Why youths?

Youth participation can improve development outcomes. Engaging young adults to perceive problems and communicate their ideas can bring a new positivism, energy, and creativity to address some of the challenges of the region. However, very seldom is youth participation accorded as a priority and thus young people are usually marginalized in decision making processes.

It is widely recognized that partnering with youth in development processes can have many benefits for society as well as positive influences on youth peers. To ignore the value of the contributions that youths can make is detrimental to future positive development of any country and one must bear in mind that the cohort of those aged between 12-24 years is the largest ever in history. ‘The World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation’ clearly describes the present number of young people of 1.3 billion as not only the largest in world history but refers to this ‘youth bulge’ as a risk. However, it is also described as an unprecedented opportunity for countries to deepen their human capital.

The challenge is to provide productive civic engagement opportunities and if this is achieved, even partially, the results can be significant. In exercising citizenship, this also necessitates the understanding and respect of different ethnic or religious groups not only nationally but regionally as well as globally.

Considering the existing ‘youth bulge’ along with the diversity that defines the ASEAN region, these workshops are an ideal forum that could encourage young people to participate more fully in public life and play a positive role in shaping the future directions of their country’s development helping to ensure it is culturally appropriate as well as equitable. It is for this reason that participation from the private sector is also actively sought so the workshops can reach beyond those currently engaged in development work and include those working outside the field but who have an interest and the possibility to make positive contributions.