Skip to main content

Youth engagement

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting democratic and human rights values among Rwandan youth

The project was mostly focused on explaining the domestic and international laws and policies underpinning democratic processes and human rights, and did not give sufficient attention to enhancing trainers’ pedagogical and training skills. As a the grantee acknowledged that the trainers had acquired a good understanding of democracy and human rights issues, but did not know precisely how to convey this knowledge to groups of younger, less educated people.
Project Partner
Never Again Rwanda
Project Description
The overall objective of the project was to empower Rwandan youth to play an active role in the democratic process and good governance of their country, and to understand and stand up for human rights to further nation-building processes. The project targeted 7,000 youth members of Never Again Rwanda (NAR) clubs and associations to make them “ambassadors of change”. The targeted youth were to “reach out” to other young people and the general public through “knowledge and skills sharing and advocacy initiatives and drives”. The key activities of the project were to: train youth on human rights and advocacy skills; hold debates and theatre shows on human rights and democracy; and support the trained youth to play a role in democratic processes and good governance. The project was generally well designed in that it took into account the sensitive socio-political context of Rwanda under its post-genocide government.
Evaluation Date
February 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Honduran Youth for Democracy

Through their involvement in the project, many parents, teachers, and journalists changed their views about the role of youth in society. Adults have increasingly supported their children’s participation in the various activities, encouraging in particular the involvement of young adults.
Project Partner
ProgettoMondo Movimento Laici America Latina
Project Description
The objective of the project was to improve the social and political participation of youth. In order to do this the grantee created and strengthened youth organizations to develop local programmes for the democratic participation of youth in two municipalities. The project also aimed to strengthen existing Municipal Youth Commissions and Municipal Youth Networks, and to support the drafting and approval of their municipal youth policies. The project also intended to help the municipal youth organizations and regional youth networks to obtain authorization to promote youth participation in social initiatives. The project brought the issue of youth rights and political advocacy to the fore with a gender-equity and social-inclusion approach. This approach addressed the needs of the beneficiary population, empowered youth organizations and networks and improved the quality of young people’s social and political participation at the local level. The participatory drafting of public agendas and policies in the two municipalities of has furthered social and political action among youth.
Evaluation Date
February 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Honduran Youth for Democracy

The project raised many educational expectations and employment demands among youth and communities in Honduras. These demands could be addressed in forums for social dialogue between civil society and municipal authorities.
Project Partner
ProgettoMondo Movimento Laici America Latina
Project Description
The objective of the project was to improve the social and political participation of youth. In order to do this the grantee created and strengthened youth organizations to develop local programmes for the democratic participation of youth in two municipalities. The project also aimed to strengthen existing Municipal Youth Commissions and Municipal Youth Networks, and to support the drafting and approval of their municipal youth policies. The project also intended to help the municipal youth organizations and regional youth networks to obtain authorization to promote youth participation in social initiatives. The project brought the issue of youth rights and political advocacy to the fore with a gender-equity and social-inclusion approach. This approach addressed the needs of the beneficiary population, empowered youth organizations and networks and improved the quality of young people’s social and political participation at the local level. The participatory drafting of public agendas and policies in the two municipalities of has furthered social and political action among youth.
Evaluation Date
February 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting democratic and human rights values among Rwandan youth

The grantee used an explicit strategy to promote human rights concerns with youth which it called “internal influence”. This consisted of conducting non-public advocacy, so as to avoid antagonizing the authorities by airing concerns openly.
Project Partner
Never Again Rwanda
Project Description
The overall objective of the project was to empower Rwandan youth to play an active role in the democratic process and good governance of their country, and to understand and stand up for human rights to further nation-building processes. The project targeted 7,000 youth members of Never Again Rwanda (NAR) clubs and associations to make them “ambassadors of change”. The targeted youth were to “reach out” to other young people and the general public through “knowledge and skills sharing and advocacy initiatives and drives”. The key activities of the project were to: train youth on human rights and advocacy skills; hold debates and theatre shows on human rights and democracy; and support the trained youth to play a role in democratic processes and good governance. The project was generally well designed in that it took into account the sensitive socio-political context of Rwanda under its post-genocide government.
Evaluation Date
February 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

The project’s ability to mobilize stakeholders, such as municipal councils, community members, families, schools, the media and relevant ministries, to interact with the Youth Local Councils was crucial to the success of the project in Palestine.
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

The young people in Palestine were very aware that they cannot continue to serve as youth councillors past the age limit set by the project (16 – 22 years) but have clear ideas of how they can both support younger people taking on the youth councillor role and also continue to participate as trainers and mentors.
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

Data collection and analysis would have been more useful to the project and to future planning, if it was disaggregated by sex. This allows gender to be appropriately programmed and for a more gender-sensitive understanding of the potential and risks in any activity. Although this project in Palestine did pay attention to gender in many ways, it was a pity that the pre- and post-tests did not and so did not allow to measure whether there was a difference between the understanding/learning of male and female participants (and thus to see where changes to training or activities might be made).
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

To allow them to implement their action plans each Youth Local Council (YLC) had a ‘pot’ of USD 5,000 from which they were provided with funds from the grantee against receipts, in line with the financial management training the YLC members had received after their election in Palestine.
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

Although not a prominent component of the project, gender was appropriately taken into account in a number of ways. There was awareness from the outset that girls/women in the communities must participate and be represented, despite the challenges this engendered. The training materials and events in Palestine all took gender considerations into account.
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

The young people themselves had creative ideas about how to secure both funds and in-kind support for their activities; however repeatedly having to source such support can over time become a disincentive to participation. Despite the strong commitment to volunteerism created and promoted by the project, it would have been a good idea to increase the attention given to fundraising during the training provided to the elected Youth Local Council members and to bring in an experienced fundraiser to deliver such training so that the young participants would have access to the resources necessary to implement their many creative ideas.
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country