Investing in the future: Creating opportunities for young rural ... - IFAD

F. PARTNERSHIPS TO PROMOTE YOUTH RURAL LIVELIHOODS
A broad consensus exists that the rapid scaling up of rural youth development
policies and programmes must be based on a multi-sector approach with close
coordination and partnerships between a wide array of public and private
organizations. Youth networks and partnerships have to be established and
effectively used at local, national and international levels.
The presence and impact of international and national youth development
organizations and initiatives continues to expand rapidly in all developing country
regions. There are already a number of international global networks that focus
on youth development. The FAO Rural Youth Development Programme is
expected to play a major coordinating role, but lack of resources has prevented it
from doing so in recent years. The Youth Employment Network (YEN), which was
launched jointly by the United Nations, the World Bank and the ILO in 2001 to
address the problem of unemployment among young people has been
increasingly active. Currently, there are 21 YEN Lead Countries, all of which have
developed comprehensive national action plans for youth employment. The
Network is also expected to regularly benchmark youth policies and programmes.
The Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment is another similar
international initiative. An Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development has also
been recently established by the UN.
The International Youth Foundation, which is the most prominent international
civil society organization in this area, seeks to mobilize the global community of
businesses, governments and civil society organizations. To date, it has provided
grants to nearly 350 organizations in 86 countries. Major corporate sponsors
include Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Starbucks, Samsung, and Nokia. Its highest
profile initiatives are Entra 21, which equips disadvantaged youth in Latin
America and the Caribbean with information and communication technology and
life skills, and its Global Partnership to Promote Youth Employment and
Employability. However, most of its programmes are oriented mainly to formalsector
employment in urban areas. Poorer countries also tend to be underrepresented
in its activities.
Establishing effective national youth development strategies is a major
challenge. As the current World Development Report notes, “influencing youth
transitions requires working across many sectors, yet few countries take a
coherent approach to establish clear lines of responsibility and accountability for
youth outcomes.” There is a need for long-term coordinated interventions, which
are part and parcel of a much broader national integrated strategy for rural
development, growth and job creation.
At both the national or sub-national level, where rural youth can be identified as
a high-priority social category with distinct development and livelihood
improvement needs, IFAD should concentrate on developing strategic
partnerships with other organizations that focus on improving the livelihoods of
youth, and rural youth in particular. This is especially important in IFAD‟s own
core areas of mandated activity, namely increasing agricultural and
non-agricultural productivity and employment and income generation. However,
IFAD should also contribute to policy formulation and implementation in other
key areas, such as curriculum development for agriculture courses.
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