Shaping Public Policies in Favour of Young People

"New policy directive: involve young people!"

From youthpolicy.org, a global community and knowledge base on policies pertaining to young people's rights and realities, this PowerPoint presentation was delivered at the Regional United Nations Development Group (UNDG) Capacity Building Workshop on Programming for Young People in Istanbul, Turkey.

Part I asks the question: why youth policy? Robert Thomson asserts that theories and concepts of youth policy are often broad and generic - too wide-ranging and unspecific to be operationalised. Instead, concepts and practices must relate to a specific organisation and its work, as well as to a government and its plan for society.

In Part II, he explores what underpins youth policy, including topics such as data and access to it. Strategies outlined on this topic include: (i) ensure that policies relating to young people are informed by accurate data on their situation and needs, and (ii) ensure that the (youth) public has access to such data to enable it to participate in a meaningful fashion in the decision-making process. Thomson shares a dashboard on European Union (EU) youth (policy) indicators, as well as data from the Credit Suisse Youth Barometer.

Part III examines how youth policy is made. Guiding principles include:

• Recognise all young people as a resource to society.
• Triangulate youth work with research with policy.
• Uphold the right of young people to participate in the development of programmes, research, and policies affecting them.
• Carry out structured dialogues with young people and youth organisations.
• Ensure co-management of youth-related bodies and of the budgets concerning programmes for young people.

Thomson discusses elements of youth policy methodology, describing the "review process matrix".

In concluding, he asks: What is in a youth policy? Slides outline several organisations' policy dimensions (e.g., youth participation and citizenship).