Four major international NGOs launch an innovative and ambitious new education project, aiming to get thousands of out-of-school refugees and Ugandan children back into education.
The INCLUDE project will use accelerated education methods to teach children who have missed out on years of school. It provides interactive computer games to promote learning, helps children who have fled war to cope with the stress of their experiences, and engages communities to identify their own priorities for improvement.
The project is developed by the new Education Consortium, which is led by Save the Children alongside Finn Church Aid, Norwegian Refugee Council and War Child Holland thanks to a €3 million humanitarian grant from the European Union.
Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa and one of the largest numbers worldwide. More refugees continue to arrive every day and more than 60% are reported to be children.
More than 350,000 refugee children (57% of the total number) are now out of school.
The Government of Uganda and local communities have shown tremendous hospitality in opening their doors to refugees who have fled horrific violence and suffering, but the influx has put severe strain on local resources. Schools which were already overcrowded and short of teachers and basic resources are now under increasing pressure.
At least 171,000 children in local host communities (34% of the total) are also out of school.
The INCLUDE project will start work in West Nile, with children aged 10–18. Many have had to drop out of school because they can’t afford to attend, or because they have been separated from their families, have to work to support their relatives or have themselves become child mothers.
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides says:
“Education is not a luxury, it is a basic right that gives children the tools, support, protection and hope for a better future for them and their community. Each child has a right to learn, whatever the circumstances. Preventing lost generations is our collective duty.”
“The EU is a leading voice in education in emergencies. Since 2015, we have consistently increased our humanitarian funding for education in emergencies, and next year we aim to increase it by a further 2%, reaching a 10% allocation of the overall aid budget in 2019. This allocation will be 10 times more than the allocated budget in 2015.”
Lisa Parrott, Acting Country Director for Save the Children in Uganda says:
“With hundreds of thousands of children out of school, the scale of the education crisis requires new approaches and new ways of working. By joining together and using innovative new ways of teaching and learning, we can achieve so much more.”
“Education is vital to give these children the chance of a better future. Refugee children can make a valuable contribution to Ugandan society and to building a prosperous and peaceful South Sudan, but they need to be given the chance to fulfil their potential. Host communities have generously welcomed refugees, and it’s essential that they receive a decent education as well.”
The INCLUDE project makes use of technology and innovation to implement four different components:
- Accelerated Education, which uses a specially designed and condensed version of the Ugandan curriculum to speed up learning for children and youth who have missed out on years of school. By covering two to three grades of primary education in one year, and using teaching methods appropriate for different age groups, the programme helps children transition back into the formal schooling system.
- Can’t Wait to Learn is an innovative technology-based solution for quality education, especially tailored for children affected by conflict. It provides classrooms with tablets loaded with interactive games that help teach literacy and numeracy. The games make learning fun, engaging and more effective.
- Team Up is a series of recreational activities that are designed to reduce the stress that refugee children experience as a result of war, their difficult journeys to safety and life in a new country. Many of these children have seen horrific violence, which could scar them for years to come. Team Up activities strengthen the cognitive, physical, emotional and social development of children through sports, games and body movement.
- ILET (Improving Learning Environments Together) encourages communities to participate in improving the quality of education, through a series of assessments that are designed for humanitarian contexts and empower teachers, parents and learners to set their own priorities for school improvement.
By working closely together and combining technical expertise, the Education Consortium will be able to have a bigger impact for out of school children and provide greater value for money.
For more information, contact:
Rachael Corbishley, Education Consortium Manager, rachael.corbishley@savethechildren.org
Alun McDonald, Head of Advocacy and Communications, Save the Children alun.mcdonald@savethechildren.org
Learn more about Finn Church Aid’s work in Uganda by clicking here.
I was in Mafraqi, on the Jordanian side near the Syrian border, watching as people arrived at a prosthesis clinic to be treated. Many of the arrivals had lost a leg or an arm in the war across the border. They had been brought across the border to receive treatment, since there was none on offer in Syria.
There, amongst the crowd, was young Abdusalaam Hariri, walking with a stick. We sat by the clinic wall to talk. The sad-faced young man told me his story. A story I would not wish on anyone.
In 2015, when Abdusalaam was 15 years old, he was playing football in the nearby city of Daraa on the Syrian side. A rocket or grenade struck in the football field – next to the boys playing football. It changed the young man’s future in an instant.
He had been forced out of school the previous year, when fighting destroyed the schools in the area. Life was filled with constant fear and idle time – no school, nothing to do. The youth played football, with nothing else to do. And they were tired of being afraid all the time. The war had already numbed their minds with its constant threatening situations.
Abdusalaam Hariri. Photo: Olli Pitkänen.
The explosion destroyed one of Abdusalaam’s legs completely and the other in part. The leg was amputated under dreadful circumstances at a clinic built in a car garage without the proper hygiene level. The local doctor did his best without proper facilities or equipment. There was little pain medication. The young man lost his leg.
Abdusalaam struggled at home in terrible pain for over a month. Finally, as his pain and suffering only increased, his brothers and family decided to take the boy to Jordan to receive proper treatment. There would be aid organisation clinics and hospitals there.
Amidst the fighting, Abdulsalaam’s brothers carried him across the fields on a dangerous journey to the border. There was constant firing going on, and the government troops randomly dropped barrel bombs into villages, with gruesome consequences. Even though the journey was short, it took the whole day.
On the Jordanian side, Abdusalaam received proper treatment, and he was operated on twice. After that, a long course of physical therapy began.
As we talked in the sand dust raised by the wind, the young man told me he dreamed of studying and getting a better prosthesis. He had seen the kind of prostheses available in Europe online, and he dreamed of one. Here, refugees are only offered the basic models. So far, he has not been able to study, with the schools farther away and his treatments keeping him in Mafraqi.
And like almost every Syrian refugee, Abdusalaam said before we parted: ”I want to go back to Syria. I wish everything went back to the way it was and I could continue my life at home. At home, life would be better, even without a leg.”
In 2017, Finn Church Aid, in cooperation with Handicap International, helped a total of 186 handicapped persons receive a piece of equipment to aid mobility, and 124 persons to receive a prosthesis. Many of them were handicapped in the Syrian war. 30 percent of the recipients were poor Jordanians.
Olli Pitkänen
The author served as Finn Church Aid Regional Development Manager in the Middle East up until May 2018. The blog text is the third part in the #YouthOnTheMove series.
Jonaliese, Sauda and Daphe found a direction for their lives at FCA´s vocational school in Uganda. Thanks to their exceptional motivation, the young graduates from FCA´s school face no difficulties in finding work.
If someone had asked 20-year-old Jonaliese Karsugho where she will be in five years’ time, she would have hardly thought that she would be instructing a final project in metalwork at a Ugandan refugee settlement.
But here she is at the age of 25, in the middle of a metal workshop, dressed in a pink dress, going over the instructions of the final project in her native language of Kinyabwisha, for a group of young men.
Jonaliese’s future plans were altered by the war.
She escaped the violence in Congo to Uganda with her sister in 2014. Rebels killed Jonaliese’s parents. Amidst the chaos, her third sister disappeared. To this day, Jonaliese does not know whether her sister is still alive.
At Rwamwanja refugee settlement, Jonaliese supported herself and her younger sister first by cultivating land. One day, she saw an advertisement for a course organised by Finn Church Aid (FCA). After taking the farming course, the following year Jonaliese was accepted as an assistance leader for a metalwork course. As a result, she is now watching attentively as 15 students start hammering a sheet of metal into a toolbox.
Soon the air is filled with a horrific sound of banging metal hammers. We have to leave the classroom.
From a refugee to a barber
73 % of the young people trained by FCA find work
Rwamwanja refugee settlement was founded in the 1960’s to settle refugees of the Rwandan genocide. The settlement was closed for a few years, until unrest in Congo flared again in 2012.
FCA founded a vocational school in the area in 2015. Most of the young people participating in the vocational training have lived at the camp for 3-5 years. Out of the young people who have completed the training, an impressive 73 percent have either found employment or started their own business.
There are about 63,000 refugees living at Rwamwanja refugee settlement, most of whom having escaped the civil war in the neighbouring Congo. One of the biggest problems of the settlement, with a population roughly the size of the city of Vaasa, has been youth unemployment.
”When young people had nothing to do, they would just drink and gamble,” says FCA project coordinator Caphas Mugabi.
FCA started working at Rwamwanja three years ago by first mapping which professions the young people should be trained for, in order for them to have good chances at finding work. The first courses started in May 2015, training the youth to be construction workers, engine repairers, tailors, cooks, metalworkers, and barbers.
250 students are selected for the six-month long training twice a year. There are more applicants than there are openings, and the students are selected based on applications and interviews. Both refugees and young Ugandans are admitted into the training.
”We do not care about previous studies, since many have been forced out of school due to the war. What we care most about is motivation. Many of the young people are in a desperate need for training and work, for example in order to support younger siblings after their parents have died,” says Mugabi.
Finding work is the main goal of the training. The studies include an internship, learning about finding a job and entrepreneur skills. The results have been excellent. A total of 73 percent of the graduates have either found employment or started their own business.
”We feel as if our work here truly changes the lives of these young people,” says Mugabi.
Sauda Tusingwire found her calling at the FCA vocational school. ”I’m happy that I have a plan and a future now”. Photo: Fredrik Lerneryd
Clothes for twelve siblings
The clamour of the metal workshop eases a little as we cross the yard to another classroom. Here the air is filled with the buzzing of sewing machines, as some twenty young people are sewing the seams of skirts as part of their final project.
Sauda Tusingwire, 21, looks like a professional using her sewing machine. It is hard to believe that she first tried using a sewing machine only six months ago. The elegant dress Tusingwire is wearing is also designed and sewn by her.
”Although I was interested in becoming a tailor and I had lots of ideas for clothes, I didn’t know anything before starting this school,” says Sauda.
In addition to sewing her own clothes, Sauda has sewn clothes for her twelve siblings. For the children of a single father, the clothes sewn by their sister have been very welcome.
”However, the most important thing to me has been that I have been able to make money by selling the clothes I have made at school. My dream is to start a big business,” says Sauda.
”I also want a family, but not until I have started my business.”
Jonaliese Karsugho dreams about starting her own enterprise. Photo: Fredrik Lerneryd
Student counselor helps find work
Young people from harsh circumstances need additional support. They are assisted by FCA´s student counsellor Olivia Nazzawi. She visits the students and graduates regularly. After graduation, Nazzawi’s task is to help them find employment or start their own business.
”My job is to encourage and support them. At a refugee camp, it is easy for people to become passive and give up. It is then my task to say that you have no choice. You have to work,” says Nazzawi.
For example, graduates of farming studies are provided with a plot of land and farming equipment by the school. They can sell their crop at the marketplace or at a store and earn a living.
The employment prospects are brightest for construction workers, since there is a great deal of construction going on in the fast-growing area.
At the start of their career, graduates of catering studies may be offered a job at a small restaurant founded by FCA, and in addition, many have found employment at other restaurants in the area. Aside from the restaurant, FCA has founded a repair shop in which young people can gain work experience and earn money.
Wilson Kiiza loves his job as a mechanic. ”The thing I love the most is when I sometimes get to test drive the motorbikes.” Photo: Fredrik Lerneryd
”Now I can do something others can’t”
Last year, the most popular courses were those for hairdressers and tailors. Daphe Nantesa, 17, weighed between the two courses after she heard about the school from a teacher visiting her village. Daphe applied and was selected for hairdresser studies, which turned out to be a good choice for her.
Daphe has calculated that for one customer, she needs to buy hair salon materials for 10,000 Ugandan shillings (which equals roughly 3 euros). She can then charge the customer 30,000 shillings (approximately 8.5 euros).
”In this work, not a lot of initial assets are needed, and I don’t have to move anywhere, since the customers and their hair come to me,” Daphe smiles.
Daphe is Ugandan, and has seven siblings. Before the training, she felt as if there was nothing special about her.
”There was nothing that would have distinguished me from others. Now, after completing the training, I can do something that not everyone can!”
After graduating, she plans to work hard and save up the money, in order to be able to open her own hair salon one day. There, in her own business, she could teach young people as well.
”I want to give others the same opportunity to change their life that I’ve been given through the training,” Daphe says. For many young people, school has sparked a needed boost for their self-esteem.
For Jonaliese, who escaped from Congo four years ago, the training offered an opportunity to earn more money and start planning her future. If Jonaliese could decide, where would she be in five years’ time?
”I dream of a big business where I could train young refugees and offer them jobs. I want to provide young people with a chance to lead an independent life,” Jonaliese says.
Text: Noora Jussila
Translation: Leena Vuolteenaho
Photos: Fredrik Lerneryd
Read more about FCA’s work in Uganda.
Violent extremism contributes to some of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes. It also poses a challenge to the gains in development enjoyed by many countries in Africa, a new report concludes.
The typical extremist organisation recruit is a 17–26-year-old from a state’s poorest, peripheral areas with only a few years of secular education and a low level of religious literacy. At the time of joining, the recruit’s main concern in life is employment. His or her confidence in institutions and governance is limited.
This is one of the main conclusions of the UN Development Program UNDP’s extensive report, launched in Helsinki on Friday 4th of May. The Journey to Extremism report sheds new light on the path to radicalisation and on how the effects of violent extremism hampers humanitarian work and development cooperation. (Download the full report in pdf-format here.)
Researchers conducted interviews with 718 people from Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, Niger and Cameroon – the largest sample of interviews with former members of extremist groups thus far.
With the above-mentioned preconditions, a recruit only needs to reach a “tipping point” before making the final decision to join an extremist group. In 71 percent of the cases, the defining event consists of a government action, often an excessive security response against a perceived terrorist threat.
The decision to join is quick, says Mohamed Yahya, lead author of UNDP’s research. Some 80 percent join an extremist group within a year after the tipping point, and a striking 48 percent within less than a month.
“This emphasises the fact that development solutions are essential in addressing the incentives and drivers of violent extremism. Military solutions are not enough”, Yahya concludes.
Research in sync with FCA’s key findings
FCA’s Reach Out coordinator Milla Perukangas providing perspectives on preventing violent extremism in Finland. Photo: Rabbe Sandström
The destructive consequences of violent extremism have resulted in 33 300 fatalities in Africa between 2011 and 2016, not to mention the devastating effects related to displacement and economy.
Extremism-related research has thus far largely been the territory of organisations working with security issues, although the issue profoundly affects development actors, says Yahya. It threatens to stunt development outcomes for generations to come if left unchecked.
“How can you talk about sustainable development goals and women’s rights when the question for many is whether they dare to go to the market and take the risk to be blown up”, Yahya says.
Almost 80 percent of the interviewees had previous connections to the extremist groups Boko Haram and al-Shabaab, which Finn Church Aid’s (FCA) previous research has focused on. UNDP’s research is in line with FCA’s previous findings, for instance that family and friends – not religious leaders – recruit most members.
(Read more about FCA’s research on al-Shabaab by clicking here and about Boko Haram by clicking here.)
Yahya highlights the role of local voices as a counterbalance to the influence of extremist groups, especially the role of religious leaders, which is one of the key groups supported by FCA’s peace work.
“But we also need to create viable exit paths, which include opportunities created by development in these poor peripheral areas”, Yahya says and adds that current circumstances do not contain enough options.
“Like one of our interviewees said: ‘After I left Boko Haram, I was welcomed by poverty’.”
Trust is key in preventing violent extremism
Panel discussion on preventing violent extremism, held at the UNDP’s report launch in Helsinki on May 4th. From the left UNDP’s Africa Regional Programme Coordinator Mohamed Yahya, Arshe Said from the Finnish Somali League, David Korpela from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Katja Creutz from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and Milla Perukangas, FCA’s Reach Out coordinator. Photo: Rabbe Sandström
The question of how to prevent youth from joining extremist groups is a question for the whole society, says Milla Perukangas, coordinator for FCA’s Reach Out project against violent extremism in Finland. FCA has put its international experience and knowhow of preventing violent extremism in use in Finland since 2015 as a response to the vast number of foreign fighters traveling from Europe to conflict zones.
The solutions are always context-specific, but there are universal keywords that are applicable in all circumstances. Trust is one of them, says Perukangas. The Reach Out project has specialised in building bridges between those at risk of recruitment, their families, civil society actors and Finnish authorities.
“We need to empower youth through for instance education and opportunities to both speak their mind and find employment”, Perukangas said in her presentation at the report’s launch event in Helsinki.
“In the long run, the work to prevent violent extremism needs more emphasis on the human experience and the initial grievances of people in affected areas.”
Text: Erik Nyström
Download the full UNDP report The Journey to extremism in pdf-format by clicking this link. Read more about FCA’s research on al-Shabaab by clicking here and about Boko Haram by clicking here. Read more about the Reach Out project here.
In Athens, it is easy to forget that there is still a great number of people in the city who have come there to escape war or poverty. Watching the good-spirited crowds of the Plaka quarter or the tourists lining up to Acropolis, it does not immediately occur to you that since 2015, over a million refugees have arrived in the country.
One out of a thousand has lost their life on the perilous sea route to Europe. The survivors are trying to build a future for themselves and their families.
The ones in the most difficult position are the youth. They are outside most official safety nets, such as the school system. A great number of them have arrived in the country alone. Many do not speak Greek. Young people are also the most likely to suffer from discrimination and prejudice.
On top of all this, they will soon have to find work and make a living in a country that is suffering from a financial crisis and that has the highest youth unemployment rate in the European Union. In numbers, we are not talking about a marginal group.
What should be done about this? In my opinion, there are two alternatives. One, that we invest all the resources necessary to offer the youth opportunities to become productive members of society. Two, we close our eyes and hope for the best.
The latter mode of operation has rarely produced good results. I myself am worried that because of passivity, we will be watching from the sidelines as a new underclass is created in Europe.
When we started our work in Greece in 2016, it was already clear that young people must be offered meaningful things to do, providing them with important skills, encouraging them to look for new education opportunities, or helping them secure a job in the future. Another important thing is bringing Greek and refugee youth together. Many of the refugees will stay in Greece. That is why integration must be supported as much as possible.
As a result, we started the Code+Create project with our Greek partner organisation GFOSS. The project offers participants the opportunity to learn 21st century skills, such as web design, coding, and 3D printing. Half of the participants are Greek, the other half refugees. In one classroom, there can be people from ten different countries. The youth learn new skills and work with people from different cultures.
Code+Create differs from our traditional modes of operation. That is why we were all either interested or nervous, depending on the point of view, whilst waiting for feedback regarding our work.
The results were astonishingly positive. More young people applied for our courses than we were able to admit at a time. Some of the participants arrived well in advance of the time the classes started. In the feedback, one of them said the reason was that our classroom was the first place where this person felt welcome.
A common idea for development from the youth was that we should organise more extracurricular activities to allow the young people to get to know each other better.
I don’t know how many lasting friendships began during the courses, or how many of the participants will choose the branch for their further studies or work.
The effects of a single project on a person’s life is difficult to measure, especially in a metropolis like Athens. However, based on the feedback and number of participants, we are doing something right. We are bringing people together in a safe space and providing an opportunity for positive development.
Code+Create has been a great success, and I am proud of it. However, the project is just a drop in the ocean, and more modes of operation like it must be provided. Most of all, we need a European approach not focused on just administration of the refugee crisis but also on reasons for leaving the country of origin and on potential visions for the future.
The challenge is global, and the repercussions concern us all. Over the past few years, more than a million refugees arrived in Greece, but most of them continued their journey to other EU countries.
At the moment, however, most do not pay attention to Greece, or more widely, to the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. In a way, this is understandable. The world is currently facing several massive-scale crises, and most of the world’s refugees are in developing countries. This is why Europe must both support the developing countries and take good care of the people arriving here.
However, the fundamental problems of the Mediterranean are not going anywhere. Even as we speak, there are millions of potential refugees in the coastal countries. Reasons for leaving include conflict, poverty, natural conditions, or simply the pursuit of a better life. If climate change proceeds as predicted, the challenges and potential refugee numbers will multiply in the coming decades.
The fact is that refugees will not stop coming to Europe. That is why we need new modes of operation and a strategic approach focusing on youth and how to integrate them into the countries admitting them. It is the only sustainable way forward.
Antti Toivanen
The author led the Finn Church Aid assistance operation in Greece 2016–2018.
The blog entry is the second part in the #YouthOnTheMove series.
FCA’s Youth on the Move -report encourages seeing young people all over the world as good and promising.
Have you ever sighed: Kids these days, or: What is the world coming to? Young people do not think like this. They look at the world ready to build their future, or with fear, without the opportunity to influence it. It is up to adults to decide how the situation of the world’s youth develops.
Right now, no one seems to know.
The world is undergoing big changes and is somehow out of place. Over the past two decades, there has been a great deal of progress. On the other hand, a new kind of instability is spreading, inequality is growing, streams of people are moving across borders, and the state of the environment is worsening. Human rights and the obedience to humanitarian law are strongly questioned. Trust in political and social institutions is declining.
In this changing world, there are 1.8 billion young people aged 15 to 24.
The percentage of young people is remarkable especially in countries with a great deal of poverty and uncertainty. Nine out of ten young people live in developing countries. The new FCA Youth on the Move report speaks particularly on the behalf of these young people. Youth have often been given little attention in aid work. It should not be like this.
Aid organisations must participate more in young people’s lives, listen to them, and renew their work to better include the youth. The new report provides suggestions on what the next steps could be.
Do not see youth as a threat
Youth are often seen as a threat. Society’s fears and hopes are projected onto youth. According to the FCA report, youth and young people’s activism should not be feared or constrained, but instead it should be seen how working on behalf of a cause develops responsibility and understanding.
Above all, youth should be provided with opportunities.
Youth means being in a constant movement. The movement takes place on the inside as well, as transitioning into adulthood turns the young person’s inner world upside down.
When young people are looking for education and an occupation, they are making big decisions. As opportunities for the world’s youth are not equal, for some youth means the acknowledgement of being disadvantaged and socially excluded.
Some of the world’s youth are on the move geographically, even across national borders. Ten percent of the world’s refugees are aged 15 to 24.
Refugee youth needs protection
The report emphasizes that refugee youth should be guaranteed protection and psycho-social support. For example in the large refugee camps in Bangladesh, FCA widens the possibilities for young women and teenage girls through education and protection.
Although acknowledging the rights of women and girls is a priority, men and boys should not be forgotten. Young boys in difficult circumstances need protection as well.
When the Syrian Hanani family fled from Syria to Jordan, they thought they would leave for a few weeks. Photo: Ville Asikainen.
”Give immigrants opportunities for personal development. It was hard to start from the beginning in a new country; I had no idea where to find work, or how and where to send applications.”
Response from the FCA Voices of the Youth questionnaire.
Education is a privilege
Finn Church Aid works on behalf of young people in all its countries of operation. What do young people hope from us?
The respondents to the UN My World questionnaire, seven million young people from 194 countries, considered high-quality education, health care, occupational security, and good government to be most important.
Youth living in a poor and unstable environment are much more often deprived from education and work than those in a stable environment. Many of the youth in the most fragile circumstances never get to go to school, and have to work in the grey economy in order to make a living. For these young people, education is a privilege. This has been noted by the FCA employees working with former serfs in Nepal. Education has opened up a new life for these young people.
Towards employment
So far, the education efforts of the international community and aid organisations have focused on access to basic education; now it is about the time to invest in the education of young people over 15 years.
The right of youth to get (back) to school, occupational training and higher education must be guaranteed. States must allow work permits to youth who are on the move.
An official certificate of education must be provided for the youth, valid in the country of residence or the country the person returns to. For example, in Uganda, refugees are able to get an entrepreneur degree in a training collaboratively organised by FCA and the Finnish organization Omnia Education Partnerships Oy.
Study counselling, cooperation with employers and internships should be used to ensure the link between education and employment. In order to create unity and avoid confrontation, it is also important to take into account the youth of the original population who are at risk of social exclusion, like in Jordan and Uganda, where FCA trains both immigrant and local youth.
Youth soon to be the majority
All youth should have the universal rights to organise, assemble, express their opinion, move freely, and participate in societal affairs. In reality, in many societies these rights are not realised.
However, in many countries where FCA works, young people either are or will soon be the majority that cannot be ignored.
Youth are ready to take action against the global phenomenon known as the shrinking space of the civil society, if we give them the chance to participate as active citizens.
For example, in Cambodia, the FCA youth network Changemaker Cambodia campaigns on behalf of the importance of education, encourages young people to take leadership, and helps them to get their voices heard in a society where young people do not traditionally have much of a say in decision-making even regarding their own life.
In Myanmar, FCA organises workshops on peace work for youth from different ethnic groups. In Kenya and Somalia, young people from different groups are brought together by inviting them to take part in projects of small-scale entrepreneurship.
Is the potential of youth on the move utilised? Many of them want to work, get to know the original population, and take advantage of the opportunities in the new country.
It is not just a cliché to say that youth are the future. If we advocate for the rights of the youth now, they will be able to build a world in which we can all lead a good life.
Text: Ulla Kärki
Translation: Leena Vuolteenaho
Illustrations: Emmi-Riikka Vartiainen
Youth on the Move -report online (pdf)
Being stuck in Nairobi traffic in the afternoon, in a city where everyone moves, and where everyone is stuck at the same time. Young people trying to catch a shared taxi, a Matatu, many struggling for a while before getting a lift home. But are they stuck, really? Youth on the Move describes the feeling, of not accepting to be stuck, of not accepting any reasons or excuses, to still say “we gotta move”.
But how do youth move when it’s impossible, how do they change things? Is it the – often stereotypical – view on youth being looked at as revolutionaries, with the dynamic, strength and determinism to change things dramatically, combined with radicalism, violence, and impatience? In this view youth have been seen even as ‘time bombs’, not quite ready to lead, but quite ready to cause damage.
So let’s leave those ideas behind for a moment and rather have a look at some contemporary Youth on the Move, perfectly selectively and in no way representative, yet important examples because they challenge our perception on youth. All of them are also controversial in one way or the other, or even highly controversial. But then again, if you enter an international arena with a cause or an agenda, you do something wrong if no one is criticizing you for at least something you represent, you argue, or you have done.
1. Emma González and powerful silence
A recent protest against gun violence and for gun control in the US, the ‘March for our Lives‘ gathered according to organizer estimates up to 800,000 participants; while it may not have been predominantly a youthful march, many youth were among the organizers and speakers.
One of the speakers, 19 year old Emma González lost friends in recent school shooting, herself being a survivor of that shooting. Her powerful speeches have made her a serious influencer, with now 1.5 million followers on Twitter. In this protest though, it was her silence that expressed best the feelings of her generation and for that moment. The average age of the protest participants has been estimated by some at just under 49 years, so this can make a powerful example of youth having cross-generational influence.
2. Malala Yousafzai and persistence
For many the actions of Malala Yousafzai have been seen as courageous. She was 11 when she began to campaign for girls education rights. In October 2012, when she was 15, she and two other girls were shot by a Taliban gunman in an assassination attempt in retaliation for her activism. After recovery of her serious head injury, she continued her work.
Now, as Peace Nobel Laureate she is globally admired by many, and her education agenda continues to inspire. She still took a considerable risk to travel where her safety is most at risk as she went back home to Pakistan for the first time after the shooting. She continues to be persistent in pushing her cause.
3. Chelsea Manning and courage
The last and most controversial example has actually multiple layers of courage. Yes, it certainly courageous to risk your life for something you belief in. And to act on it even if it means you end up in prison, and you betray your country – as many see it.
No matter what, it was brave to leak US army documents, later published as the “Iraq War Logs” and “Afghan War Diary”. But I think it is similarly brave (understanding the multiple dimensions of on the move), was her (lawyer’s) announcement of actually being female a day after her sentence.
Bradley, now Chelsea Manning has been living a life full of internal and external struggles. Yet, she acted on those struggles, irrespectively of the circumstances. This is admirable (even if her legal and illegal approaches need serious reflection). I find this also admirable from an international NGO community point of view. The community has in many regions and instances still tremendous work to do to adequately recognize the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
Some of those examples are controversial in one way or another. But they are mentioned here not for what they are, but for what they represent: they show us what some Youth on the Move are capable of. And remind us that at times we really need someone to tell us they we gotta move on that issue.
The writer is Development Manager at Finn Church Aid. This is the first text of a series of blog posts under the theme #YouthOnTheMove published this spring at the FCA website.
See also FCA’s Youth on the Move report (pdf)
Young people living in fragile conditions are not currently being taken into sufficient account in the field of humanitarian work and development cooperation. According to Youth on the Move, a report published by Finn Church Aid on 26 April, young people often tend to slip through the various forms of work and funding. Nevertheless, youth on the move are dynamic actors having enormous potential as builders of their own lives and societies.
“Civil society organisations should listen to young people more and reform their work to take better account of youth,” says Matthias Wevelsiep, Development Manager at the FCA.
“Currently, development cooperation, humanitarian aid and other such areas of work are unable to respond properly especially to the needs of Youth on the Move.”
There are about 1.8 billion people between the ages of 15 and 24 in the world today. Youth represent a large share of the population especially in countries with a great deal of poverty and uncertainty. Nine out of ten young people live in the developing countries. Young people also move increasingly from one place to another. In fact, 10 percent of the world’s refugees are 15 to 24 years of age.
Youth are on the move in more ways than one, moving from childhood into adulthood and through education and training to the job market. They also move in terms of geography either voluntarily or forced.
Refugee youth also have the right to education and livelihood
Through the report, the FCA wishes to foreground youth as active builders of their own future and the future of their communities and as enablers of change.
Especially in fragile situations, the transition of youth from one phase of life to another is interrupted and they may have to wait even for a long time to get on with their lives. Many of the youth living in difficult situations have to work in the grey economy in order to get by.
“We should be supporting young people’s access to education and training, offering them opportunities to continue with interrupted schooling,” says Wevelsiep.
“For example, youth in refugee camps should also be offered diplomas that make them eligible for further studies and employment both in their countries of residence and their countries of origin.”
“Before training, I had nothing”
Providing vocational training in the developing countries is of the greatest importance in terms of youth and refugee policies, as well as national security.
“In Uganda, we are arranging vocational and entrepreneur training for local and refugee youth,” says Wevelsiep. “Up to 73 percent of the young people who have completed their training either have found employment or have established businesses of their own.”
“Before training, I thought I didn’t have anything unique of my own. I was just like all the other girls. Now after training, I know how to do something not everybody else does,” says Daphe Nantesa, a 17-year-old from Uganda, who participated in hairdresser training provided by the FCA.
FCA arranges entrepreneur training in Jordan for Syrian refugees and local Jordanian youth. Meanwhile, at the refugee camps in Za’atari and Azraq, the FCA also offers recreational activities, such as English lessons, a circus school and soccer.
Youth between the ages of 18 and 24 in unstable situations need protection as well. They are no longer covered by child protection measures, but they have a high risk of becoming victims of abuse, violence or neglect.
Nevertheless, the FCA report insists that we should not focus merely on the problems of youth.
In the words of Matthias Wevelsiep, “The potential of youth for active and dynamic action should be recognised and they should be empowered to participate in societal decision making and building the future.”
Youth on the Move Report (pdf)
Finn Church Aid handed over the completed structures to the beneficiaries and local government in Bidibidi and Omugo refugee settlements.
A major improvement in the education of children and youth began with the opening of 34 newly constructed school blocks in Bidibidi and Omugo refugee settlements in Northern Uganda.
FCA built 102 classrooms, 28 latrine blocks and 65 teacher houses with EU humanitarian funding to provide a conducive and safe learning environment to the vast number of children in the settlements.
The children celebrated the handover in separate ceremonies in the presence of government officials, UNHCR, refugee community representatives and parents.
Over 60 percent of the South Sudanese refugees are under 18 years old. Many have thus far struggled in temporary structures like tents that heat up quickly during sunny days, and are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. The newly finished buildings are semi-permanent and safe.
In addition to the structures, FCA has trained 108 teachers in dealing with children in a crisis context. A total of 400 teachers are to be trained during the project. The teachers and child protection committees also received bicycles to support them in their roles in ensuring child protection in both schools and communities.
Read more about Finn Church Aid’s work in Uganda here.
The completed classrooms provide students with a safe environment for learning.
To address the high demand for teacher accommodation, FCA recently constructed an additional 25 tukuls for teacher accommodation across 5 schools in Bidibidi.
The Promise to Practice report gives recommendations on how to follow through on international commitments to support the future of Syria and the region ahead of the Brussels conference in late April. The report is signed by 39 agencies, including Finn Church Aid.
The conflict in Syria has created the largest displacement crisis in well over a generation, possibly since the second world war. Six million people remain displaced internally, more than five million are registered as refugees in neighbouring countries and over a million more have fled to Europe or elsewhere.
Click on the picture to download the full report.
Despite a moderate increase in return of mostly internally displaced people in 2017, the last year saw three newly displaced Syrians for every person who returned home. The recent escalations of violence in Idlib and Eastern Ghouta dramatically underline the point that Syria’s conflict, and the ordeal for its civilians, is far from over.
The international community has made significant financial and political commitments to address the massive scale of this crisis, in particular through two major conferences, held in London in 2016, and Brussels in 2017. A follow up conference will be held in Brussels on 24-25 April 2018.
Last year’s Brussels conference saw pledges of US$6 billion, and a further US$3.7 billion for 2018-2020. This funding has meant millions of people inside Syria can access humanitarian assistance. It has supported refugees and poor host communities, as well as the governments in neighbouring countries who have shouldered much of the response. It remains as vital as ever.
Furthermore, donors and host countries at these conferences adopted a “comprehensive approach” to responding to the refugee crisis. They made commitments to attempt to ensure refugee families and the poor communities that host them can access work and education.
These commitments aimed to create 1.1 million jobs in the region, for example, and ensure all refugee children were in school by the end of the last school year. They subsequently recognised the importance of giving refugees legal protection in order to achieve these goals, and the need for resettlement of vulnerable refugees and other safe and legal pathways beyond the immediate region.
Yet, as the Syrian crisis enters its eighth year, the lives of many of the five million refugees in neighbouring countries have seen little improvement, and the number of refugees offered resettlement has actually fallen since the commitments made last year.
This report details the commitments made in previous years and tracks their implementation. It then offers specific recommendations for those gathering this year for the second conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region” in Brussels, to ensure the ambitious and comprehensive approach is translated into real changes in the lives of refugees and vulnerable communities in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
The stakes are high: failure to follow through on or properly fund these commitments would carry serious consequences, including many people returning to Syria before it is safe to do so.
Importantly, 39 aid agencies and 3 interagency bodies call on the conference to reaffirm that the conditions for the safe, voluntary and dignified returns of refugees, in accordance with international law, are still not in place.
We also call on participants to agree to an accountability mechanism, based on international best practice, to ensure that the necessary funding pledges are disbursed and the ambitious policy pledges committed to at the first Brussels and London conferences are implemented.
Download the full report in pdf format from this link. Read more about FCA’s work in Jordan here and in Syria here.