Preface
Dancers performing at the One Year Out Flash Mob in Uganda in advance of the Women Deliver 2019 Conference. Credit: Hydrogen Studios
Background
In September 2022, Women Deliver committed to working with partners in the gender equality and health sectors to delineate a new approach to youth engagement. This approach, called equitable youth engagement and co-leadership (EYECL), centers marginalized youth advocates as designers, experts, and leaders, alongside traditional decision makers and powerholders, in all gender equality and health advocacy spaces, convenings, and formal mechanisms. Equitable youth engagement and co-leadership is essential to addressing the world’s most pressing issues, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate action, and economic justice and rights. Women Deliver takes a rights-based approach in its advocacy on these three core issue areas.
Methodology
Women Deliver partnered with youth advocates, including Women Deliver Young Leaders, WD2023 Youth Planning Committee members, and external youth advisors, to fine tune and articulate its new approach to youth engagement and model its policy in a highly collaborative, co-creative process of knowledge production, facilitated by Book Sprints.
Over eight virtual sessions between February and April 2023, the co-authors developed a shared vision and worked together to outline, write, and edit the following chapters, which:
- Highlight the unique value and expertise that young people bring to policymaking and program design;
- Demonstrate the effectiveness of equitable youth engagement and co-leadership in accelerating progress towards gender equality and sustainable development, using quantitative and qualitative data;
- Champion actions that challenge structural barriers and power imbalances faced by youth within partnerships and engagement; and
- Advocate to increase financing for young people and reevaluate eligibility requirements and funding models in partnerships with youth.
We recommend that decision makers, such as donors, policymakers, and national governments, use this resource to galvanize the adoption of adolescents' and youth's rightful demands for equitable partnerships.
Summary
In Chapter 1, we present our case for why decision makers should invest in youth and youth-led organizations as well as integrate young people into program design and policymaking processes.
Chapter 2 establishes a clear definition and framework for equitable youth engagement and co-leadership. We provide a comprehensive checklist of best practices for decision makers seeking to collaborate with youth, along with several case studies that showcase how equitable youth engagement and co-leadership can yield successful outcomes.
Chapter 3 examines barriers to youth financing, both on a global and national level, and positions equitable and trust-based financing as a solution for these collective challenges.
Chapter 4 delivers a powerful call to action, urging national governments and other decision makers to establish long-term, sustainable partnerships that support and empower young people as key agents of change.
Co-authors
This publication was co-authored by:
Condolizzarice Akumawah, WD2023 Youth Planning Committee Member
Julia Fan, Senior Manager, Youth Engagement, Women Deliver
Ligia Gomez, WD2023 Youth Planning Committee Member
Natasha Salifyanji Kaoma, Chief Executive Officer, Copper Rose Zambia
Faith Suwilanji Kaoma, Chief Operations Officer, Copper Rose Zambia
Daren Paul Katigbak, Women Deliver Young Leader
Tasnia Mir, Communications Associate, Youth Engagement, Women Deliver
Alice Mukashyaka, Women Deliver Young Leader
Ahmad Nisar, Women Deliver Young Leader and WD2023 Youth Planning Committee Member
Diana Nambatya Nsubuga, Regional Consultant (Africa), Youth Engagement, Women Deliver
Archlove Takunda Tanyanyiwa, Women Deliver Young Leader Alum and WD2023 Youth Planning Committee Member
Alice Uwera, Youth Designer, YLabs