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Title: South-North Youth Policy Project (SNYPP)
Location:
Global
Categories: Globalization
Human Rights
Environment
Status:
In Planning
Timeline:
November 1 07 to June 1 09
Description:
The South North Youth Policy Project (SNYPP)\r\n \r\nThe SNYPP will bring students together from Canada, Jamaica, and Nicaragua, to create a shared policy vision around food soverignty. Dialogue around this issue will take into account the political and economic realities of each country and will be rooted in an understanding of how policies in the North and South could (but often do not) work together to promote human rights and positive human development. The project has two main components: the SNYPP Steering Committee and the SNYPP Conference.\r\n \r\nThe Steering Committee is a tri-country committee of youth who will work together to plan and carry out all aspects of the conference. There will be an equal number of youth from the North, chosen by Jamaican Self-Help and partner organization Horizon’s of Friendship (Cobourg), and South chosen by project partners in Nicaragua and Jamaica. This committee will meet in August of 2008 in Nicaragua – the meeting will be facilitated by the Project Coordinator (Julia Anderson). Other then the meeting in August communication between steering committee members will be via email and regular conference calls\r\n \r\nThe Conference will take place in May of 2009 and will bring together a larger group of youth from Canada (20), Nicaragua (10) and Jamaica (10). The intent of the conference is to form a shared North-South policy vision related to poverty; and to give participants practical skills to communicate this policy vision to decision makers in their own countries.
Background:
Background \r\nThe Make Poverty History (MPH) project is a youth led initiative designed to provide young people in the Peterborough region with access to “political process” by engaging them in a wide variety of activities focused on the fight against poverty globally and locally. \r\n\r\nThe Make Poverty History group was formed in August 2005 under the direction of Jamaican Self-Help (JSH), a small international development agency based in Peterborough, Ontario. Under new strategic direction and with the addition of a “youth” staff person, the organization decided to pilot a youth initiative that emphasized leadership, education and action for students in the Peterborough region who have limited access to opportunities for political engagement around foreign policy issues.\r\n\r\nA committee was formed and named after the international “Make Poverty History” campaign which has four main objectives: More and Better Aid, Trade Justice, Cancel the Debt, and End Child Poverty in Canada. The committee used these four areas as an inspiration for its activities. For example during the federal election the committee organized an all candidates debate for 1000 high school students around foreign policy issues.\r\n\r\nMoving Forward\r\n\r\nIn its second project year the MPH Youth Project continued to develop its mandate, moving from a passive participant in policy dialogue to an active seeker of policy influence. The committee undertook activities aimed at directly impact decision makers such as a research project designed to articulate community wide support for particular foreign policy objectives. \r\n\r\nThe committee also sought out positions of influence in national policy think tanks such as the Canadian Council for International Cooperation and the National MPH Steering Committee. JSH fully supported these moves, going as far as to change its internal decision making framework to include youth on the Board of Directors. As a seeker of policy influence, the committee met with politicians and decision makers to advocate for changes in foreign policy such as the adoption of Bill C-293 and an increase in foreign aid spending to 0.7 of the GNP. \r\n\r\nIn evaluating the project to date the committee felt that overall policy work was one of the most exciting aspects of its work. However they felt that there was a key missing element: the Southern voice. They identified two fundamental ways in which the MPH project could benefit from this voice: in increasing understanding of what impact Canadian policy shifts have on developing countries; and in breaking existing North-South power relationships by working in solidarity with youth in the South. \r\n\r\nThere is recognition on the part of youth that a true shift in global inequity is going to need to include government policy changes North and South. Therefore by limiting their perspective by working only with the government in the North, they are limiting their chance for meaningful global change. Furthermore the committee understands that they are not alone, that there are youth in the South working for change. In recognizing this, the committee has outlined a two-year plan to start to integrate these Southern voices for mutual growth and development.
Objectives:
Objectives and Main Activities\r\n\r\nObjective #1 – Continue core project activities and current mandate (funding accessed through other sources).\r\nObjective #2 – Increase the committee’s capacity to understand Canadian policy impact on developing countries.\r\nActivities: \r\n-Reach out to university students and Diaspora groups to enhance the knowledge base of the committee. \r\n-Participate in established two week “awareness trips” to Jamaica with JSH to better understand developing country contexts. \r\nObjective #3 - Work in solidarity with youth in the South to expand the committee’s perspective and sphere of influence. \r\nActivities: \r\n-Partner with a Canadian NGO \r\n-Create a steering committee of 8-10 youth aged 18-30, that includes Canadian youth from the MPH committee and from the Canadian Partner organization and youth from Jamaica and the Canadian Partner organization’s country of interest. \r\n-Steering committee will plan for a North-South Youth Policy Dialogue conference in the spring of 2009\r\nObjective #4 - Create a shared policy vision around questions of aid, trade, and debt, to be delivered to decision makers by the teams of youth in their respective countries. \r\nActivities: \r\n- Recruit and train youth teams from 3 countries. \r\n-Hold a 4-day North-South Youth Policy Dialogue that will include training in policy influence and will facilitate the creation of a shared policy vision document.\r\n\r\nResults Expected\r\nIn keeping with the core values of the MPH youth project, the North-South Youth Policy Dialogue will be as much about creating and demonstrating a successful model of youth engagement, as it will be about the policy document that will be created. Therefore results will be expected at two levels.\r\nProcess Oriented/Mid-term Results\r\n- Steering Committee Youth from the North and South are able to effectively work together to plan and execute the conference.\r\n-Work of small regional NGO’s, and their youth members, is enhanced and highlighted.\r\nProduct Oriented/Long Term Results\r\n-A sophisticated and usable policy document is created and delivered to decision makers in each country.\r\n-A successful model for youth engagement in policy is built and documented.\r\n-Youth participants have the skills and confidence to engage as active members of global civil society and contribute to addressing today’s global challenges.
Milestones:
-International Partnerships formed (March 2008)\r\n-Steering Committee Meeting August 2008\r\n-Conference 2009
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