UNDP CO - Kyrgyzstan

Back to the Office Report

Date: 11 November 2014I. GENERAL Information:

a) Mission date(s) 27 October-31 October 2014b) Mission member(s) Emilio Raffaele Valli, UN Volunteers Program Officer

c) Mission to Baku (Aizerbaijan), 1st Global Forum on Youth Policies

d) Purpose of the Mission The objective of the mission was to promote youth volunteering and contribute knowledge regarding youth volunteering in youth policies among stakeholders and youth policy experts. UNV’s contribution to the Forum was multi-faceted: 1) represent UNV in the First Global Youth Policy Forum; and 2) fulfil the role of Rapporteur in the thematic session "Exploring Youth Policy Achievements and Challenges in Volunteerism

e) Names, titles of individuals met during the mission

Kawtar Zerouali, Regional Youth Programme Manager, UNV-EgyptMr. Andy Rabens, Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues, Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the United States of AmericaMr. Vinícius Tsugue, President at AIESECMs. Petra Stipanic, Youth Trainer at the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts

FSVITR distribution listII. DESCRIPTION OF MISSION ACHIEVEMENTS/TASKS COMPLETED:

The three-day Forum (28,29,30 October) involved extensive discussions on the status of youth policies around the world, good practices, ingredients necessary for a comprehensive youth policy, youth policy milestones, and recommendations for the future. The discussions were centred on why a youth policy is important today, and how far the global youth policy agenda has come 20 years after the World Programme of Action for Youth was adopted.

I was the Rapporteur in one of the seven thematic sessions, and Kawtar Zerouali, Regional Youth Programme Manager, UNV-Egypt played the pivotal role of the Moderator. The session was titled "Exploring Youth Policy Achievements and Challenges in Volunteerism".

The overall objective of the thematic session was to provide an overview of the main achievements and challenges in regards to youth volunteering policy, and finalize concrete recommendations from the participants on how to respond to the challenges and how to take the recommendations forward.The panel included: Mr. Andy Rabens, Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues, Office of the Under Secretary for Public

Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the United States of America Mr. Vinícius Tsugue, President at AIESEC Ms. Petra Stipanic, Youth Trainer at the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts

Back to the Office Report is a form of reporting for UNDP CO staff members Field Site Visits and International Travels. This format is developed In accordance with the Regular Field Site-Visit Policy, signed by RR and effective since 01.02.2008. It could be submitted in either electronic or hard copy.

Concluding, the participants argued that a cross-sectorial transversal approach to youth policy should complement the traditional approach, as the youth dimension should be explicit in sectorial policies of relevance to youth’s present conditions, including education, defence, health care, employment, etc.On the other hand, participants also recognized the need for capacity development of national government institutions in the development of youth cross-sectorial policies. Participants noted as well that in the case of the majority of countries, the resources to implement the designed policies are insufficient to achieve their stated goals. They also singled out the role that volunteerism could play in the implementation of such policies, for the potential scope of resources that volunteering could mobilize.

A discussion took place on the different levels of participation and how participation should be measured. In Mexico, an index of youth participation in decision-making has been developed by youth organizations, and, although controversial, it has been implemented to measure youth participation in decision-making processes for a number of years. In Vietnam, the understanding of political participation emphasizes the levels of diversity and inclusion in the youth civic movement. However, none of these visions of participation envisage the devolvement of responsibilities, rights and obligations to the younger generation.

Other approaches advocate for legislative measures, such as the lowering the age limit for voting and being voted into representative institutions as a dimension of progress of youth participation in decision-making, provided that the youth elected remain independent advocates of the priorities for which he/she was elected, and accountable to his/her constituency rather than to her/his party’s leadership.

In this context, volunteerism and the independence of youth organizations go hand in hand, as youth organizations are active thanks to the voluntary work of their members.

Main Recommendations/Conclusions:

A multidimensional youth policy is needed to reduce barriers to youth inclusion and facilitate youth’s contributions to their societies. The approach to youth development should move from piecemeal initiatives to an integrated set of policies and investments, maximizing the use of financial resources. To ensure equity, this can best be achieved through national youth policies and any related reforms that cut across sectors but that have a common focus on youth inclusion —education, employment, and regional development—to address the needs of young people with greater efficiency. These policies should be reformulated with the participation of youth stakeholders—especially youth representative bodies—as partners in decision making. Moreover, policy implementation needs to be supported by performance-based management of institutions, strengthened by mechanisms for close interagency coordination that bring together governments and youth organizations, and informed by systematic data collection and participatory monitoring and evaluation systems. These three dimensions of youth inclusion policy, which involve participation, economic opportunities and youth-friendly services, require a specific set of measures at the national and especially at the local level, as indicated below.

National Youth Participation Index to be developed in a partnership dialogue between national governments and civil society organizations to measure the quality/level of youth participation in policy decision-making.

To facilitate reaching a common understanding of volunteerism and a shared appreciation of its values, it is important to put equal emphasis on the benefits of volunteering to the volunteer, in volunteerism advocacy campaigns, and to reinforce mechanisms for recognition of volunteering efforts.

Youth participation in civil society, and particularly through volunteering, could be supported as an avenue to promote greater social inclusion, especially at the local level and among disadvantaged youth, who are currently the least civically engaged. Volunteering should include the less educated; including young women; and youth in marginalized regions and in peri-urban areas.

A focus on branding and role models is a successful approach to promote volunteerism among youth and should be expanded.

III. BRIEF RECOMMENDATION OF NEXT STEPS/FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS AND RECOMENDING STAFF/UNIT TO FOLLOW-UP (TO BE ADDRESSED TO SSU, THEN TO RELEVANT UNIT OR RR/SMT):

Rationale/ Action Responsible staff member/Unit

IV. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (if any, staff member is welcome to submit it along with this report or using additional pages )

Submitted by: Emilio Valli, UN Volunteers PO _______________