USAID/OTI Liberia Hot Topics
October 2005
YES youth clubs promoting engagement and leadership
The Liberia Transition Initiative (LTI) advances prospects for an inclusive, peaceful, political transition in Liberia in the context of the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Accord. By increasing public understanding of key political transition issues, and promoting participatory community reintegration and peaceful resolution of conflict, LTI is helping to build the momentum for peace in Liberia through:
- Running the Youth Education for Life Skills (YES) program, a community-focused reintegration activity with the goal of enhancing peace through non-formal education.
- Linking the YES program with small- grants activities that reinforce community cohesion and assist in reconstruction and rural development.
- Awarding small grants to national organizations in the fields of justice, media, conflict management, good governance, and human rights.
- Giving technical assistance to the Ministry of Education and USAID/Liberia's Accelerated Learning Program.
 |
| OTI engages young people through the Youth Education for Life Skills (YES) program. |
Liberians under 30 years of age are a significant factor in how the country's political transition unfolds and will also greatly influence its aftermath. OTI engages young people through the Youth Education for Life Skills (YES) program, which has established 163 youth clubs to date in YES communities. These clubs consist of youths who agree to carry out activities that bring communities together, foster development, and help in the post-conflict reintegration process. Up to now, youth clubs have carried out more than 1,000 activities in support of community-focused reintegration.
Young people have embraced the idea of youth clubs for many reasons, especially because they help elders understand that young people want to see all community members do well. In Sinoe, for instance, one Youth Development Club has taken the initiative to start repairing the homes of the elderly. By working on the homes, these young people are helping to rekindle social cohesion and respect for all. As older people see that young people are carrying out activities that benefit everyone, they begin to trust the young.
The process of project selection for the youth clubs involves determining activities that will help communities reintegrate successfully. However, the youths know that a community contribution is expected if OTI is to fund their selected projects. Communities are expected to contribute in the form of volunteerism; unskilled labor; making dried bricks, mining sand or crushed rocks for development projects; or other active contributions that help the young with leadership development. Mandatory contributions also give communities a sense of project ownership, and leave a sense of pride and accomplishment behind.
 |
| Communities are expected to contribute in the form of volunteerism. |
Community members can also attend skills-training sessions in order to learn new vocational skills. Popular skills training so far has been in soap-making, animal husbandry and baking. These new skills allow community members to bring items to sell in local markets that generate a profit. The YES program is implemented by Mercy Corps, which has started to work with other local and international nongovernmental organizations to assist YES graduates in developing alternative sources of self-support.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington: John Gattorn, Program Manager, 202-712-4168, jgattorn@usaid.gov
|
