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| YOUTH FORUMS for DEMOCRACY and POLITICAL PARTICIPATION |
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Developed by the Secretariat of the Youth Movement for Democracy
A Youth Democracy Forum brings together youth with local political leaders to discuss, debate, and propose solutions to major issues facing youth and their communities. It could be part of a larger Local Youth Forum, or organized as its own event. The following guide describes how to plan a Forum on Democracy and Political Participation as a stand-alone event. For more info of planning a general Forum, refer to GYAN's Guide to Local Youth Forums. Organizing a really great event takes a lot of planning, but has huge payoffs! Democracy Forums bring youth into contact with future government leaders to talk about the role of youth and city government, present challenges and work out solutions, encourage action, and set up permanent structures for youth to participate in decision-making processes. They give youth a better sense of their civic rights and responsibilities and make government leaders more aware of the priorities and contributions of youth. The following is a basic guide to hosting a Forum with youth and local political leaders, within the context of the Youth Movement for Democracy (YMD). We recommend holding a Forum around the Annual Launch Day for the Global Youth Democracy Campaign, October 18. Youth in Brazil and the United States have also used the model successfully to hold debates between youth and candidates during local and national election campaigns. Some techniques will need to be adapted to the context of your country or region. We are always interested in feedback or stories from your experiences! Send us your thoughts through the Democracy Forum Feedback Form on the YMD website (http://www.ymd.youthlink.org). "Be the change you want to see in the world" ~ Mahatma Gandhi~ |
| PLANNING THE EVENT |
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Step 1: Find Partners Anyone can start a Democracy Forum! The very first step is to start looking for partners by contacting young leaders in your community, non-governmental organizations, student groups, educators, academic institutions, your local elections authority, the mayor's office, local branches of political parties... anyone who might be interested in youth participation in politics, government transparency, and civic education! Step 2: Create a Forum Team You will need a minimum of five youth and adult allies, with youth in the majority, to make up a core Forum Coordinator Team. It's best if your team members represent different political beliefs and are free of strong party ties, to reassure all participants that the event will be non-partisan and unbiased. Most importantly, the members should work well together, with a spirit of cooperation and teamwork. You should all work together to create a system to determine who is responsible for what tasks, and set up regular meetings where everyone can discuss their progress, decide what needs to be done in the immediate future, get help from others when needed, and openly share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas about the planning process. Don't just assume people will share information when they need to - plan to plan! Your Forum Team is responsible for:
Step 3: Make the Date We recommend holding your event on or around October 18, Annual Launch Day for the Global Youth Democracy Campaign, to both raise awareness about the Day and to lend an international framework to your event- which can help you get more media coverage! If you are organizing an event during an election season, or another time when your dates might be more flexible than the schedules of your invitees, we recommend you first invite and confirm the participation of several representatives, then work out the best day for everyone, in consideration of their schedules. When picking a date, consider factors that might affect the ability of youth to participate, such as exams, religious holidays, school vacations, or harvest times. Step 4: Select a Site Pick a neutral location (preferably without a connection to any political party), where youth can feel comfortable and safe, and that can accommodate a considerable number of youth, invitees, and the entourages of the political leaders. We recommend that you include enough space to accommodate an additional 20% of potential delegates who may wish to join as your Forum date nears. Coordinate possible sites with your community leaders and government institutions. Consider proximity to your city center, ease of transport, access to food and other services, and safety. Step 5: Secure Resources As soon as possible, get a sense of your expected costs and draw up a budget. Get quotes from PA system rental companies, Forum spaces, etc. Try to find a public space that won't charge, or will charge very little - a community center, university building, or politically neutral church space all might be a good locations. Then, as soon as possible, start fundraising! Often the easiest way to get donations is in-kind: would the university be able to lend a PA system? Would an NGO be willing to donate paper and pens? Would the local PTA be willing to supply lunch? This is where your partnerships with a wide variety of groups come in handy. With the right connections and planning, you might be able to put the event on for free! Step 6: Invite Youth Delegates and Select Representatives Develop an application process for those interested in participating as youth representatives. These delegates will represent youth perspectives in the discussion with the local political leaders. Use community announcement mechanisms, local publications or radio, and the Internet to make as many youth as possible aware of the Forum, and of the opportunity to become representatives. We recommend that you begin recruiting at least 30 to 60 days in advance to get as many youth as possible interested in participating. Recruit leaders from within local youth groups. Representatives should be able to speak confidently on youth issues and possess strong skills in critical thought and argumentation. The application form should ask applicants to discuss their background, current work, and perspectives on their role in the Forum. Encourage applications from youth with diverse backgrounds and interests. Make a serious effort to include youth representing different movements with major youth involvement: environmentalists, hip-hop activists, farmers, LGBT groups, etc. Find a way to distribute the information on the representatives, such as posting their application info on the Internet or distributing a simple flyer with candidates' statements. Create a voting mechanism on the Internet and/or through voting boxes distributed to locations frequented by youth. Try to balance the number of youth representatives and political representatives in the discussion. It is better to have a majority of youth than a majority of political reps, but try not to put 20 youth up against two politicians. Step 7: Invite Political Leaders Because political leaders, particularly elected officials, often have very full schedules, we recommend that you send out your invitations as early as possible in the planning period. Particularly if you want to have the event on a particular date, you should give the mayor at least six weeks notice, or more if you live in a large city. In your invitation, explain the purpose of the Forum as increasing the political participation of youth, and note how participation would show his or her commitment to the civic education of youth. Be clear about the structure and particular objectives of the event, including the time commitment requested. Show that the organizing team is made up of upstanding and politically diverse people. Present the partnerships that you have formed, especially highlight if you have gotten a guarantee of press coverage. Guarantee impartiality in the event organization, making it clear to the participants that none of the political parties will receive special privilege. If necessary, once the political leader has accepted the invitation, create a contract between the parties. Working ahead of time to guarantee coverage in local and regional media will help a lot in convincing local leaders that the Forum is worth their time. Step 8: Invite Other Local Officials as Observers Beyond leaders of political parties, think about other local leaders and authorities that might act as observers or participants. Community, religious, or business association representatives, professors from a local university, representatives from NGOs, local election board members, or union leaders might benefit from hearing youth perspectives and contribute interesting perspectives on the process or issues brought up. It should be made very clear that the forum is about hearing youth voices and youth interaction with local decision-makers. Think of ways to organize the Forum to create dialogue between youth with adult participants, and prevent it from become a debate between the adults. Step 9: Youth Representatives Orientation Hold a meeting for the selected youth representatives to meet, discuss the objectives and guidelines for the event, and talk about some of the issues they would like to discuss, and questions they think should be asked. The representatives should receive some sort of information on the structure, guidelines, and objectives of the discussion before the event day to give them time to prepare. Keep in mind that some political leaders will want to know the topics of discussion in advance. (See "Discussion between Youth and Political Leaders" below.)
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| DESIGNING THE FORUM |
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The main objectives of the Youth Forums for Democracy and Political Participation are to increase youth engagement with politics, teach them about their civic rights and responsibilities, and to make local political leaders and potential adult allies aware of youth priorities, engagement, and contributions. You may have other specific objectives for your Democracy Forum, and should design your event accordingly. For example, you may want to: • make youth more aware of their constitutional rights, and mechanisms that exists to protect them • share ideas for creative, non-violent, and safe ways that youth can express their political will to decision-makers • discuss the role youth can play in increasing transparency and making leaders more accountable for their actions • develop or strengthen existing youth parliaments or community forums These forums can be a great opportunity to bring youth together for trainings, workshops, or presentations on issues like these that are central to building and strengthening democracy movements in your region. The more partnerships your Coordination Committee is able to form, the better you will be able to put on a great, educational event! For ideas and tools to plan workshops and other events, check out the resources page on the YMD website. You can have a successful, productive Forum without including such additional trainings. Regardless of other incorporated activities, we recommend that Forum bringing together youth representatives and local political leaders should: • Develop a Local Youth Platform • Create meaningful conversation between the youth and political leaders • Form Action Groups and structures for youth participation in politics • Set up systems for ongoing networking and collaboration The following steps are adapted from on GYAN's Guide to Local Youth Forum, and based on the consensus and facilitation processes developed by the USA National Youth Conventions. The model is designed to combine the top issues of youth, develop solutions based on the young peoples' vision of an improved future, write a Local Youth Platform, and encourage actions and projects to turn the ideas and solutions into reality. The following guide lays out a full day's activities, developing the Platform in the morning, having the Discussion between Youth and Political Leaders after lunch, and the Action Planning segment in the afternoon. The sequence can be changed around or expanded depending on the length of your event, but we recommend that they not be compressed or cut too much, as all of the steps are important, and delegates needs sufficient time to reflect and communicate. Keep in mind that the more participants, the more time you will need for all steps. Developing the Local Youth Platform Ideally, each city could hold a Local Youth Forum to develop a Local Youth Platform before holding a Democracy Forum. If your city hasn't done this yet, though, your Forum could be the perfect opportunity! We believe it is very important to democratically determine the top issues concerning local youth before meeting with your political leaders. When developed by a democratic process, a Local Youth Platform can be legitimately used as both a mandate for local/national government and an action guide for the local youth community. Identifying these issues in advance will help the youth representatives speak with authority about the concerns of the community's youth, and help focus the discussion on issues of immediate interest to youth delegates. The development of a Local Youth Platform can happen on the same day as your planned discussion with local political leaders. The following schedule should take between two and a half and four hours, depending on how long you spend on each activity. Local leaders and officials should be invited to be present for the development of the Platform as well as for the discussion itself. What you will need : A Forum Facilitation Team to deal with logistics and facilitate the event, (7-person minimum for a 300 person event) - see "The Art of Facilitation" box Presentation area with podium/ table and microphone (if needed), a large display area (4' x 10' or larger) that is bulletin board, magnetic, or covered by butcher paper, and tacks, magnets, or sticky (spray can) glue to post things on it Extra copies of "Using Fist to Five" and any particular Forum guidelines you have developed One pen or pencil and 8 x 10" card or piece of paper per delegate Four 11x14" cards per small group Set- up The Forum Coordinator Team should be positioned at the front of your Local Youth Forum. If you have the choice, try to set up the chairs in a way that will make it easy for people to focus on the presentation space, but also move quickly to small discussion groups. Decide how large you want your small groups to be (we recommend 5-10 depending on the number of participants), figure out how many groups you will have, and decide where each group will gather. A Forum with 300 participants would have 30 areas, one for each 10-person small group. You might want to post large signs with the group numbers in these areas to speed up the transition to small groups. As the delegates arrive, each should be given an 8x10 card, a pencil or pen, and a group number. This "registration" process can be a good time to have delegates provide their name and contact info and fill out a nametag. The Forum Facilitation Team should record the number of participants to include in the Forum Results Report. |
The Art of Facilitation The Art of Facilitation requires that the Facilitator be familiar with the Forum process and the "Fist to Five" method of consensus-building, that they be good speakers, and, above all, good listeners to work with the youth delegates in large and small groups. How many Facilitators will you need? For a Forum of 300 delegates as described in the Local Youth Forum model, you will need a minimum of seven Facilitators. The members of the Coordination Team could perform this role. You could also bring some adult allies or other people with good public speaking skills. Use one Facilitator for every five small groups (a total of six for a maximum of 300 people) and one Lead Facilitator to guide the process of the Forum. What do the Facilitators do? The key role of the Facilitators is to monitor and encourage - without influencing - the entire group of youth delegates. The Facilitators should remain neutral as they encourage the movement of the groups towards consensus. This means their own ideas and opinions will not be included in the group discussions, and they will not influence the content of the final consensus - only smooth progress towards it. They should work with the groups to establish ground rules for discussion and to ensure that all opinions and ideas are integrated within the small groups discussions. The Facilitators should keep track of the time limits for each activity and help the small groups to stay on the task of prioritizing concerns, proposing solutions, and achieving consensus on their summary statements. What is the role of the Lead Facilitator? The Lead Facilitator should be good at maintaining order, leading groups, and public speaking. He or she will be responsible for presenting guiding the participants through the day's activities: laying out the guidelines, transitioning from one activity to the next, keeping the event on schedule, receiving and responding to feedback from the small group leaders, and presenting the key ideas that make up the Youth Platform. The Lead Facilitator is also responsible for dealing with any questions or concerns that emerge regarding the procedure of the day, and of ensuring that different voices are heard during large group discussions. |
1. Call the Forum to Order (10 to 15 minutes) The Lead Facilitator should ask for all delegates to be seated and call the summit to order. Components of this could include the national anthem, a song, poem, or inspirational reading, introduction of the Forum Coordinating Team, an explanation of the purpose and mission of the Forum and recognition and a thank you for the participating delegates and city officials. Introduce the Youth Movement for Democracy, and the Local Team's efforts to form a local network of youth interested in democratic issues, linked to national, regional, and international networks. Let the delegates know that the solutions and projects that they come up with will be shared with youth and national leaders, and issues and solutions that come out in the forum will be used to create a Local Youth Platform.
2. Determine individual issues/concerns (10 minutes) The lead facilitator should ask the delegates to use their cards and take ten minutes to write down short summaries (5-10 words) of the three community concerns or issues they think are most important. These issues do not have to relate directly to youth, they should be anything that particular person finds important.
3. Discussion Group Set-up (10 to 20 minutes) After people complete their summaries, they should separate into small groups according to the number they were assigned. Remember, each small group should have a maximum of 10 young people. The lead facilitator should explain that the purpose of the small groups is to combine youth issues/concerns and determine the top three for their group. Have each small group go through a brief introduction process and choose a leader. A Forum Coordinator should provide each small group leader with the group's cards, and copies of the "Using Fist to Five" and the Local Forum Guidelines you have developed. The facilitators should work with each small group leader to review the process for achieving consensus and discuss ground rules for group communication (i.e. be respectful, give everyone a chance to speak, etc.).
4. Discussion Groups - Prioritizing Issues by Consensus (30 to 45 minutes) Each person should read aloud their 5-10 word summaries of their top three issues/concerns while the group leader, or another designated group member, records each issue/concern on a piece of paper. As the list is completed, delegates should note how many of their issues/concerns are similar. Next, they should group the issues/concerns into categories (i.e. rain forest depletion, ozone damage, pollution, could all be grouped as an environmental concern/issue). Those categories that have the most responses will be the top three issues/concerns of the group. If there are disagreements on the categories and issues, use the guidelines for achieving consensus. Write down the three 5-10 word issue summaries in large bold letters on three 11x14 cards. Turn in the summary cards to the Forum Facilitation Team.
5. Starting the Local Youth Platform - Identifying Top Issues (30 to 60 minutes) Facilitators should quickly attach all 11x14 cards and group the issues in areas of similar concern on a large display area/board. The Lead Facilitator should ask for the people's agreement or suggest changes to the grouping of the youth issues/concern areas. Once the cards have been arranged to the satisfaction of the delegates, ask them to name each category. The top issues/concerns of the community will be those that have the most 11x14 small group cards. Identify, agree, and write down the top ten issues/concerns of your community. These top 10 issues make up the first half of the Local Youth Platform. The lead facilitator should type the top 10 issues into a computer in order of priority. The most common issue should be first priority, etc. |
| USING FIST-TO-FIVE
COMBINING YOUR TEAM'S IDEAS AND BUILDING CONSENSUS When a group comes to consensus on a matter, it means that everyone in the group can support the decision; they don't all have to think it's the best decision, but they all agree they can live with it. When a group is discussing a possible solution or deciding something, this tool is an easy-to-use way to determine each member's opinion at a given moment and in working towards consensus. To use this technique the Team Leader restates a decision the group may make and asks everyone to show her level of support. Each person responds by showing a fist or a number of fingers that corresponds to their opinion.
Fist A "No" vote - a way to block consensus. I need to talk more on the proposal and require changes for it to pass. 1 Finger I still need to discuss certain issues and suggest changes that should be made. 2 Fingers I am more comfortable with the proposal but would like to discuss some minor issues. 3 Fingers I'm not in total agreement but feel comfortable to let this decision or a proposal pass without further discussion. 4 Fingers I think it's a good idea/decision and will work for it. 5 Fingers It's a great idea and I will be one of the leaders in implementing it. If anyone holds up fewer than three fingers, they should be given the opportunity to state their objections and the team should address their concerns. Teams continue the Fist-to-Five process until they achieve consensus (a minimum of three fingers or higher) or determine they must move on to the next issue. POINT TO PONDER: "It is the law of love that rules mankind. Had violence, i.e. hate, ruled us we should have become extinct long ago. And yet, the tragedy of it is that the so-called civilized men and nations conduct themselves as if the basis of society was violence." - Mahatma Gandhi Fletcher, A. (2002). FireStarter Youth Power Curriculum: Participant Guidebook. Olympia, WA: Freechild Project. |
6. Break (15 minutes) When announcing the break, ask the delegates to use the time to envision a future where their issues/concerns are better addressed. Imagine it is the year 2020. How does this new future look? What is the role of youth in determining this new and improved future?
7. Focus on Vision (10 - 15 minutes) Invite delegates to speak out about their vision for a better future and their vision for youth activism in creating that future. You might want to set up an open mic for 15 to 30 minutes, or ask for ten to twenty delegates to volunteer to make short presentations. Encourage speakers to discuss how the top issues/concerns of the community must be addressed to fulfill their collective visions.
8. Discussion Groups - Finding Solutions (20 to 30 minutes) Quickly reassemble into the previously designated small groups. Using consensus, have each group choose one of the top issues/concerns of the community and brainstorm possible solutions they can apply to achieve their visions of an improved future. The outcome of their discussions should be a short (25 words or less) Solution Summary Statement (written in large, bold letters on one 11x14 card). If time permits, delegates may wish to submit additional solution statements for other top community issues they developed in their earlier small group discussions. Forum Facilitators should float during this time to help groups use consensus to achieve their Solution Summary Statement.
9. Finishing the Local Youth Platform - Focus on Youth Solutions (15 to 30 minutes) The lead facilitator should ask for the presentation of the Solution Summary Statements, and invite delegates to consider which solution they want to act on. Have a representative from each discussion group, possibly the leader, proceed to the podium and read their Solution Summary Statement to the entire delegation. After reading their statements, group leaders should post their solutions on the display board. When all solutions have been posted, conduct a large group discussion to brainstorm possible youth service/community improvement projects that could implement the solutions. Remember to address how these solutions directly apply to the top issues/concerns of your community. Record the suggestions, and encourage delegates to record those that interest them. The lead facilitator should type all of the Solution Summary Statements into a computer in the same document as the top ten issues. The issues in combination with the Solution Summary Statements make up the Local Youth Platform. Because it was developed democratically, this document can be used as both a mandate for local/national government as well as an action guide for your local community of young people. More immediately, it will help you frame the conversation with the local political leaders. First though, you might want to break for lunch! Use the break as an opportunity to get feedback from the local officials that are attending as observers. What do they think of the process so far? Does it change the way they regard young people? What do they expect/hope to see as a result of the event? All delegates should know that they will be meeting with local political leaders after lunch. The Lead Facilitator should ask the delegates to spend the lunch break thinking of the role of the local, state, or national government in achieving their proposed solutions. How can youth and local political leaders work together? What support do youth need from the government? What does the government need from youth? 10. Discussion between Political and Youth Leaders Ideally, during the event planning stage, you will have balanced the number of youth representatives and political representatives, and found youth representing different movements with major youth involvement. If you have had these representatives meet in advance, you should also have a good framework for what issues will be discussed. Your event will greatly benefit if you have worked out the basic topics for discussion in advance, with specific discussion-provoking questions ready. That said, once the event has started, there's nothing wrong with allowing an interesting discussion to take a more natural course, as long as it's on the topics you want to discuss! Suggestion for a basic structure : Read the Local Youth Platform to the audience and invite the city officials or local government representatives to respond. Don't forget to ask the political leaders: • What structures does the government have in place to work with youth? • What channels exist for youth participation in local decision-making? • What programs exist to respond to youth needs and priorities? And have both sides discuss: • How can youth, as citizens, impact government function and structure? • How can the Local Youth Platform be put into practice in partnership between youth and the government? Create an opportunity for questions and comments from the general participants. Logistics: You will want to have all of your political and youth representatives sitting together at the front of the room, preferably at a long table or tables. If the room is large enough to require a PA system, you will need to set up multiple microphones for the presenters, and one that can be used by general delegates to ask questions or make comments. Provide water for the speakers. It is essential to have a moderator, and to plan in advance the basic structure of your discussion. The moderator must be confident enough to firmly (but politely!) enforce time limits, close comments on a question to move to the next one, and remind the speakers to stay on topic. If you will have many speakers, the moderator should work to ensure that everyone gets the chance to speak, and that no one participant dominates the discussion. Your meeting with the political leaders should last an hour to an hour and a half.
11. Turning Ideas into Actions This activity can be held after writing the Local Youth Platform, after any workshop that has generated a lot of ideas, or at the end of a longer conference. No matter when you hold it, it's a very important step in producing real results from the Forum.
Forming Action Teams (15 to 20 minutes) Review the final Local Youth Platform and post it where it can be clearly seen. Have the lead facilitator ask for people to raise their hands in order to see how many people are willing to commit to take action on their solutions for improving their communities and their countries. Explain that they will form Action Teams to develop an action plan and specific projects to achieve their proposed solutions. Have them form teams by joining the small group leader whose Solution Summary Statement best matches their area of interest. If a group leader want to join a team different from her Summary Statement issue, she can pass off group leadership to another delegate. If there are any remaining delegates, have them form a group (or groups) to discuss other ideas and solutions that they are interested in helping to implement.
Create Youth Action Projects (30 to 90 minutes) Have each new Action Team sit down and discuss concrete ways to implement their solution. Each team will need to: • Re-read their group's Solution Summary Statement. • Create a contact list of phone numbers and emails to be shared within the team. • Develop ground rules for discussion and consensus-building. • Brainstorm possible projects to implement their solution. • Choose the best project(s), and prioritize them. • Set short-term and long-term goals and a project timeline. • Create a Youth Action Team mission statement for their chosen project(s). • Brainstorm a list of project needs (time, money, educational resources, public relations, transportation, etc.). • Brainstorm potential youth roles and responsibilities to match the list of needs. • Evaluate the current resources and skills available to the team, encourage individual members to commit to playing a certain role or taking specific actions in the immediate future. • Choose a time and a location for a follow-up Youth Action Team meeting How far the groups get in this process will depend largely on how much time they have. Follow-up meetings are absolutely necessary, and they should regularly report their progress to the Forum Team. If time is very short, encourage each group to at least review the Solution Summary Sheet, create a contact list, set a time and location for a follow-up meeting, and spend the remaining time discussing potential projects (to generate excitement). |
Youth Action Team Reports Fill in this form as best you can, and turn it in to the Forum Facilitators. You may want to develop a more complete version at your next meeting - report that to us too! (Forum Coordinators should provide the Teams with a contact for follow-up reporting) Team Name (if you developed one): Number of team members: __________ Don't forget to make a list of everyone's contact information to share with everyone in the group! Target issue: Mission Statement: Main Project(s):
Immediate Goals: Long Term Goals: When and where will you have your follow-up meeting? Team Contact Person: Email: Telephone: |
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Have Youth Action Teams complete the report form with project idea, goals, and timeline to the Forum Coordination Team. The Forum Teams will need these Team Reports to complete the general Forum Results Report. Provide the teams with the contact information of the Local Team Member who will receive future reports, and encourage them to regularly share their progress. Refer them to the tools offered by the YMD website, encourage them to access the resources there and to report their progress. 12. Closing the Forum Do your best to close the conference on a note of excitement about future collaboration and a stronger local youth movement! This is a good time to remind the participants that their activities are not only part of the local youth movement, but part of a global movement of youth working for positive change in the world. Encourage them to continue to think about building relationships, share information about their work, and participate in local and international YMD activities. Make sure you have... • Provided delegates with the contact info of the Local Team point person. • Collected the Youth Action Team Report forms. • Recorded the contact information of all of the conference delegates (with other registration information if desired) to keep them involved in local YMD events. • Encouraged Action Teams to provide regular updates to the Local Team. • Informed the delegates of any ongoing or upcoming local networking events. • Explained to delegates the Youth Movement for Democracy and its Global Youth Democracy Campaign, and referred them to the resources available. The conclusion of the conference should be cause for celebration! You might want to plan a party or gathering at a local restaurant after the Forum, so everyone can hang out and get to know each other in a more casual, fun way. Finally, don't forget to thank all the delegates, political leaders, and local observers for their participation, the Youth Action Teams for their commitment to implement their solutions, and to thank and acknowledge the Summit Action Team and the hosting institution for creating a successful event to elevate the voices, ideas, and solutions of youth! Congratulations! You have just taken the first step in spreading the power of the Global Youth Movement to your community! It's a lot of work, but the payoffs are enormous. |
| KEEPING IT GOING! |
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You have exchanged a lot of ideas, prioritized concerns and goals, learned more about how youth and local government can work together, and developed plans for action. How to keep this from stopping there - just a lot of talk? Immediate Follow-up 1) Share the results your Democracy Forum by filling out the form at www.ymd.youthlik.org Check out the questions in the text box, so you can work out your answers ahead of time. 2) Send an email to all the participants with the most important information to keep them engaged - how to get involved with local network activities, links to the YMD site, an outline of the Action Groups formed and their contact information, etc. 3) Report the results of the conference to local press or newsletters. Post information about the Action Groups on your local website if you have one. 4) Send out notes thanking the political and youth leaders for their participation in the discussion. Express your enthusiasm for future collaboration with them. 5) Follow-up on any important connections or opportunities. Remember, creating allies in local leadership can be incredibly helpful in making the efforts of local youth sustainable and influential. YOUTH DEMOCRACY FORUM REPORT
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Building the Local Youth Democracy Movement |
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An event like a Forum creates a lot of momentum and excitement. It is a great opportunity to grow or strengthen whatever activities your Local Team has been developing, and to find new Team members! The Forum is a particularly good starting point to: • Establish a regular, monthly social gathering of local youth activists. • Develop a local youth newsletter / mailing list that provides regular updates on Action Teams progress, relevant local events, information on opportunities, etc. • Build a database of youth and youth allies in your area. For more information on developing local networks, check out the Local Team Guide in your YMD Membership Kit, and the links on the YMD resources page. Creating a Permanent Structure There are many obstacles that limit the amount of positive youth action to improve communities. Two of the chief obstacles are 1) inadequate public recognition and meaning given to positive youth solutions and actions, and 2) inadequate funding allocated to support youth organizing. To improve recognition of youth it is important to work with media and public authorities. To improve the amount of funding allocated to support youth organizing it is important to work with the government. In most countries around the world the primary sources of youth funding are individual donors, private donors (foundations and corporations) and the government. The only permanent channel of funding is the government. To create permanent change therefore it is necessary to make changes in policies of the government. The Local Youth Platform and Local Youth Forums are very powerful ways of showing government officials why and how to work with young people. The events can also be modified to provide a space for young leaders to dialogue extensively, directly with government officials and hold them responsible. There are many strategies for making policy changes in the government. In democratic countries it is important to work with elected officials to develop youth policies and create space in the government for youth to participate in the decision-making process. It is often easiest to have impact by working with local government first. More than 90 countries already have official channels for youth participation in the form of National Youth Councils (check out youthforum.org and TakingITGlobal Voice.) In non-democratic countries it is important to work through personal connections, religious groups, demonstrations, and other unofficial channels to influence government decision-making. For more information on creating youth policies check out the website of the International Council on National Youth Policies, where you can find information that will help you create National Policy as well as Local Policies. |