“GIVING YOUTH A VOICE”- A MESSAGE TO POLICY MAKERS

A. PREAMBLE

Imagine a world where all Youth live in an enabling environment, free from the shackles of poverty - a world where we have a chance to make something of ourselves and become effective leaders of our countries.

Agriculture is the backbone of ACP countries. Most rural communities are engaged in small-scale production, often at the subsistence level. Women, men and young people work with the resources available to provide for their basic needs. Experience over the last 50 years shows they have been sidetracked by the main benefits of technological development at a time when the impact of globalization, the industrialization of agriculture and, more recently, liberalization have undercut the basis of their livelihoods.

Lack of information on how to increase agricultural productivity, improve the management of vital natural resources and develop rural enterprises and services that would enrich rural life and livelihoods are crippling the social and cultural development of rural communities in ACP countries, giving us no choice but to leave our families, friends, and familiar places and pursuits and seek money in where we can find it. Our exclusion, from governance and from information, is a major factor in the degradation of rural communal life.

We argue that our isolation, especially from the information available through the media and ICTs, is a major factor in the marginalization and degradation of rural communal life and especially the lives of young people. It is here that ICT’s can play an important role to counter this situation.

We, as Youth, are ready to seize the opportunities that face us harnessing ICT’s for the development of agriculture and the rural sector. We are longing to be heard, fighting to find ways to release our creative energies and ideas. Many of us feel terribly isolated in our communities even though our people rely on our physical strength, economic potential and our resilience and determination. We see ICTs like the internet, mobile phones, radio, faxes as our bridge to a better future.

  B. CONSTRAINTS, CHALLENGES AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Young people in ACP countries face particular challenges and constraints in the areas of education, employment, health, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and governance.

Education
Education in rural areas is limited, more often than not of a lower quality and does not expose Youth to all the opportunities available in the agricultural sector.

Policy Recommendations:

• Enable the early and continued exposure of Youth to the agricultural sector
• Reform teacher training and teaching methods so that they are better able to respond to need-driven demand of Youth; incorporating units for life-long learning (using distance and e-learning)
• Reform education policies so that they maximizes the capacities of Youth to utilize the resources of the Information society
• Provide opportunities for agricultural and rural livelihoods training, ensuring the inclusion of rural women

Employment
There is a lack of adequate and rewarding job opportunities, basic infrastructure and financial mechanisms to support rural Youth initiatives.

Policy Recommendations:

• Create and foster an enabling environment: provide access to credit, land, grants and/or seed funding facilities
• Provide a structure to support ICT-enabled agro-entrepreneurial initiatives for young people

Health
Inadequate health and social services to tackle problems like the HIV/AIDS pandemic in rural areas undermine the workforce. Inavailability of reproductive health services contribute to teenage pregnancies, higher infant and maternal mortality.

Policy Recommendation:

• Make a clear provision in agricultural policies and strategies for Youth living with HIV/AIDS, and for improved health services in disadvantaged and impoverished areas

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs)
Rural Youth have limited options to actively seek and share information and to communicate with others, due to the absence or inadequacy of ICTs.

Policy Recommendations:

• There should be clear policies and regulations ensuring affordable access to and use of ICTs, deriving from existing policies on agriculture, technology, commerce, health, environment and education
• Facilitate and promote optimal access to information and the use of appropriate technologies such as those adapted to local needs supported by specific by budgets and plans for sustainable implementation

Governance
Where Youth-oriented policies exist, there often is a lack of political will to implement these, particularly in rural areas.

Policy Recommendations:

• Systematically involve Youth in governance structures (not just as consultative role players)
• Consult Youth and integrate their concerns (such as finance, land ownership, ICT infrastructure etc) in policy development

This policy statement was developed by a group of young ACP nationals who participated in CTA ’s ICT Observatory meeting “Giving Youth a Voice”, organized in Wageningen, The Netherlands, on 27-30 September 2004.

Through these consultations, we have also identified a number of actions that we and our organizations can take to address some of the issues raised in this policy statement.

 Indeed, we as Youth possess the innovation, enthusiasm and resilience to make a change in our communities. Every day, we are playing our part in development. Hence, we are not only the leaders of the future, but leaders today, tomorrow and always. We are partners contributing to the development of our communities, and this should be acknowledged.