The Drum Beat 359 - Youth and Sustainable Development

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This issue of The Drum Beat focuses on young people and their role in the sustainable future of organisations, communities, countries, regions, and the world. It includes some examples that demonstrate how youth can be integrally involved in development; some examples of ways that organisations and communities can support youth leadership in development; and some research that examines the impact of youth participation in development.

This is just a sample of the information on The Communication Initiative related to youth and sustainable development. For further information on this topic, please search the website with these phrases: youth and participation, youth and sustainability, or youth and sustainable.

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INVOLVING YOUTH IN DEVELOPMENT

1. Agenda for Community Development (AFCODE) - Nigeria
This community-based organisation was established to advance the understanding and resolution of conflict among Nigerian youth and adolescents through research, teaching, practice, and outreach. AFCODE provides skilled training for youth who are at risk of exclusion from mainstream education as a result of interpersonal conflicts. Activities include involving youth in community peace-building processes as well as building youth capacity for dialogues, problem solving, and improving existing mechanisms for effective participation in conflict resolution practice. Specific communication programmes include: the AFCODE Theatre Factory, the Painting for Development Project, and the ICT Skills Development Programme.
Contact Olaitan Ibiyemi afcode@yahoo.com

2. Educate Every Child - Global
Created by the non-profit organisation Shirley Ann Sullivan Educational Foundation (SASEF), this project provides development education to relatively privileged children who are attending private schools in an effort to connect these students with peers in economically poor schools through "hands-on" community service projects that they create and carry out themselves. The aim of this project is to teach and motivate these students to understand what people living in poverty face and how they can actively participate and make a difference. Educate Every Child has 2 central components: 1) a series of classroom activities that teach developmental education to children through information-sharing; and 2) a process of teaching the students how to create, administer and evaluate a project in their respective communities. Participation and collaboration are key elements of these "twinning" projects; though supported by the SASEF framework and strategy as well as teachers and administrators in the respective schools, all projects are student-driven.
Contact Rhonda Staudt rstaudt@sasef.org

3. School Mayors of Iran: Learning Social Participation in an Unfavorable Environment
by Parviz Piran
This paper discusses a project in Iran which aims to provide a formal context within which young people can learn to participate in collective undertakings with a view to encouraging civic responsibility and a greater understanding of democratic processes. According to the article, the School Mayors of Iran project, which covers over 1,000 schools, takes place in a social context where participation, even for adults, faces many obstacles. Surveys of parents of students in schools where the project was implemented indicated that participating children had changed considerably through their involvement in the project. These children were seen as more disciplined and more focused; their concern for environment and their communities was considered to have increased; and they were noted to care more about family affairs and get along better with their sisters and brothers. Parents also stated that as a result of the project, they themselves visited schools more often than before and have been more available for group undertakings focused on their communities.

4. This is our Time - Global
This is a global multilingual, multiracial telecommunications project for elementary and secondary schools. The project is an effort to develop ways to enable young people ages 7-19 from many different cultures and countries to communicate and co-operate with each other on current world issues. The programme is carried out through a wide range of educational activities, and fostered through a variety of face-to-face as well as technology-based opportunities for participation. All activities are related to the notion of time, and culminate each year in a 24-hour online school-based lesson marathon. The project strives to: strengthen participants' knowledge and understanding of global issues such as sustainable development, child rights, peace, tolerance, and intercultural dialogue and solidarity; build participants' skills in communication, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and technology skills; and shape participants' attitudes so that they might: be aware of other cultures and existing stereotypes; respect the diversity of people, cultures, lifestyles; take responsibility for the world (now and in the future); and think globally and act locally.
Contact Alexandra Smeets asmeets@e-linq.nl

5. Star Trekk Club - Nigeria
This youth non-governmental organisation (NGO) aims to stimulate support for and awareness about education in Nigeria and to capitalise on young people's potential in the areas of good governance, literacy, poverty eradication, and sustainable development. Its aim is to mobilise and advocate for information delivery in Nigeria, as well as to promote and facilitate wealth creation among Nigerian youth. The Star Trekk Club draws on community involvement - largely stimulated and sustained through interpersonal interactions such as training situations and face-to-face peer groups. Among other objectives, the Star Trekk Club focuses on creating both a youth platform through which youth voices will be heard and listened to by the government and the general public and an environment for youth exchange and volunteerism.
Contact startrekkclub2001@yahoo.com

6. Give Peace a Chance
by Vedabhyas Kundu
In this article, Kundu suggests that youth have a major role in helping create a culture of peace and non-violence in South Asian countries. Kundu provides illustrations of several youth-related projects and includes feedback from leaders involved in peace initiatives. Some key observations include: the strength of supporting youth as "ambassadors of peace" by creating youth exchanges in "safe" settings; the usefulness of recognising different religions as a potential obstacle and thus sharing knowledge and information about different religions; and the importance of creating dialogue spaces for youth who are geographically and economically separated.

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The World Congress
on Communication for Development (WCCD)

Co-organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The World Bank and The Communication Initiative, the WCCD will take place in Rome, Italy on October 25-27 2006.

Click here for details.

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SUPPORTING YOUTH COLLABORATION AND LEADERSHIP

7. Youth as a Catalyst for Peace: Helping Youth Develop the Vision, Skills, and Behaviors to Promote Peace
This brochure presents experiences and lessons learned from The Academy for Educational Development (AED) in working towards promoting peacebuilding through youth development. According to AED, youth are more likely to avoid violence and engage in peacebuilding behaviour if they have access to opportunities that enable them to have: a strong sense of self-esteem; solid connections to their own community; a sense of empowerment to make decisions affecting their own future; adequate opportunities to get to know youth who are different than themselves; access to programmes to improve leadership, communication, and basic conflict resolution skills; and avenues for job training and/or employment. Case studies presented include: Decisions - an 11-part youth television series on democracy and the free market in Poland; Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) and Boys Reaching Out (BRO) - youth leadership development camps in Armenia; Community Action Investment Programme (CAIP) - a community leadership-building project in Kazakhstan; Peace Media - a youth peacebuilding project in Sri Lanka; and Programa Para o Futuro (PPF) - a workforce development programme for at-risk youth in Brazil.

8. Kellogg Leadership for Community Change (KLCC) - United States
In a collaboration between The Innovation Center, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Center for Ethical Leadership, this initiative brings together young people and adults as partners across numerous "divides" to plan and implement steps to overcome barriers such as persistent economic poverty, poor education, and isolation. The goal of the programme is to strengthen communities by helping individuals who are already engaged in community stewardship recognise themselves and others as leaders, and then develop the shared leadership expertise needed to work across a range of backgrounds and perspectives. To ensure a diversity of community perspectives, KLCC aims to capitalise on a variety of social, economic, cultural and experiential criteria during the process of defining and identifying programme participants. KLCC works with the selected fellows to develop shared leadership skills, and provides opportunities for them to exchange best practices and resources. KLCC Session II was launched in June 2005 and will conclude in 2007. It has engaged 5 communities around the theme: Valuing and Building Youth-Adult Partnerships to Advance Just Communities.
Contact info@klccleadership.org OR Wendy Wheeler wwheeler@theinnovationcenter.org 

9. My Community, Our Earth (MyCOE)
This website and project features searchable databases of resources and mentors for students seeking to conduct their own community projects in countries worldwide, or to learn more about geographic concepts, geographic tools, and sustainable development.

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Seeking Avian Influenza Communication Information

The Communication Initiative is seeking information on initiatives using communication to address Avian Influenza at the global, national, and local levels. This information will be added to The CI's listing of projects, strategies, resources and events focused on Avian Influenza communication - click here for that listing.

Please send any information you may have to
Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com

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MEASURING THE IMPACT OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION

10. Formative Research on Youth Peer Education Program Productivity and Sustainability
by Gary Svenson & Holly Burke
Using 4 community-based projects (2 in the Dominican Republic and 2 in Zambia) as samples, this study examines ways of evaluating the impact and cost-effectiveness of youth peer education (YPE) programmes. Based on data from a descriptive, process evaluation carried out over a period of 18 months, evaluators developed frameworks and checklists to use in assessing YPE effectiveness and sustainability. In general, the study found that the retention, motivation and productivity of the youth volunteers involved are all key to the success of the programmes. Supportive elements to keeping these youth engaged include planned and technical training and supervision, connection to adult mentors, community participation, and community development of youth engagement in community policy.

11. Children and Young People Build Participatory Democracy in Latin American Cities
by Yves Cabannes
This paper presents case studies from 4 cities in Latin America which launched initiatives to foster the active participation of children and young people in the governance of their cities. It describes the larger context in each of the 4 cases, the methods used to involve young people, the process, the challenges, and the impact. Some conclusions include: "The strategy of active consultation has been confirmed in these four municipalities as a valid approach to improving the situation of children, especially with regard to their own participation in the discussion, prioritization and formulation of solutions that concern them....In returning to visit some of the young councilors in Barra Mansa after five or six years, it is striking to see these outspoken, thoughtful, socially active young people who continue to carry their experience into their adult lives....These new adults are the real sustainability factor in building citizenship and participatory democracy."

12. Integrating Children's Rights into Municipal Action: A Review of Progress and Lessons Learned
by Sheridan Bartlett
This paper explores a range of case studies and examples of activities undertaken by local municipalities and their partners worldwide to attend to the issue of children's rights by making the concerns of children and youth an integral part of routine local government procedures designed to improve their quality of life in various ways. Illustrations of specific practices/projects being implemented in each area are presented, as are a number of lessons learned. Of particular note are some "keys to success for deeper change:

• Specific projects and programs are not necessarily the most effective way to achieve results for children. Often they reach only a small proportion of the needy, or their impact is only short-term.
• Even the best ideas are seldom magic bullets. They require persistence, commitment, and the willingness to learn from experience - from mistakes as well as successes.
• Changing the mindset of everyone is what underlies sustainable change for children, and this depends on continuous sustained efforts.
• This different mindset is heavily dependent on efforts to raise social awareness, both of the issues confronting children, and of successes achieved in addressing problems. Publicity, documentation and communication may appear to be 'extras,' but in fact are fundamental in achieving real social change."

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Does the world communicate better now than it did 20 years ago?

Here is what The CI network is saying...

YES - "I believe the world communicates better now in terms of all the electronic channels. We have the Internet, e-mails, mobiles, videos, DVD, TV and other traditional channels of communications such as radio and drama. All these have been loaded with various messages e.g. HIV/AIDS as a key example. However, I am not too certain whether in the face of this electronic revolution we have not lost face-to-face verbal communications." [Zimbabwe]

NO - "Although the Gross Domestic Productions have gone up, the Gross domestic, Gross national and Gross International Happiness has fallen severely and majority of people live in poverty, fear, uncertainty." [Sri Lanka]

YES - "As i write, i just finished discussing with a friend in Middlesborough, London, while am in Nigeria. 20yrs ago there was no common means of communication like the GSM. Now almost everybody can call anybody at any time. Another important one to note is the internet, where one can communicate to as much as everybody you may one to give an information in less than 10minutes. You see, there is a great difference btween today and 20yrs ago." [Nigeria]

NO - "Communication is such a basic, yet complex, phenomenon. There is the assumption that the world population should or is communicating better because we have the technological tools to enable and sociological and psychological theories to explain how and why we communicate. The world citizens do not yet communicate well with each other because public discourse i.e. mass media, multilateral discussions, etc. still seeks to find commonalities, if not similarities, when we are communicating verbally. For example, a convention at the U.N. is simultaneously translated in various languages, which purportedly should enhance understanding between and among the member nations. Yet, we see many fundamental human problems i.e. poverty, inequity, etc. pervail because communication is so much more than making sounds. It is the willingness and the capacity to understand, to empathize, to subordinate personal/national objectives to the notion of "common good for all mankind." If a picture is worth a thousand words, than a kind deed is worth a million syllables." [United States]

YES - "I am able to reach out to the wide world community provided by the Communication Initiative just sitting here on my desk. With the click of a button, I can log on to any site and leave my opinion on most of them. Communication is not only wider, it is faster. The TV, the radio, the telephone and the mobile handset are all great communication tools that are making the world communicate better. But understanding is another thing. And that comes with knowledge. Does the world understand better? I am not sure." [India]

NO - "Because if we communicated better we would not have so much chaos in the world, lack of solidarity. I am talking at local level. Of course technologically for a small minority who can have access to internet, it communicates better." [Brazil]

YES - "It is very clear that the world communicates better than it did 20 yrs ago, this can be largely attributed to technology i.e internet, phones and so on. But what is the quality of communication? I believe commnunication of now is more negative than positive. If we have more negative than positive then what have we really achieved?" [Nigeria]

NO - "Communication is at least 50% listening. We listen to each other a lot less than we used to." [None]

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