- Youth empowerment
Youth empowerment is an attitudinal, structural, and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including youth and adults. [Vavrus, J. & Fletcher, A. (2006). [http://www.commonaction.org/bookstore Guide to Social Change Led By and With Young People] . The Freechild Project.]
About
Youth empowerment is often addressed as a gateway to
intergenerational equity ,civic engagement anddemocracy building . Many local, state, provencial, regional, national, and international government agencies and nonprofit community-based organizations provide programs centered on youth empowerment [(1998) [http://www.joe.org/joe/1998december/a1.html "Examining empowerment: A 'how-to' guide for youth development professionals"] "Journal of Extension," December 1998] . Activities involved therein may focus onyouth-led media ,youth rights ,youth council s, youthactivism , youth involvement in community decision-making [Sazama, J. & Young, K. (2006) "15 Points to Successfully Involving Youth in Decision-Making," Boston: Youth On Board.] , and other methods.United States
Youth empowerment occurs in
home s, atschools , throughyouth organizations , government policy-making andcommunity organizing campaigns [Fletcher, A. (2005) [http://www.soundout.org/MSIGuide.pdf Guide to Students as Partners in School Change] Olympia, WA: CommonAction.] [(1993) [http://www.joe.org/joe/1993fall/f2.html "Double Standard for Youth Involvement"] "Journal of Extension", Fall 1993.] . Major structural activities where youth empowerment happens throughout society include communitydecision-making , organizational planning, and education reform.Educational activities that cite youth empowerment as an aim include
student-centered learning ,popular education , andservice learning .Free schools andyouth-led media organizations often state their intention to empower youth, as well asyouth voice ,community youth development , andyouth leadership programs. Youth empowerment is studied by a variety of scholars includingShawn Ginwright ,Henry Giroux ,Barry Checkoway andMike Males . Their research is highlighted by advocacy from notable activities such asWilliam Upski Wimsatt ,Alex Koroknay-Palicz andAdam Fletcher .Commonwealth
The 53 member countries of the
Commonwealth of Nations have all signed up to the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (2007-2015). The Plan of Action underpins the work of theCommonwealth Youth Programme (CYP). On the Commonwealth definition, "Young people are empowered when they acknowledge that they have or can create choices in life, are aware of the implications of those choices, make an informed decision freely, take action based on that decision and accept responsibility for the consequences of those actions. Empowering young people means creating and supporting the enabling conditions under which young people can act on their own behalf, and on their own terms, rather than at the direction of others."The Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment was developed by the
Commonwealth Secretariat , working closely with Ministers of Youth and young people themselves. It encouragesyouth mainstreaming and contains thirteen action points for governments. The first of these is: “Develop and implement measures to promote the economic enfranchisement of young people” through a range of measures ranging from micro-credit and entrepreneurship education through to reviewing macro-economic planning and trade regimes and how they affect young people. Other action points address gender equality, HIV/AIDS, education, the environment, youth participation in decision-making, and democracy and human rights.Political action
Each major political party in the United States, including the Republicans, the Democrats, and the
Green Party , as well as many major European, African, South American, and Australian political parties have statements supporting youth empowerment. Youth empowerment is also a central tenet of the United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Child , which every country in the world (minus the U.S. and Somalia) has signed into law.ee also
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List of youth empowerment organizations
*References
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