Youth Involvement in Good Governance

Advocacy Proposal

GROUP #6 BMM0309
Alfonso, Melissa
Benosa, Anjelee
Chang, Eunsuk
Jumaquio, Miguel
Mamawag, Gracedell
Medina, Jennica
Moya, Pherlouie
Suarez, Mark Reine

I.

Objectives
1. To raise the awareness of the youth on the bigger stage of leadership.
2. To transform the minds of the youth towards the change that we can make to our
society by promoting good governance
3. To encourage youth to demand accountability and concrete actions from their
governments to address social issues
4. To involve the youth in advocating anti-corruption policies, monitoring government
actions, and mobilizing others to push for good governance.
5. To serve as an avenue wherein youth leaders initiating change, could also help
inspire and empower one another through coming together towards a transformed
and empowered nation

II.

Background/History

Youth participation in local governance is a way to achieve positive change in young peoples
lives and society, and for young people become activists and agents of change in their
communities.
GOOD GOVERNANCE
Governance concerns the states ability to serve its citizens. It refers to the rules, processes, and
behavior by which interests are articulated, resources are managed, and power is exercised in
society. Governance is a practical concept relating to the basic aspects of the functioning of any
society and political and social system. It can be described as a basic measure of the stability
and performance of a society.
Good governance underpins sustainable development, since it is crucial to the development of
policies and the implementation of reforms for sustainable achievement of development
objectives such as the Millennium Development Goals. Good governance also contributes to
the general objective of developing and consolidating democracy and rule of law, especially
those relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Principles of Good Governance

Efficiency (productivity): When local government actions, omissions and acts result in an
optimal ratio between results and inputs
Rule of Law: When administrative actions and omissions closely follow the only the
Constitution and its laws.
Responsibility: When the administrations actions and decisions create legal certainty and
eliminate arbitrary rulings.
Reliability and predictability: Citizens have confidence in local authorities ability and
willingness to manage, and meet their long term needs by observing known procedures.
Openness: When the administrations procedures, acts, actions and omissions are available for
external monitoring and evaluation.
Transparency: When local authorities adopt and implement their actions, omissions and acts in
public, and publically bear the consequences. Each element of their activities are subject to
monitoring, evaluation and control.
Accountability: When the local administration acts with a clear division of rights and
obligations, and actions are publicized in a systematic, complete, comprehensive and fair way
Effectiveness: When national, regional and local policies are developed with a thorough
analysis of immediate needs, clearly defined goals and well defined expected results
Co-operation (partnership): When acts are created and policies implemented by the local
administration with full participation of citizens, social partners, civil society and the private
sector.
Coherence: When developed policies are easily understood by citizens due to strict internal
logic and cohesion. Coherence requires political commitment and responsibility of institutions
and employees who carry out those policies.

III.

Rationale

Why involved youth in local governance?

Young people are often referred to as the future of the country. They are seen as future leaders
who will make important decisions impacting the lives of future generations.
One way for young people to feel more empowered is to volunteer in their communities by
youth works which can be defined as youth activity where youths voluntarily (without being
obligated) offer their time, work, knowledge and their skills without salary or any other reward
in service to the community for the benefit of the whole society
Youth participation is defined as: Participation in the democratic life of any community is
about more than voting or standing for election, although these are important elements.
Participation and active citizenship is about having the right, the means, the space and the
opportunity and where necessary the support to participate in and influence decisions and
engaging in actions and activities so as to contribute to building a better society (Charter,
2003).
Principles of Youth Participation
As previously defined, youth participation is not simply political involvement but is a way to
influence and engage in actions and decisions that impact young peoples lives. This means not
just voting, but participating in youth representative bodies, and structuring their organizations
to be active and able to advance both youth interests and those of their communities.
Moreover, participation in democratic political affairs is a right that young people can exercise
without discrimination, regardless of their nationality, language, and cultural background
Harts model of youth participation (1992; 8), visualizes participation as a ladder, (five levels of
participation and three levels of non-participation)a useful tool to understand how initiatives
and projects can contribute to youth participation.

The five rungs of participation are:

Shared decision-making - Initiatives and ideas are initiated by young people, and adults are
consulted to take part in the decision-making process as partners.
Young people initiated and led - Initiatives or ideas are initiated and directed by young people.
Adults may be invited to provide necessary support, but the project can be carried out without
their intervention.
Adult initiate, shared decisions with young people - Initiatives are initiated by adults but young
people are as equal partners.
Young people consulted and informed - Initiatives are initiated and led by adults, but young
people provide advice and suggestions, and are told how their input contributes to the final
decisions or results.
Assigned but informed - Projects are initiated and run by adults, and young people are invited
to have specific roles or tasks within the project, but are unaware of what influence they have
in reality

Conversely, the three rungs of non-participation are:

Tokenism - Young people are given some roles within projects but they have no real influence
on any decisions. There is a false appearance created (purposely or unintentionally) that young
people participate, when in fact they do not have any choice in what they do and how.
Decoration -Young people are needed to represent youth as an underprivileged group. They
have no meaningful role (except from being present) and as it happens with any decorations
they are put in a visible position within a project or organization, so they can be easily seen by
outsiders.
Manipulation - Young people are invited to take part in a project, but have no real influence on
decisions and the outcomes. In fact, their presence is used to achieve a completely different
goal, such as winning local elections, improving an organizations image or securing funds from
institutions supporting youth participation.
Youth participation does not have to be limited to political issues.
Economic participation - relates to employment and work in general, to economic
development, eliminating poverty, building a stable economic situation for society, a region or
young people as a group;
Social participation - relates to involvement in the life of a local community, addressing local
problems and challenges;
Cultural participation - relates to different forms of art and expression (visual arts, music, film,
dance etc.)
Benefits of Youth Involvement
Youth participation in local governance can produce tangible benefits, including:

Young people become prepared for future responsibilities (in terms of community
management)

Young people begin making positive difference in lives and their communities

Young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions

Young peoples knowledge of democracy increases

Adults begin supporting young peoples initiatives

More representative decision making processes, since young peoples voices are heard

New approaches and ideas for solving local issues

Local officials benefit as well, as they are able to:

Identify the needs of young people more accurately

Provide better services to young people

Improve young peoples situation in the local context

Prevent social problems

Applying good governance principles to youth involvement

Youth participation is based on the principle that meaningful youth participation can only take
place when the right conditions are created and all the actors undertaking participatory work
ensure that these conditions are fulfilled:
Rights: It is a fundamental right of all people to participate in political issues at the local,
regional and national level, and is not dependent on local or regional authorities to grant such a
right. It is important that all citizens, especially youth, understand to what they are entitled.
Means: Young people must have resources to be active participants. This includes not only
basic needs such as housing, healthcare and social security, but necessary trainings and access
to technology and transportation. Further, there must be an environment of nondiscrimination, where young people feel free to speak up without any negative repercussions.
Space: Two different types of space are needed. First, young people need physical space to
meet and organize activities. Second, a space for youth engagement must be created within the
institutional framework of policymaking, which would ensure that young peoples views and
recommendations have a real impact on decisions and legislation.

Opportunity: Young people need to have the opportunity to actively participate in local affairs.
Providing access to information on opportunities for involvement in their community is the key.
Youth participation is low not because they are not interested but because they are not
informed on existing opportunities.
Support: Young people need different kinds of support: financial, moral and institutional, which
should be offered by local authorities and the community as a whole.
EXAMPLES OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION:
Youth Volunteerism: Youth voluntarism continues to be a core value in many countries. A
volunteer is an individual who chooses to serve his or her community free of charge. Many
people volunteer though NGOs. Usually volunteers are organized into groups in order to
achieve results in the community. Volunteer work can be seen as an expression of support and
altruism. However, it not only helps to fill a community need, but it also can be a benefit to the
volunteer. Youths who participate in volunteer work are more motivated and have greater
opportunities to improve their communication, leadership and cooperation skills.
V.

Evaluation

1. Create a poster and organize a nationwide campaign against corruption through the use of
different social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
2. Recruit supporters among fellow students, teacher, informal educators, community
members and local organizations.
3. Present a presentation to different schools, youth groups, organization about youth
involvement in good governance and show the benefits it does
4. Make a video about youth involvement and shows the good governance is not all about
politics
5. Create a youth parliament simulation so that young people debate the countrys current
affairs and tackle different issues regarding governance