Youth Programs in Developing Countries: How the United States is Reaching an Important Population

A Forum — May 4, 2007

In association with Education Development Center, Inc. and

The International Youth Foundation

Young people are rapidly increasing as a percentage of the world’s population—the World Bank estimates that by 2010 the number of youth ages 15 to 24 will reach 1.8 billion, and 1.5 billion of them will live in developing nations. Young people, especially those in the developing world, are also a very vulnerable group. Many lack access to school and employment, and are at high risk of violence and crime, teen pregnancy, and diseases. In response, the United States government, aid organizations, and other groups have been focusing more attention on the needs of these young people.

While AYPF has traditionally focused on issues facing young people in the United States, there are many parallels between at-risk youth here and abroad. This forum provided a look at some of the major youth initiatives around the world with the dual goals of helping policymakers and others in the United States learn from successes abroad and encouraging dialogue and cooperation among those who work with youth around the world.

Ron Israel, Vice President and Director, Global Learning Group, Education Development Center, began with a portrait of the “youth bulge,” the high concentrations of vulnerable young people in developing countries. Using a color-coded map, he showed that in many of the poorest regions of the world, particularly Africa, Central and South America, and the Middle East, anywhere from 30% to over 50% of young people are facing what he describes as significant demographic stress. Demographic stress is large numbers of young people ages 12 to 24 who are either not completing primary school or who have no access to school at all, are not fully literate or numerate, and lack jobs and other easy ways to integrate into civil society.

These circumstances leave individual young people with diminished life prospects, and the sheer numbers of disconnected youth pose a threat to the established order in many countries. This problem, Israel explained, has only begun to be a focus of international aid efforts in the past five to 10 years, and the Education Quality Improvement Project, or Equip 3, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was one of the first systematic efforts to address the needs of young people in developing countries.

Equip 3 focuses on the needs of young people (children, youth, and young adults) who are not in school, and it is based on the premise that all young people are potential assets to society. The program provides technical assistance to organizations that work with young people to help them prepare this group to take on positive roles in their families, the world of work, and civil society. The program, run in partnership with the Education Development Center, the International Youth Foundation, the Academy for Educational Development, and the National Youth Employment Coalition, includes activities such as integrated literacy programs, youth employment programs, service learning programs, and the promotion of public-private partnerships.

Clare Ignatowski, Senior Advisor, Workforce Development and Youth, United States Agency for International Development, described some of the key opportunities and challenges that USAID sees in developing programs for young people. Noting that the majority of U.S. foreign assistance is managed by USAID, Ignatowski remarked that it is critical for the agency to be aware of the needs of young people throughout the world.

USAID has two primary reasons for focusing on youth. First, they recognize the critical role that young people play in helping to stabilize and rebuild countries that are emerging from violence. Countries that are rebuilding, such as Haiti, Afghanistan, Angola, and the Philippines, often have some of the largest populations of young people. These youth can be a powerful force for good, but they can also be a source of further strife if they lack means of supporting themselves and opportunities for positive engagement.

Second, the youth bulge will have a significant impact on development goals in many sectors, particularly those related to education and health. For these efforts to be successful, the large numbers of youth must be taken into account. In particular, the challenge of creating employment for these populations in places where the private sector is very weak, as in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, will be a key factor in the success of development efforts.

With so many development needs, Ignatowski compared the goal of keeping the needs of youth visible to the struggle to increase the focus on the needs of women that began in the 1970s. She further explained that an approach that cuts across development sectors is most likely to be successful.

David James-Wilson, Associate Project Director for Applied Research, Educational Quality Improvement Project 3, focused on the ways in which the basic need to earn a livelihood affects young people’s behavior, drawing on research he has conducted in several high-stress countries involved with the EQUIP 3 program.  The Youth Livelihoods study concluded that youth are economically active, they have clear livelihood aspirations, and they are not a passive group. They have a clear drive to contribute to their families’ welfare and to prosper as well as they can.

During the late teen and early adult years, young people are in the process of developing the assets and skills that might help them earn a living. Assets including financial capital, social networks, or physical attributes that can be exploited, along with the development of competencies, such as communications skills, the capacity to plan or innovate, and effective decision-making, all contribute to a young person’s success. Education, whether formal or not; hands-on opportunities to learn through employment, internships, or service-learning programs; and access to micro-finance services, such as loans, can all help young people to use and build their assets and develop the skills they need.

Without access to such support, however, young people may turn to whatever alternative sources of financial capital they can, such as commercial sex work, for example. They may be susceptible to alternative sources of social capital, such as gangs or extremist groups, or they may seek alternative sources of human capital, perhaps by leaving school in favor of more economically relevant ways of learning.

In James-Wilson’s view, aid workers and those who work with young people tend to view problems through a particular lens, such as health care or employment issues, and to focus on solving particular problems. A better approach, he argues, is to think in terms of addressing the needs young people have to develop economic assets. Instead of reacting to problems, programs should be designed to help young people mobilize the assets and skills they have, and to connect them to mainstream institutions and opportunities to contribute to the well being of their families and communities.

Cornelia Janke, Associate Director, Global Learning Group, Education Development Center, described the Afghanistan Literacy and Community Empowerment Program (LCEP), a USAID program that targeted rural communities in that country. She began with a portrait of Afghanistan, where the average life expectancy is 42 years, the per capita income is $230, and unemployment is 30% or higher. Young people make up 68% of this population, and 46% of them are not in the workforce or in school. Males in Afghanistan have an average of nine years of schooling, while females have only 3.5 years. Afghan youth have dismal prospects for competing with their peers around the world.

LCEP was designed to address the needs of 190 rural villages for improved self-government, economic development, and literacy in an integrated fashion. To build governance structures, the program worked with the villages to recruit representatives for community development councils, which then established development priorities and implemented a development plan. At the same time, small groups were formed to support one another in economic goals. Some were savings and investment groups, while others were affinity groups for those engaged in the same trade, such as sheep farming or drying and selling spices. There were separate groups for men and women, supported with training in such activities as developing a business plan and conducting market research.

The third element was to establish literacy and numeracy classes for villagers ages 10 and above, aimed at those with no prior education. The classes were arranged to work flexibly with the work schedules of the participants. Most of the teachers were recruited from the villages, and they averaged a ninth grade education themselves.

Janke explained that although the LCEP program was not intended as a youth development program, it turned out to be very successful both at helping young people become integrated into the larger community and helping them identify specific ways to connect and make a contribution.

Peter Shiras, Vice President for Employability, International Youth Foundation, described a World Bank program, called Entra 21, that focused on preparing young people for jobs through public-private partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through Entra 21, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or other groups in 18 countries received grants to work with local partners to establish connections between youth who are seeking employment and employers who need qualified workers. The young people received training to develop information technology and other work skills as well as soft skills such as effective communications and punctuality. Private businesses offered internships and job placement.

The program was tailored to suit the needs of local economies and take advantage of local assets. Thus, in Brazil young people were trained to work in the hospitality and tourism sector, while in Peru the focus was mechanical skills useful to major employer Caterpillar. In Chile, where the government provides tax credits to companies that provide training to their own workers, that program was expanded to encourage workforce development for non-employees.

Shiras presented statistics that demonstrate the reach of the program, but explained that the key measure of success is the number of young people who have been placed in jobs that provide good wages and benefits and formal contracts spelling out the terms of employment. Young people who move from the program into further schooling are considered evidence of success. The key, Shiras explained, is the partnerships; for such a program to be successful, it must meet the needs of both employers and young people.

 

Questions and Answers

Participants had time following the presentations for questions, which touched on a range of issues. One addressed strategies for finding better ways to capitalize on the financial assistance that exiles send home to families in developing countries. Another addressed the relationship between formal education and employability. Respondents noted that often the connection is not tight, and that schooling is so poor or elementary that it is not useful to the most able students, or relevant to the needs of the workplace. Public-private partnerships became the focus of the Entra 21 program, Shiras explained, in part because the vocational education system has been so unsuccessful.

Bios:

 

Ron Israel is Vice President and Director of the Global Learning Group at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). Mr Israel has twenty-five years of experience working on international development issues. His work focuses on helping countries develop the capacity to design, implement, and evaluate large-scale projects in basic education, youth and workforce development, democracy and governance, and economic growth. For the past four years Mr. Israel has played a leadership role in EDC’s efforts to implement the USAID EQUIP3 Project ---a global initiative to address the needs of out-of-school youth. He is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and holds graduate degrees from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and the University of Birmingham (UK), Center for West African Studies.

Clare Ignatowski, Ph.D. is Senior Advisor for Workforce Development and Youth at the United States Agency for International Development in Washington, DC.  She manages the EQUIP3/Youth Trust Project and the Global Workforce in Transition Project, and specializes in youth, workforce development, education in post-conflict environments, and non-formal education at USAID.  From 1990-1996, Dr. Ignatowski was a program officer at Public/ Private Ventures, Inc. in Philadelphia where she contributed to the Urban Corps Expansion Project which created a dozen new youth service corps in U.S. cities.  Dr. Ignatowski is an anthropologist trained at the University of Pennsylvania.  Her research, published last year on Indiana University Press, focuses on performance arts and modernity in Cameroon, Central Africa.  From 1985-87, she served in the Peace Corps in a young farmer training center in Cameroon. 

David James-Wilson, Associate Project Director for Applied Research, Educational Quality Improvement Project 3, Education Development Center
David James-Wilson has 15 years of experience developing and delivering youth-friendly education, livelihood, and health promotion services. His career has balanced direct service delivery to vulnerable populations, the management of interdisciplinary teams of youth service providers, along with extensive work in the areas of policy making and capacity development for government, non government and civil society organizations. David has worked extensively in both Canada and the United States, along with assignments in more than 25 countries. David’s work with EQUIP3 has seen him lead a research project entitled “Youth, Microfinance and Conflict”, and serve as the lead on the Livelihoods technical assistance, David also serves as a senior technical specialist on EQUIP3’s Education For All (EFA) initiative, and as a senior technical assistance provider to Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS) Phase 2 Program in the Philippines.

Cornelia Janke, Associate Director, Global Learning Group, Education Development Center
Ms. Janke has fifteen years' experience in the International Education field, with most of that time spent in the areas of project design, management and monitoring and evaluation. Currently she serves as Associate Director of the Global Learning Group and in this capacity, provides management and administrative oversight of the group’s accounting, human resource, legal and project management functions. In addition she serves as Associate Director for Management for GLG’s EQUIP 3 Program, which is directed at out of school youth. Through EQUIP 3, Ms. Janke provides general management and administrative oversight to a number of country projects (Haiti, Uganda, Jamaica, South Africa, West Bank/Gaza), and direct managerial and technical oversight for the Literacy and Community Empowerment Project in Afghanistan. Ms. Janke has been involved in the design of numerous GLG projects, particularly in the areas of community participation in education and participatory monitoring and evaluation.

Peter Shiras, Vice President for Employability, International Youth Foundation

Peter Shiras joined the International Youth Foundation in October 2005 as the Vice President for Employability.  He oversees IYF’s youth employment programs, including entra 21, the $29 million initiative with the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Nokia-funded Tsunami initiative to support livelihoods for youth affected by the tsunami and other programs in Africa.   Before coming to IYF, Peter served as the Senior Vice President at Independent Sector (IS), a coalition of more than 500 nonprofits, foundations and corporate philanthropy programs, where he worked for eight years.  He oversaw all of the program activities of IS including research, public policy, ethics and accountability, partnerships among business, foundations and nonprofit organizations, and the international program.  Before that, he served as vice president of InterAction, the Washington, D.C.-based coalition of US organizations working overseas.

Peter has extensive international experience in Latin America and Africa, where he directed humanitarian and development programs during his 13 year tenure at Catholic Relief Services.  He lived and worked in Central America from 1981-1985, was deputy director of the Latin America program for CRS from 1985-1987, was the country representative for Kenya, Sudan and Uganda from 1987-1990 and senior director for Africa from 1990-1993.  Earlier in his career, Peter lived on a kibbutz in Israel for a year, managed an 80- acre organic fruit farm in southwestern Michigan for two years, spent six months working for the Inter-American Development Bank and six months working for the Guatemalan Institute of Science and Agricultural Technology in Guatemala City.

Peter is currently the vice chair of the board of CIVICUS, a global organization based in Johannesburg formed to strengthen citizen action and civil society, and is chair of the board of Casa de Maryland, which aims to improve the lives of the Latino community throughout Maryland.  He is a graduate of Cornell University, where he received his Master of Science and Bachelors of Science degrees in Agricultural Economics.  

 

Education Development Center (EDC)

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is a non-governmental educational research and development organization based in the United States, with more than 335 projects in over 50 countries. Founded in 1958, EDC is dedicated to enhancing learning, promoting health, and fostering a deeper understanding of the world.  Our award-winning programs and products, developed in collaboration with partners around the globe, consistently advance learning and healthy development for individuals of all ages.  EDC’s annual budget of over US $100 million is supported by multilateral agencies such as the World Bank, UNDP and UNICEF; U.S. government agencies including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and the Inter-American Foundation; host country governments; NGOs such as Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services; foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation; and corporations such as Adidas and Deutsch Bank, and other agencies. 

 

International Youth Foundation (IYF)

Founded in 1990, the International Youth Foundation (IYF) is dedicated to supporting programs that improve the conditions and prospects for children and youth where they live, learn, work, and play.  IYF's work is based on the premise that throughout the world, effective programs and approaches exist that are making a profound and lasting difference in young lives.  By drawing on the local expertise of a worldwide network of affiliated foundations, and developing strong multi-sector partnerships in support of their efforts, IYF works to identify these proven approaches, scale up best practice programs, and extend their benefits to far greater numbers of young people.  IYF has chosen to focus its efforts in five programmatic areas: innovative learning, youth employment, life skills, youth leadership and participation, and health education and awareness. As a result of IYF’s global efforts, unemployed youth across Latin America and the Caribbean are being trained for jobs in the information technology sector; out-of-school youth in the Philippines are receiving both life skills and technical education in areas such as electronics and mechanics; young people in Hungary are gaining experience in teamwork, budgeting, and project planning as they design and carry out community service projects; and unemployed college graduates in South Africa are participating in an innovative training program to build their self-confidence and develop employability skills to help them look for and keep a job. Currently operating in over 50 countries and territories, IYF and its partners have helped equip more than 26 million young people with the life skills, job training, education and opportunities so critical to their success.

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