Everybody In: An Inclusive Youth Participation Toolkit for SRHR Programming

"To strengthen meaningful inclusive youth participation and to make marginalised young people equal partners with adults and more privileged young people, unequal power dynamics in the civil society landscape need to change."

This toolkit is for young people and adults working in and with civil society organisations and youth-led organisations who want to take a more inclusive approach to meaningful youth participation and youth-adult partnerships in relation to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Published by Rutgers International, it offers guidance on recognising marginalised groups and understanding power and marginalisation, as well as identifying supporting factors and strategies for inclusive participation and equal partnerships.

As explained in the toolkit, meaningful and inclusive youth participation (or MIYP for short) means securing the right to participation for all young people, including those from groups that are often overlooked or left out - something that is referred to as 'marginalisation'. Marginalisation for young people can be influenced by various connecting factors, such as their gender and gender identity, sexuality, ethnic background, whether they have a disability, where they live, how much money or education they have, and what job they might have. Yet, according to the toolkit, for advocacy programmes in particular, inclusive youth participation is essential. "Because, just as young people are better able than adults to identify their own needs, marginalised young people are better able to identify their specific SRHR needs and find ways to address them than more privileged young people who do not face the same barriers. But being inclusive to all young people, especially young people from marginalised groups, and creating equal opportunities for them to participate meaningfully in SRHR programmes can be challenging."

This toolkit was developed to address this challenge and is based on input by six young experts from Bangladesh, Burundi, Ethiopia, Nepal, and Uganda, who each represent one or more marginalised communities (young LGBTQI+ people, young people with disabilities, young people living in remote areas, young people belonging to minority groups based on ethnicity/caste/indigenous background, and young people living with HIV).

The toolkit consists of six individual tools that outline six steps to ensuring inclusion: 
 

• Tool 1: Assessing readiness for meaningful and inclusive youth participation
• Tool 2: Conducting a comprehensive context analysis
• Tool 3: Building the foundations for inclusive participation and equal partnership
• Tool 4: Defining goals and strategies for building inclusive civil society organisations and coalitions
• Tool 5: Defining strategies to increase access to SRHR information and amplify the voices of marginalised young people in the public debate and in policy and decision-making
• Tool 6: Developing a capacity-exchange plan for inclusive youth participation

Each tool includes key learning points as well as relevant tools and resources for further learning.