Youth Empowerment

The Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE) 2007-2015

What is the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE)?

The Plan of Action is the guiding framework for Commonwealth cooperation on youth affairs. It underpins the work of the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP), and is offered as a model strategic plan for ministries of youth affairs. The PAYE is a framework document for governmental, inter-governmental and civil society action for and with young people (aged 15-29). Its indicators are integrated with the Millennium Development Goals.

Among other policy frameworks the PAYE’s specific contribution is to stimulate an assets-based approach to youth development:

• Recognising young people as an asset to their societies;
• Building on young people’s capacities and agency to overcome poverty;
• Engaging young people in decision-making, as partners in democracy and development.

From the foreword (by Commonwealth Secretary-General The Rt Hon Don McKinnon):

“…Between 2000 and 2015, over one billion young women and men will enter the labour force, and currently there are not one billion new jobs waiting for them. This raises formidable policy questions. Is there a clear relationship between development planning and demography in policy and practice? Are positive interventions planned to reflect these demographic trends, in training, employment and education activities? What should be the positive measurable outcomes of successfully engaging even a fraction of these young people in economic activity? What is the worst possible scenario if the labour market entrants – the one billion plus – are marginalised, powerless and excluded?”

What does “empowerment” mean?

Young people are empowered when they acknowledge that they have or can create choices in life, are aware of the implications of those choices, make an informed decision freely, take action based on that decision and accept responsibility for the consequences of those actions. Empowering young people means creating and supporting the enabling conditions under which young people can act on their own behalf, and on their own terms, rather than at the direction of others.

These enabling conditions are:

i) an economic and social base

ii) political will, adequate resource allocation and supportive legal and

administrative frameworks

iii) a stable environment of equality, peace and democracy

iv) access to knowledge, information and skills, and a positive value system.

How was the Plan of Action developed?

The Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment was developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat, working closely with Ministers of Youth and young people themselves.

What does the Plan of Action call on governments to do?

The PAYE encourages youth mainstreaming and contains thirteen action points for governments. The first of these is: “Develop and implement measures to promote the economic enfranchisement of young people” through a range of measures ranging from micro-credit and entrepreneurship education through to reviewing macro-economic planning and trade regimes and how they affect young people. Other action points address gender equality, HIV/AIDS, education, the environment, youth participation in decision-making, and democracy and human rights.

How can I get a full-text copy of the Plan of Action?

Download:

Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment 2007-2015

Hard copies can be ordered from CYP Regional Centres.