In a major breakthrough for young people living in poverty in developing countries around the world, governments this week approved a Norwegian proposal to establish a new UN-HABITAT Youth Fund to expand the agency’s youth programmes.
“There is an urgent need to begin a process of mainstreaming youth in development strategies, particularly in the context of sustainable urban development, and we believe that UN-HABITAT should be a lead agency in this process,” said Mr. Erik Berg, of Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “And we further believe that establishment of a dedicated fund for targeted support of youth-led initiatives can be an excellent mechanism for implementing this.”
The governments agreed that the new fund will help strengthen youth-related policy formulation, help governments, civil society organizations and the private sector better address youth concerns, and support new information and communication for young people. Officials said it would also help test new approaches to employment, good governance, adequate shelter and secure tenure, promote the sharing of best practices.
Furthermore, they added, the new UN-HABITAT Youth Fund would also promote vocational training and credit mechanisms to encourage entrepreneurship and employment for young women and men, in collaboration with the private sector and with other UN bodies. In all of these areas, they said, it would also be used to ensure that gender concerns are properly integrated.
The decision was made by the UN-HABITAT Governing Council, a body of 58 governments that meets every two years to set the agency’s work programme and budget.
In recent years there has been a growing call for recognition of the critical role of youth in development. The scale of the challenge and opportunity is now being recognized by such global institutions as the World Bank, which devoted its 2007 World Development Report to youth development. Available statistics show that globally, young people aged 15 – 24 years represent 18 percent of the world’s population, with Africa housing the largest segment of young people. In countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia those aged 25 years and below constitute about 70 percent of the population.
UN-Habitat recognizes that young people need to be active participants in the future of cities.
In 2003, the UN-Habitat Governing Council adopted a resolution on the engagement of youth in the work of UN-HABITAT. It directed the Executive Director, to “Ensure the active participation of UN-HABITAT in the Secretary General’s initiative on youth employment, as well as to develop a Global Partnership Initiative on Urban Youth Development in Africa, in partnership with other relevant United Nations Agencies, multilateral institutions and private foundations in the context of New Partnership for Africa’s development.”
At the Youth Assembly of the World Urban Forum (Vancouver, June 2006), 500 young delegates representing hundreds of youth organizations recommended the establishment of a Fund for youth-led development.
The UN-HABITAT Youth Fund will represent a notable milestone marking recognition at the highest levels of the need to practically support youth-led initiatives, and lead the way for other organizations and governments to place youth at the centre of their development strategies.
The operative sections of the agreed text of the youth resolution will come into force on Friday after final adoption by the Governing Council.