. Marwari Yuva Manch15. Resonance202016. Building Good Citizens Through Youth

Leadership Development

Asia, Nepal1. Association of Youth Organizations

Nepal (AYON)2. YES Country Network-Nepal3. Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs' Forum

(NYEF)4. ILO Child Labour, Youth Employment

and Social Dialogue5. Ensuring The Future of Urban Forestry6. Youth Action Nepal (YOAC)7. National Health Foundation8. Nepalese Youth for Climate Action9. Youth Managed Resource Centre

Asia, Pakistan1. Youth Investment Promotion Society

(YIPS)

2. Young Men’s Christian Association(YMCA) & Young Women’s ChristianAssociation (YWCA)

3. All Pakistan Women’s Association(APWA)

4. Swat Youth Front (SYF)5. Pakistan Grassroot Youth Forum

(PGRYF)6. Pakistan National Youth Council7. Youth Engagement Services Network

(YES)8. Youth Enterprenweship Training

Program9. Youth Conservation



23

Asia, Sri Lanka1. Beyond Boarders2. Jaffna Youth Congress3. Youth Link Movement (YLM)4. Sri Lanka Youth Parliament (SLYP)

Asia, Philippines1. The National Youth Commission2. Caucus of Development NGOs Network3. Youth Build - UNHABITAT4. Popular Education for People's

Empowerment (PEPE)

Asia, India1. Green Wings2. Foundation for Development and

Governance3. Sakit Vohra4. Youth Governance5. Awareness About Health And HIV6. BODHI-centre7. Self Employment Mission8. Volunteers India9. Youth Development Programme of

National Equity10. Training To Urban Youth And Families

11. Mainstreaming The Unemployed YouthThrough Skill Training

Asia, China1. The China Youth Association2. The Chinese Young Volunteers

Associations3. China Youth Development Foundation

(CYDF)

AfghanistanBalwa Science Academy

Sri-Lanka1. Youth Parliament2. Business Idea Generation Workshops

South- America, ArgentinaCSO and Political Party Dialogue ForDevelopment

South America, ColombiaAndo Participando

Haiti1. Prevention Program for STI/HIV/AIDS2. Pierra Paul Audate3.

IndonesiaENABLE (Aprentiseship for trafricking victimsand youth women)



24

1 Name of organization

2 Country

3 Region/ Continent

4 Key areas of focus of the organization

ProjectActionsbeing/alreadyimplemented

Geographicarea ofoperation

Employment Good governanceSecure Tenure

Adequate shelterOther (Please specify)Other (please specify)Other (Please specify)

5 Address Physical Location (Building Street)

Post / Mailing addressPhone FaxEmail

Website address:

6 Contact person for the organization

7 Legal from8 When was the organization established/

registered

9 Current/ previous donorsDonor Project

fundedSize of funding

10 Current/ previous project implementationpartners

11 Networks afliated to

12 Other youth organizations that theorganizations works with areas that

the mapping consultants should statetheir assesment-adherence to youth leddevelopment principle

13 Have the youth played a signicant role inplanning and implementing the organizationactivities?

YES/ NO. (Briey explain)

14 Are the youth signicantly represented in thegovernance and management structures ofthe organizations?YES/ NO. (Briey explain)

15 Has the organizations demonstrated linkagesto adult Mentos/ adult led institutions?

YES/NO. (Briey explain) Please specify the institutions

16 Does the organizations reect genderbalance at the governance and staff levels?

YES/NO. (Briey explain)

ANNEX II – DATA CAPTURE FORMUN-HABITAT OPPORTUNITIES FUND MAPPING OF POTENTIAL

BENEFICIARIES- DATA CAPTURE FORM

mapping urban youth-led development

Documents