<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><BR><BR>Introduction<BR><BR>During the 21st session of the<BR>Governing Council that oversees the work programme and budget of UN-HABITAT,<BR>member countries in 2007 passed a resolution calling on the executive director<BR>of UN HABITAT to set up a special fund to help young people living in poverty. A<BR>high proportion of the worlds population is young, especially in the<BR>developing world, and this segment of the population is disproportionately<BR>affected by the problems of unsustainable development. At the same time, urban<BR>15-24-year-olds in<BR>developing countries have immense potential to contribute to social and<BR>economic development if given the right opportunities. <BR><BR> <BR><BR>UN-HABITAT recognizes<BR>that young people need to be active participants in the future of cities. Its<BR>Strategy for Enhanced
Engagement of<BR>Youth aims to promote leadership and participation of young women and men in<BR>all its efforts to improve the lives of people living in the rapidly expanding<BR>cities of the world. It sees the urgent<BR>need to create opportunities for youth to play a much more active and<BR>constructive role in making cities the engines of development. Championed by<BR>Norway, the new<BR>Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-led Development<BR>is designed to improve understanding, and lead to more effective ways of<BR>involving young people in sustainable urban development. <BR><BR>UN HABITAT in partnership<BR>with the Norwegian government will be launching the Opportunities Fund for<BR>Youth Led Development, a fund which will fund youth led initiatives globally at<BR>the third World Urban Youth Forum from (WUYF) 1<BR>to 2 November, 2008, prior to the main Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum,<BR>building on the huge success of the previous
two forums in Vancouver and<BR>Barcelona.<BR><BR> <BR><BR> <BR><BR> <BR><BR>2 Why Youth-led Development?<BR><BR> <BR><BR>All over the world young people are responding<BR>to the development needs of their communities through social projects and<BR>youth-led businesses. Youth want to be involved and all development actors<BR>should<BR>take youth-led development (YLD) seriously in their efforts to achieve the UN<BR>Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as well as the Convention on the Rights of<BR>the Child (art.12), which guarantees youth the right to participate in<BR>decision-making. Putting youth at the centre of development can be compared to<BR>the challenge, two decades ago, of putting gender issues on the development<BR>agenda. A similar shift in societys<BR>thinking is now required for youth in urban development. <BR><BR> <BR><BR>Young people are the most vulnerable to<BR>social problems caused by
unemployment and poverty. Girls and young women are<BR>most at risk. With over 200 million youth living in<BR>poverty, 130 million illiterate, 88 million unemployed and 10 million young<BR>people with HIV/AIDS, there is a clear need to direct efforts and resources to<BR>youth.<BR><BR><BR> <BR><BR>While youth are the promise of the future,<BR>failure to invest in them greatly reduces potential for future development.<BR> YLD is about young people making a living and<BR>future for themselves and their communities. YLD involves business and community<BR>improvement projects, devised and managed by young people, often working<BR>alongside adults with skills to mentor them.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-led<BR>Development has been set-up by UN-HABITAT to catalyze innovative approaches to<BR>YLD<BR>that can improve understanding, and lead to more effective policies and<BR>strategies to strengthen the
role of youth in sustainable urban development.<BR><BR> <BR><BR> <BR><BR>3 <BR>THE INTENTION<BR><BR> <BR><BR>The Opportunities Fund aims to facilitate<BR>achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and their youth-related targets.<BR>It will help young people in the poorer<BR>neighbourhoods of cities in the developing world find new opportunities in life,<BR>especially in employment and entrepreneurship. The fund will strengthen<BR>youth-related<BR>policies, help governments, civil society organizations and the private sector<BR>address youth concerns, and support new information and learning channels for<BR>young people. The Fund will promote<BR>collaboration with the private sector, CSOs and other UN bodies, who can propose<BR>relevant initiatives to the fund as well as contribute their own resources.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>More specifically, the fund will support<BR>youth-led initiatives in
the following areas:<BR><BR>· <BR>Mobilization of young people to<BR>help strengthen youth-related policy formulation;<BR><BR>· <BR>Building capacities of<BR>governments, civil society organizations and the private sector to better<BR>address youth needs and issues;<BR><BR>· <BR>Supporting information and<BR>communication oriented networks;<BR><BR>· <BR>Piloting innovative ideas on<BR>employment, governance, shelter and secure tenure;<BR><BR>· <BR>Sharing of best practices;<BR><BR>· <BR>Vocational training and credit<BR>mechanisms to promote entrepreneurship and employment for young women and men;<BR><BR>· <BR>Promoting
gender mainstreaming<BR>in all activities of urban youth.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>While the Youth Fund will clearly benefit<BR>many youth and youth groups through direct support to their initiatives, it is<BR>intended to creating greater awareness of the urgency to mainstream a youth<BR>focus in development policy and strategies. <BR>It will thus promote strengthening capacity of youth organizations to<BR>participate<BR>in local development planning, as well as helping local and national<BR>governments to address youth issues as part of democratic processes.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>Knowledge about youth-led initiatives<BR>around the world is very weak. One of<BR>the benefits of a mechanism for supporting local initiatives is that<BR>information on what is happening on the ground can be easily obtained. In this<BR>way the Fund will contribute to<BR>learning on the role of youth in development, providing input to strengthening<BR>international
and national youth policies.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>4 How will it work?<BR><BR>The Opportunities Fund is being set up<BR>under the authority of the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. The operation of<BR>the Fund will be managed by<BR>a committee of experts drawn from UNHABITAT, donor governments and youth<BR>representatives. At least two youth representatives will also sit as members of<BR>the Advisory Committee.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>Funding activities will be based on<BR>applications from relevant groups. A<BR>Steering Committee will assess proposals and develop strategies to enhance<BR>access to and effective implementation of the fund. The Committee will<BR>facilitate linkages with<BR>partner agencies, and put in place procedures for promoting the fund,<BR>monitoring and evaluation of projects and documentation and dissemination of<BR>best<BR>practices.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>The Youth fund will represent a milestone<BR>marking
recognition at the highest levels of the need to practically support<BR>youth-led initiatives and lead the way for other organizations and governments<BR>to place youth at the centre of their development strategies. <BR><BR>For more information: Partners & Youth Section, UN-HABITAT, P.O. Box 30030,<BR>Nairobi, Kenya Tel: + 254-20-7623710/4218;<BR>Fax: + 254-20 -7624588, 3080;<BR><BR> E-mail: <A href="http://poczta.kimathiinformationcentre.com/views/compose.php?to=partners@unhabitat.org" target=_self>partners@unhabitat.org</A><BR><BR><BR><BR></td></tr></table><br>