Youth Empowerment

Empowerment of youth refers to creating and supporting conditions under which youth can contribute to the economic, social and cultural advancement of their societies and gain self-fulfillment. This includes education, knowledge, information and skills, access to health and other social services, and employment opportunities.

Youth constitutes the largest segment of Africa’s population. Therefore, youth is Africa’s foremost social capital that requires priority investment. It is clear that Africa’s development agenda should create an enabling environment in which youth and adolescents could strive in an environment that fully protects their rights, that is conducive to their development and empowerment and that adequately prepares them for responsible citizenship and parenthood.

Investing in the future of Africa calls for, among other factors, the effective and positive impact of youth development programs and projects. This in turn requires building on successful practices that have contributed to youth participation, development and leadership.

One of the main objectives of GLOPEC is to set out a structure for the key elements that constitute a best practice in youth development, empowerment and leadership. The structure consists of a set of standard that have been identified in varying degrees in best practices for youth programs. The standards include:

Participation
Innovation
Strategic capacity building
Knowledge-based programming
Rights-based programming
Community involvement
Potential for scaling up