Today's youth:

A resource's not a problem

Youth: A recent Central Bank survey reported that 1/3 of our youth aged between 19 and 24 were out of work. However, according to the report, almost all of them wanted urban jobs and were not keen in the employment available in rural areas. What has gone wrong with our youth, one might ask. It is time the experts do the thinking - in depth and with a vision.

With some 39% of our society aged between 14 and 35 years, young people clearly comprise a substantial part of our population. However, due to the policies of past governments, a significant number of young women and men have not been afforded the opportunity to develop their full potential.

They have experienced limited access to higher education and training, limited employment opportunities, high levels of crime and violence and a general disintegration of social networks and communities. In addition, to date no government has developed any specific youth policy to address the needs of young women and men.

I believe there are four major issues relating to young women and men in Sri Lanka :

1) Education and training

2) Youth employment

3) Youth health

4) Crime and violence

Although during the past 25 years we had quite a number of studies and surveys on adolescents and young people in the country, they did not always reflect fully the true views and aspirations of the youth.

That is why, before drafting a youth policy, we urgently need to undertake data collection exercises such as, surveys, research, and situation analysis by ensuring the full involvement of young people themselves.

First of all, let us be clear among ourselves. We should not look upon our young people as a problem that needs to be solved. A problem-oriented approach a youth policy is by nature captured in a short-term and ad-hoc perspective, because it will have a focus of trying to "extinguish fires" and solve problems whenever and wherever they appear. To the contrary, perceiving young people as a resource focuses on long-term solutions, identifying needs and developing policies in order to let young people realise their full potential as citizens and let society benefit the most from its intellectual capital.

The cornerstone for an effective 'youth policy' is its focus on how young people can become positive contributors to society. This implies a very wide perspective, and an emphasis on non-formal education, that is, education outside the formal school system.

How can a government policy encourage and promote an active learning process of young people outside the formal school system? Youth initiatives, youth societies and non-governmental youth organisations, which are actively involving young people at all levels, and where young people themselves decide upon activities, play a central role in developing young people as active citizens in society.

The Government should see it as an important task to promote the development of active and strong non-governmental youth sector, composed of open and inclusive youth associations that involve young people.

In line with the strong recognition for non-governmental youth organisations, there needs to be a budget for promoting the development of youth initiatives and youth organisations.

In order to promote the development of a sustainable youth NGO sector, the government should allocate sufficient administrative grants to youth organisations, that enable them to carry out tasks that are not specifically project-related (statutory meetings, communication with members, etc).

There also needs to be a state budget allocated for the realisation of activities to be carried out by the youth NGO sector, meaning that the government should allocate project grants for youth activities.

A youth information strategy should ensure transparency of government policy towards young people. Such a strategy should also inform young people about different opportunities that exist for them.

Different initiatives that can be elements of a youth information strategy can be the publishing of a youth magazine and other information material and ensure open communication channels with networks of all major stakeholders for youth policy.

A good youth strategy should be based on research about young people. It should not be based on assumptions and speculations, but rather on facts and research on young people. This should help to determine what should be the focus of government policy. Youth research should address issues relating to the well-being for young people.

However, youth research should also focus on policy measures that really work and also measure how youth NGOs can play a role in promoting youth participation.

Sri Lankan society will benefit through the implementation of the National Youth strategy. There is no doubt about it.

By placing young people in the broader context of reconstruction and development, a National Youth strategy highlights the importance of youth development to nation building and the creation of a productive and equitable society.

It enables the Government to give priority to youth development and display its commitment to national youth development through the creation of appropriate policy implementation mechanisms and the allocation of sufficient resources.