LESSON
Lesson Learned: Youth Training for Democracy and Development
By awakening participants to the concept of gender equality, the project helped change perceptions about the place of young women in communities, thus improving young women’s access to basic services and fostering their participation in social and political life. This could represent the foundation for a new culture of civic equality
Project Name
Project Partner
Association d'Amis du Développement et de la Paix
Project Description
The overall objective of the project was to strengthen the participation of young people in Guatemala through training to create a base of young leaders from indigenous communities living in the Department of Alta Verapaz. The project strategy revolved around four priority components: developing the competencies of young leaders to improve their ability to assume responsibility in their communities; promoting knowledge about current legislation to foster rule of law, governance, and democracy; improving the quality of the dialogue between youth and local government to consolidate opportunities for participation; and encouraging youth to become more involved and influential in local decision-making bodies to help meet the basic needs of their communities.
The approach was consistent with the grantee’s strategic goal of providing young people training in participatory civic practices, and enabling them to approach and develop responses to the problems and needs of youth in rural indigenous communities. In addition, the project’s cost-benefit ratio was positive: there was very high participation in terms of the number of benefiting communities and the number of young people completing the project’s training.
Report
Evaluation Date
May 2012
Theme
Country