The “Putting Youth Engagement into Practice: Toolkit for Action” has grown out of the collaborative work of Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit (CPSU), Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council (CYEC) and Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS), with support from the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) over the last 4 years.

At the time of the 2002 Coolum summit, it was felt that the Commonwealth was losing touch with young people and that there were two levels of concern; firstly that there is a need to mainstream the problems of youth participation into the policy of Commonwealth Associations, and secondly that there is a need to establish practical ways for all international organisation to involve young people.

The Toolkit for Action advocates for the creation of a youth mainstreaming agenda, like that of gender mainstreaming, to ensure that young people are able to participate in all organisations and social institutions that affect them and their communities

The Toolkit for Action advocates for the creation of a youth mainstreaming agenda, like that of gender mainstreaming, to ensure that young people are able to participate in all organisations and social institutions that affect them and their communities. The youth mainstreaming agenda argues that young people should not just be add-ons to programmes or merely the beneficiaries of organisations’ work but that they should become integral to the processes of an organisation at both the governance and project level:

Youth engagement is not just about recruiting young people as volunteers, interns and junior staff members. It is about a deeper transformation that makes them central in the work of the organisation.[1]

For organisations wishing to explore youth engagement, the Toolkit for Action guides organisations through a process of change by exploring the issues and offers practical tools to encourage and support youth engagement within organisations:

• Part One explores the youth participation agenda and the benefit of youth engagement for young people, organisations and wider society alike. Along with case studies this section looks at some of the arguments, excuses and genuine concerns that can act as barriers to young people’s involvement.
• Part Two introduces two practical tools for organisations to assess the situation and being to find ways forward. First a self-assessment questionnaire enables organisations to monitor levels of youth engagement in various areas such as governance, staffing, outreach programmes, internships and finance. Secondly, a planning framework provides an opportunity to identify areas within organisations’ structures, culture and operation where youth engagement could increase. Through working through this framework organisations will be able to identify areas for development and the resources needed to achieve this.
• Part Three looks into how organisations can work together to continue to develop tools and ideas on youth engagement through sharing and building a knowledge base.

The CPSU is developing a new project to further the work on youth engagement in the civil society organisations in the Commonwealth and further a field. By using the Toolkit for Action as a template it is hoped that approximately 20 NGOs/CSOs will move beyond rhetoric and begin to make lasting changes within their organisations. Throughout the project the Toolkit for Action will be revised to ensure it is clear and constructive, case studies will be created and best practice shared.

Feedback

If you are interested in the Toolkit, please download it, use it and let us know what you think! If you are interested in finding out more or maybe getting involved in the CPSU project please contact Susanna Darch for further information (Tel: 020 7862 8864, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )