The Role of Young People in Poverty Reduction
Background
During the ten-year review of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY), the Programme on Youth identified the situation of young people living in poverty as an area requiring greater attention in both policy dialogues and operational activities. As noted in the World Youth Report 2005, little is known about the number of poor young people worldwide and the ways in which they experience poverty. As such, young people are frequently overlooked in national poverty reduction strategies and investing in youth is not often identified as an evident approach to promoting development.
Fortunately the call to cooperate directly with young people on poverty reduction has never been more promising. From second generation Poverty Reduction Strategies Papers (PRSPs) meant to incorporate the views of civil society to the establishment of participatory national frameworks to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a shift towards multi-stakeholder cooperation to eradicate poverty is apparent. Equally encouraging is the greater number of national youth policies being adopted by Governments to support the involvement of young people in the decisions that affect their lives.
About the Tackling Poverty Together Project
The Tackling Poverty Together project aims to strengthen the role of young people in poverty reduction strategies. It was developed to include two workshops interspersed by a four-month working period. Twenty-eight youth participants have been selected to attend the workshops, four from each of the following countries: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. These participants have agreed to attend the workshops and to dedicate time to working on the project before, between, and after the face-to-face meetings. The project is a partnership initiative with the National Council of Swedish Youth Organisations (LSU).
The first workshop, held in Ndola, Zambia in October 2005, explored the concept of youth poverty and examined current poverty reduction efforts. Participants created action plans, which contain concrete steps towards greater inclusion of youth in the poverty reduction efforts of their countries. These action plans will be implemented between the first and second workshops, during which time participants will interact via the Internet and teleconferences. The second workshop, to be held in Kampala, Uganda in February 2006 will focus on reviewing the action plans and discussing problems encountered, lessons learned and future directions for this work.
The Tackling Poverty Together project benefits from the support of a team of advisors and is made possible by financial assistance from the Government of Sweden.
More information & related documentation
The Interim Progress Report provides a comprehensive overview of the Tackling Poverty Together project to date.
Interim Progress Report (January 2006)
All documents referred to in the Interim Progress Report are available below, including more information about the outcomes of the first workshop held in Ndola, Zambia in October 2005.
Participants at the Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial Site in Ndola, Zambia.