Global Youth Consultation 2011

Report on the status of youth in the IFRC Based on the evaluation of the implementation of Pledge 129 presented at the International Conference in 2007

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ...... 2 2. Youth volunteer base ...... 3 Active volunteers ...... 3 Proportion of youth ...... 3 Youth in different age groups ...... 4 Gender balance ...... 5 Promoting volunteering ...... 5 Communicating effectively in Spain ...... 6 3. National Youth Policy ...... 7 Youth engagement strategy in Australia ...... 8 4. Youth Engagement in decision making process ...... 9 Dialogue through generations in Finland...... 10 5. Youth programmes ...... 11 Climate Change adaptation and disaster response ...... 11 Enable healthy and safe livelihoods ...... 12 Promote social inclusion and a culture of non-violence and peace ...... 12 Methodology ...... 13 Youth empowering youth in Mexico ...... 14 6. Regional youth networks ...... 15 Joint efforts for better results in East Africa ...... 16 7. National partnerships ...... 17 8. Main findings of the additional interviews ...... 17 Youth add value ...... 18 Best ways to encourage and empower the youth ...... 19 9. Conclusions ...... 19

Annex 1 Criteria for Excellence Annex 2 Survey Questions Annex 3 List of the 110 National Societies that replied to this Consultation Annex 4 List of the 72 National Societies signatories to the Pledge 129

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1. Introduction

This Global Youth Consultation was established in order to report on the Pledge 129 and to map the present situation of youth in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. It aims at generating a better appreciation of the contemporary concerns of young people, and motivates their proactive engagement to innovate solutions to social challenges including bridging the inter- generational divide. This document also provides a base to encourage National Societies to further develop their youth volunteer base through the sharing of good practices and case studies in the area of youth engagement.

The data collection for this report was done through a tailor-made on-line survey focusing on the topics defined in the Criteria for Excellence (cf. annex 1) developed in the area of youth. The survey (cf. annex 2) was made available on line and was shared with all National Societies. While an informative email was sent to Presidents and Secretary Generals, the persons in charge of youth in each National Society were invited to fill in the questionnaire.

Thanks to 110 National Societies (cf. annex 3) that replied to the questionnaire of this Global Youth Consultation, we are able to illustrate how youth are taking action at community level. In addition to the survey 21 phone interviews were conducted in order to get more in-depth data on particular topics.

The participation by zone is shown in the chart below. As the number of National Societies in each zone varies, it is interesting to see how many National Societies from the total amount of National Societies in each zone answered the survey

Total amount of answers by zone Percentage of answers by zone

Europe & Central Asia 32 60% Europe & Central Asia

Americas 27 77% Americas

Africa 25 52% Africa

Asia Pacific 17 47% Asia Pacific

MENA 6 33% MENA

0 10 20 30 40 Series1Answered Series2Not answered

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2. Youth volunteer base Active volunteers

The consulted Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were asked to provide the number of active volunteers (volunteering at least 40 hours per year) in their National Society. Some of the numbers given were estimates and some exact numbers based on databases. The total number of active volunteers in National Societies that completed the survey is somewhere between 6 to 8 million, thus representing quite well the voluntary base of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in general.

Among these National Societies, almost 25% declared to have less than 1,000 active volunteers and approximately 50% have less than 5,000 active volunteers. Another peak can be seen in the amount of those National Societies that have 10,000 to 50,000 active volunteers.

Amount of active volunteers in the National Society

0 - 1000 24%

1,000 - 5,000 25%

5,000 - 10,000 12%

10,000 - 50,000 21%

50,000 - 100,000 6%

100,000 - 500,000 10%

500,000 - 1,000,000 2%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Highest numbers: Indonesia and Iran.

The Indonesian Red Cross Society and the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran declared to have more than 500,000 active volunteers.

Proportion of youth

Young people (in this survey defined as 35 years old or younger) seem to represent a large part of the global active volunteer base. Around 54% of National Societies declared to have more than half of its volunteer base comprised of youth.

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Percentage of youth among volunteers

0 - 10 % 5

10 - 30 % 20

30 - 50 % 20

50 - 70 % 21

70 - 90 % 31

90 - 100 % 2

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Among the National Societies that answered the survey, some have a separate organization for youth, where the number of youth volunteers is naturally 100%. With these National Societies the number of youth volunteers has been compared with the volume of volunteers in the mother organization.

When comparing the percentage of youth volunteers with the total number of volunteers in these National Societies, it can be seen that the total percentage of youth in general is somewhere between 36 to 47 %. This is in line with the Global Youth consultation of 2005-07 that showed that about 41% of the global volunteer base was made of youth. It seems that great representation of youth (over 70% of active volunteers) can be seen in National Societies of all sizes; some have less than 200 active volunteers, some over 500,000. The same thing applies for those National Societies that have less than 30% youth among its volunteers. Thus, it seems that the size of the National Society has no clear connection with the amount of youth involved in its services and activities.

The amount of National Societies with a large number of youth volunteers is fairly similar in all the areas except for Asia Pacific, where among the National Societies that answered the survey as much as 31% declared to have more than 70% of their volunteers youth. The small amounts of youth (less than 30%) seem to be more usual in the Americas and Europe & Central Asia zone, the latter reaching as high as 32% of National Societies having less than 30% youth volunteers.

Youth in different age groups

The age group 14-25 years old is the largest one, followed by the groups 26-30, 6-13 and 31-35 in this order. The age range 14-25 is also the widest range, but a weighted average shows that this group still remains by far the biggest. This order is not only applicable globally but also in each of the respective regions showing, that the Red Cross Red Crescent attracts especially adolescents and young adults.

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Gender balance

The gender balance among volunteers is nearly the same as in the previous consultation done in 2005-2007. The current global gender balance is an average of 55% female and 45% male while in the Global Youth consultation 2005-07 the ratio was 54% female, 46% male. However there are more National Societies that have majority of women than those that have more men. Only 14 National Societies replied that the balance is somewhat even. Whether this balance is the same among young volunteers remains unknown.

Promoting volunteering

Many creative ways have been used by National Societies to profile Red Cross Red Crescent as the first choice for youth to volunteer in. Here are some examples that several National Societies have found useful:

• Offering various training courses to youth volunteers • Including youth in basic service delivery • Activities at schools and universities • Participating in public events to introduce young people to the Movement and its 7 Fundamental Principles • Using social media such as Facebook and YouTube • Involving young people in the decision making process • Recognising the value of voluntary work and rewarding youth volunteers • Adapting the structure and the nature of programmes in order to appeal more to youth • Developing Volunteering and Youth Policies

Outstanding example: Sierra Leone.

In addition to the strategies mentioned above, Sierra Leone Red Cross Society created an income generating project that corresponds to the needs of the local population. “… The second youth project is urban and consists of a Brass Band. Volunteers are trained in music and help generate income since Brass Bands in this part of the world are hired for numerous occasions. Their performances in the streets of Freetown attract youth from all walks of life to enrol them into the Movement.”

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Communicating effectively in Spain

In recent years Spanish Red Cross has invested in communicating with its youth volunteers. A general volunteer database has been established that includes specific contact information and the training and project history of the volunteers. The database also includes the languages that this person speaks so that all the information will be sent in the correct language.

“This way it’s easy to send really targeted information to right people and reach them well” says Aitor Murciano Moreno, Youth President of the Spanish Red Cross.

To support this personalized flow of information the youth of the National Society also use social media. Communication tools such as facebook have been found useful when for example informing the volunteers about meetings and trainings that might interest a larger group. Photographs, videos and pictures attract young people and it’s easy to spread information when the message reaches a wide audience. Spain has also a local social media that resembles the facebook and that is highly popular among teenagers and children. In order to reach also this audience, the National Society has found it good to use several tools and not only stick to one.

On International Women’s Day there was a successful campaign on the facebook where users shared stories and information, and had debates around the subject. The campaign reached many people and especially the debates that included Red Cross volunteers and people outside the Movement were interesting and fruitful. These conversations and the photos that the volunteers posted on the wall about their projects were widely shared and forwarded by other users.

In the Spanish Red Cross peer education is an important tool when reaching the youth. Youth are more convincing when it comes to talking to other youth because they are facing the same problems. Especially when it comes to difficult topics such as HIV, gender issues, drug abuse or environmental issues, it’s often easier for youth to hear about them from their peers.

Cooperation with schools is important for the Spanish Red Cross. In order to gather information and make the intervention as relevant as possible, the National Society has established an internet platform. When the volunteers go to a school, the youth at this school will complete an on-line questionnaire about the issues that they feel are important for their school and also give feedback on the intervention. There are questions about different kinds of problems in their school, the attitude towards drugs and other issues that should be addressed. When the students have answered the questions, the volunteers will have more specific information for the next intervention. For example, if many students say that they feel the issue on gender is a problem in their school, volunteers can focus on that in the future. This information is valuable not only for the school and for the volunteers, but also for the municipality and government. The results can be seen as a summary by school, region or country, but individual answers remain confidential. Sometimes individuals might feel that a problem isn’t big enough to talk about, but if the results show that many students feel the same about a problem, they can start to work on it.

“We give the tools for the young people to find the solutions themselves.”

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3. National Youth Policy

At this stage, at least 73 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have developed their own National Youth Policy when according to the Global Youth Consultation of 2005-07, only 57 National Societies had adopted such policy. Even though the answering National Societies are not entirely same this time as in 2005-07, it can be seen that some effort has been made, although limited, on a global scale to implement the decision of the General Assembly in 2005. According to this decision all National Societies should have had their own Youth Policy by 2007.

Almost 40% of National Societies declaring to have a national youth policy confirmed that more than 70% of their volunteers are indeed young. The assumption is that a youth policy creates and facilitates the enabling space for young people and therefore its presence stimulates their involvement within their National Societies. However based on these results it is impossible to determine whether the large amount of youth creates the need to adopt a youth policy or does a functioning youth policy create more space for youth thus attracting more volunteers.

All National Societies responding negatively about having developed a national youth policy explained the reasons behind not having done so. More than 50% of the National Societies confirmed that the development of a national youth policy is in process or that they have other equivalent documents such as a youth strategy that includes the same information. Some National Societies specified that such a document is not a priority in their working plan.

Some National Societies who don’t have a national youth policy have still made strong commitments to youth empowerment. The Pledge 129, adopted at the International Conference 2007, highlights the role of young people and urges National Societies to meaningfully involve youth in the decision making processes at all levels. The number of National Societies that signed the Youth Pledge 129 exceeded the evaluation criterion proposed in the Pledge document: “At least 30% of National Societies sign up to this Pledge”. Indeed 72 National Societies signed the Pledge before the 31st International Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent in November 2011, representing 38% of the National Societies (cf. annex 4).

Policy development in co-operation: Dominica.

The Caribbean Youth Network is presently developing a youth policy together for the Caribbean region. In the meanwhile this National Society has adopted the Federation youth policy.

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Youth engagement strategy in Australia

Australian Red Cross is a living proof of the benefits of empowering youth to take leadership and be part of decision making at all levels. Youth are part of planning and promoting the mission and vision, they bring new points of view, target new issues, run projects and, most importantly, reach many beneficiaries. This has not happened overnight, but is a result of long-term planning and investment in youth.

Even with a long history of youth engagement the hasn’t stopped developing its structures. Five years ago the National Society asked a question: what’s the difference that youth can make? The role of youth was researched and the results formed a base for establishing a national youth engagement strategy.

“We’ve always had youth involved but before we were weaker. Thanks to the strategy and a better youth leadership structure, the youth are now strong and can volunteer and give their input more effectively” says Matthew Eyles, National Youth Representative of Australian Red Cross.

The youth engagement strategy and its implementation have been crucial to success: the new youth leadership structure helps the youth from different backgrounds to take part; communication networks have improved; youth are heavily involved in all activities of the National Society; and they engage now for a longer time than before. Youth are also in high positions and integrated throughout the structure. Youth engagement is seen as a crosscutting theme rather than something separate. One way to ensure this is to have a national youth representative in the governing board who can ensure that youth are taken into account in all areas of work.

“Our board really listens to the youth voice” Matthew highlights. “We have seen a growth in the number of youth and also in the support that the youth get. We promote the principle: Nothing for us without us. Young people need to be involved in all aspects of our Movement.”

The results speak for themselves: number of youth volunteers has increased; University clubs around Australia have a large number of members; National Society’s youth facebook page has thousands of followers and it’s used a lot; youth have initiated several new projects; and a national youth leadership programme has been established.

“We are now reaching more youth all over the country and empowering youth with diverse backgrounds to help themselves thus creating a stronger society.”

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4. Youth Engagement in decision making process

More than half - 58% - of the consulted National Societies confirmed that they have a youth representative as a full member on their Governing Board.

It seems that there is no strong link between the presence of a national youth policy and that of a youth representative as a full member on the governing board of the National Society. Indeed, almost 40% of those National Societies that declared to have a youth policy do not have a youth representative on their governing board and 50% of those National Societies that declared not to have a youth policy, do have a youth representative as a full member on their governing board. It seems that a youth policy can help to get a youth member involved in the decision making process of its National Society, but does not guarantee it.

However there are other ways to include youth in the decision making of a National Society. The National Societies that do not have a youth representative on its governing board shared their strategies regarding how they involve youth in proposing solutions to today’s humanitarian challenges:

• In many of these National Societies young people are consulted before each General Assembly and are invited to share their perspective on new issues and programmes in the agenda. • Some have found it good to involve young members in the decision making process at local level and let the branch representatives pass these local youth voices on to the national level. • Some National Societies have youth bodies at different levels of the organization that give guidance on youth related issues. • There are also National Societies whose young members are elected on the governing board on equal terms as all other members and they don’t have a special mandate. Some of these National Societies have currently a young representative on the governing board and some do not at the moment.

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Dialogue through generations in Finland

Youth are well represented at all the levels of the . The national youth policy is considered to be a common approach to everything and the youth agenda is equally important to the young and the elderly. In the Finnish Red Cross youth are integrated in the National Society but have a national youth commission as an advisory body for the governing board. In the national assembly in 2011 the branches suggested that youth should be involved in all the levels of decision making. It was also suggested that the branch boards should have at least two youth representatives. This demand didn’t come from the youth but from the normal branches and highlights that youth have proved their value through their actions. According to Finnish Red Cross Youth the hard work they have done in order to gain this trust has paid off.

“Give tasks and positions to youth that allow them to reach further and develop themselves” Eero Rämö, Youth President of the Finnish Red Cross encourages. “There are things that you cannot do as an individual but as a part of a group, for example branch board, you can do more than you could alone thus learning new skills and exceeding your expectations.”

Finnish Red Cross takes intergenerational dialogue seriously. Volunteers of all ages are working side by side and most youth continue volunteering also as older adults. The statistics show that there’s no gap when youth volunteers turn 30 and become adult volunteers. There’s no need for special encouragement for youth to continue volunteering when the bridge is already there and the change in the membership status doesn’t affect their volunteering.

According to Finnish Red Cross the benefits of the integrated structure can also be seen at the programme level. Through youth contribution some long-standing and already successful programmes have evolved into even better programmes reaching more vulnerable people. As an example the “friend visitor programme” that earlier was meant mostly for lonely elderly now reaches also outcast youth, immigrant families and many other beneficiaries.

Finnish Red Cross presents annual youth awards to youth who have shown outstanding volunteerism. In 2011 the National Society introduced a new award: youth breeder branch. This award will be given annually to a branch that has done outstanding job in investing in youth thus strengthening the whole National Society. The idea of the award is to highlight the importance of investing in youth even though they might in the future move to another city to study or work.

Intergenerational dialogue is much more than just young learning from the older volunteers. It means conversation and mutual learning where everyone has the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge. This is also valued in the Finnish Red Cross and they believe that this lesson should be learned at all levels of the Movement.

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5. Youth programmes

The majority of the consulted National Societies confirmed that after the World Youth Meeting held in Solferino 2009 they have strengthened the youth space. In some National Societies the meeting inspired youth to demand better involvement in their National Societies’ decision making structures while in many other National Societies the meeting gave ideas for programme development and more meaningful youth engagement. New youth projects are reported especially in the fields of health, disaster response and promoting humanitarian values

Some National Societies also highlighted that even though international meetings and decisions can be inspiring, their programmes are always based on local needs using bottom-up approach and are not directly linked with a particular event.

In numerous replies it was mentioned that the Youth Declaration, Solferino 2009 has inspired, both directly and indirectly, the spirit of thinking of the National Society and has influenced positively the conception of programmes, projects and activities. It has been used not only as a programme development tool but as a guiding document for national strategies as well as an advocacy document for furthering youth engagement.

Example of a comprehensive response: Burundi.

“Our National Society began to require the representation of young people in the governing bodies at all levels. Then we started to develop better functioning structures for youth leadership (...). Finally, we improved the training of youth including Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment, leadership, presentation skills and respect for diversity. These programmes will continue.”

Climate Change adaptation and disaster response

Climate change adaptation and mitigation are important for youth in many countries and the actions in this field vary from participating in conferences to very concrete actions such as planting trees. While training courses and advocacy in this area have been reported to be the most frequently used actions, many National Societies initiated creative youth programmes such as reforestation, beach cleaning, producing documentaries, advocating for climate migrants, and finally creating a secondary-school curriculum for sustainable development. Some National Societies also reported changes in their own actions such as trying to have paper-free meetings.

Disaster response is one of the areas that were highlighted in the programmes that were developed following the Solferino 3rd World Youth Meeting. In many National Societies youth are strongly involved in the basic service delivery thus showing their value as volunteers.

Example of youth as a part of disaster response: Azerbaijan.

Raising number of floods causes different disasters in regions and more and more youth and young volunteers are involved in relief actions directly. Red Crescent Society of Azerbaijan has a programme on preparing "Mobile Volunteer teams” who are specially trained for disasters.

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Enable healthy and safe livelihoods

Youth health programmes are aligned with the Strategy 2020, focusing on changing minds by inviting people to adopt a healthier life style. Almost all the National Societies consulted confirmed that they were running projects in this vein, such as Club 25 that invites young people to be healthy enough to donate blood regularly until they are 25 years old. More than half of these National Societies are coordinating programmes to raise awareness about the prevention of diseases, especially in regards to sexually transmitted infections.

The traditional activity of first aid continues to be the most popular approach to address the Movement’s main objective of saving lives and alleviating suffering. While the above mentioned activities are widely spread, additional programmes are carried out with less frequency concerning drug and alcohol addiction, psychosocial support, road safety, water and sanitation during and after disasters, and disease outbreaks.

Inspiring practice: Luxembourg

Luxembourg Red Cross has opened many day-care centres for primary school children. More than 1,000 children are visiting these centres on a daily basis. In all 13 centres, health is approached also through all aspects of nutrition.

Example of peer education: India

The runs a HIV/AIDS youth peer education programme in high prevalence states. The main objective of the programme is to create greater awareness on HIV/AIDS, life skills and sexual health issues. This is being disseminated through youth peer education and promotional activities with the help of Junior/Youth Red Cross units in high schools and colleges. All beneficiaries go through awareness education sessions on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and blood donation through street plays, videos and use of information, education and communication material.

Promote social inclusion and a culture of non-violence and peace

Unsurprisingly, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) along with the seven Fundamental Principles of the Movement are widely used by National Societies as the foundation of their inclusion projects, such as the role-play game Raid Cross based on IHL and the YABC (Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change) methodology.

The strength of the Red Cross and Red Crescent numerous social inclusion programmes is that they cover differing factors of potential exclusion - economic, ethnic, gender, age, just to name a few - without being influenced by political agendas thanks to the humanity, impartiality and neutrality principles of the Movement.

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The most common types of activities organised by the consulted National Societies in this regard are festivals, camps and ad hoc events, promoting the inclusion of vulnerable groups such as migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, prisoners, and human trafficking victims.

Pertinent project: Luxembourg

Throughout 2010-11, has been developing a programme labelled "Perspectives" aimed at young adults in need of shelter. Small flats are made available for young people that have 'fallen out of the system' and while they stay at 'Perspectives' they are given coaching and assistance in developing their 'life-project'.

Methodology

Peer-to-peer and non-formal educational approaches seem to be used by more than 90% of National Societies in implementing their youth programmes. More than 80% of those who answered the question also say that they use non-cognitive approaches (such as sports, art, music) in their programmes. However, a large number of respondents left this question unanswered maybe because the term “non-cognitive” is not understood. The following methodologies were also shared and deserve to be mentioned: involvement of marginalised groups in volunteering, participative approach, simulation of a real life situation, group work, drama and music performances.

Life skill –project: Timor Leste

We are conducting "life skills" workshops that teach communication and decision making skills to young people by using sports and music as a diversionary approach to conflict resolution.

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Youth empowering youth in Mexico

In the youth are facing some problems with representation in decision making but don’t let it interfere with their important contribution in serving the community. There’s no youth member in the governing board and the governing structures don’t involve many youth. However, youth have found that they can influence through developing and strengthening youth structures that empower youth to solve the problems together. Three big annual youth events (national youth convention, national youth camp and national youth meeting for youth leaders) provide youth a platform to come together and decide the future targets and actions.

“We take care of everything ourselves; implementation, developing, evaluation... Then we introduce the results to governance that usually respects them. This is how we solve our problems in constructive way” tells Mauricio Romero Herrera, the National Youth Coordinator of the Mexican Red Cross.

While the main focus of the National Society is on much needed ambulance services and disaster preparedness work, the youth programmes bring diversity to the service delivery. The Red Cross youth in Mexico work in many fields such as health, school programmes, skills training, and also alongside adults in the disaster services. Especially HIV and climate change awareness programmes and prevention of drug and alcohol abuse are typically youth led initiatives.

“If you’re not interested in ambulance or disaster services, you can’t really volunteer as an adult. Youth have more and different programmes where we need the skills of different kinds of people” Mauricio Romero Herrera says. “For example someone who is a teacher or a lawyer can really give input to youth programmes but unfortunately can’t do much in ambulances.”

The youth want to use their diverse skills to help others as well as to improve their own skills. Many volunteers want to stay with the youth programmes even when they grow older because they feel they don’t have anything to offer for ambulance or disaster programmes but still want to serve the community by using their particular skills and professionalism.

In Mexico youth have learned that it doesn’t just take adults to support youth but youth can empower youth as well. The youth structures provide education, skills and leadership training and platforms to share experiences and meet other volunteers. Having an attractive and informative web page has found to be important as many youth seek information on-line. All this has led to good results as the number of youth volunteers has increased especially among children and adolescents.

“We want to teach the children to love the Red Cross like we do and help them to adopt the principles and values as their own.”

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6. Regional youth networks

Three quarters of the consulted National Societies responded that their young volunteers benefit from regional network activities. Some have strong networks inside their country with other actors when some others are strongly connected in regional Red Cross Red Crescent networks. Although the methods vary, the main goal is to help National Societies to establish their objectives by sharing knowledge and experiences.

More generally, these networks seem to be effective ways of combining efforts to better respond to humanitarian challenges and sharing lessons learned on resource mobilization . The most frequent activities led by Red Cross and Red Crescent regional networks are youth camps and conferences focusing on specific issues, and common campaigns especially when the National Societies of the network all use the same language.

The National Societies that declared not to benefit from regional youth networks, did not question the importance of these networks, but explained that a lack of effective communication and financial resources were the two major reasons preventing their involvement. However it was also said that the use of new technology has made it easier to interact with others.

Example of the network’s strength: Cook Islands

Cook Islands Red Cross Youth have represented the Pacific region at the international/regional level. “We feel that we have benefited greatly from raising the profile of Pacific youth issues like communications, geographical challenges and financial constraints. We have also participated in the regional committees and this has built the capacity of our youth volunteers and we actively promote youth action to our national Governing Board for more support.”

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Joint efforts for better results in East Africa

A significant part of Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers are youth. In the Eastern Africa region the proportion of youth is more than 80% of volunteers which means that they are truly essential for the basic service delivery. This can also be seen in the programmes that highlight the topics that youth find particularly important. A lot of advocacy work is done for example in the field of climate change and community resilience. Experience in the Eastern Africa has shown that when youth align themselves with one another they have a stronger voice and more support even when the National Society is not showing support.

“The idea of the network is to provide peer-to-peer help, share ideas and provide opportunities for exchange” explains Joram H. Oranga, chairman of the Eastern Africa Red Cross Youth Network.

The youth in the Eastern Africa Youth Network feel that the network can be strong only when National Societies cooperate and take ownership. In order for this to happen the National Societies must feel that they benefit from the network. Lack of resources, commitment and power to influence are problems that the Eastern Africa Red Cross Youth Network has been facing. Rather than giving up the youth of the network see this as a possibility to advocate and work together. They find it important to have staff supporting the network at the zone or the region offices and are willing to give their input and commitment to the network.

“With the help of network we can identify regional problems and gather info so that the good practices can be shared and problems solved with joint efforts” Joram Oranga tells.

At the Pan-African conference in Johannesburg in 2008, National Societies agreed on a common goal to have one out of three representatives in statutory meetings be a youth. This ambitious but plausible goal has not only shown that there is the will to improve youth engagement but it has also brought the youth together to advocate for common causes. There is still much work to be done if this goal is to be reached in the future, but the youth are ready to do this.

Eastern Africa youth Network is not only talking about advocacy topics but also sharing experiences on actions. Right now one of the important topics is developing programmes where youth don’t just help others but also develop their life skills.

“When we look at the youth volunteers not only as a group but as individuals, we build programmes where youth contribute to the work of the Movement and at the same time develop their life skills and become responsible citizens.”

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7. National partnerships

The question on partnerships between National Societies and organisations working locally with and for youth did not evoke a common answer as in previous questions. Slightly more than half of the consulted National Societies declared to have a partnership, most often with the Ministry of Education or Youth, in order to implement school projects around disaster risk reduction, sexual reproductive health, International Humanitarian Law and civic engagement, first aid, and violence prevention.

In the private sector, partners vary from small radio stations to big petrol companies funding events or donating material for the programmes or other in-kind support. Their financial support covers numerous types of activities such as youth camps, drug addiction programmes and the promotion of positive images of migrants. They also help to fund projects in orphanages, children hospitals, retirement homes and schools for children with special educational needs.

Example of an effective partnership: Antigua and Barbuda

“We have recently partnered with some private sector giants to execute our club 25. This partnership was both beneficial to the National Society and to the partners themselves. Because of the positive outcome of this partnership, the partners have pledged their continued support and additional partners have joined the list. We got one of our partners to send text messages promoting the initiative. We had a slot on all the radio stations, newspapers and TV stations. One of our partners provided refreshments for all the donors. These partners have pledged the assistance in the future to ensure a greater success.”

8. Main findings of the additional interviews

The general findings of the consultation are cross cutting themes that can be found in the answers from different zones and diverse responses of National Societies. These are the findings that can be considered most reliable.

According to the interviews the space and recognition given to youth are increasing. All the responses reflect an improvement but at very different stages: where there was nothing done before, now there are plans and even an implementing process, and where there already has been a functioning structure, the system improved. Even where there’s very little done the situation is “getting better”. For example the Society just included articles in its regulation allowing youth and volunteers to vote in the National Assembly. In Peru, very little was done before for youth empowerment, but now there is youth staff and the legal base of the governance is under review. The youth are hopeful that these changes will lead to stronger youth engagement in the National Society.

According to majority of the answers the number of volunteers has increased. The number is unstable though and can vary a lot depending on the year, increasing usually when the country is

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facing a disaster or a crisis. However, retention of the youth seems to be an issue in many National Societies.

Testimonials confirm that in order to reach youth you need youth, and that the peer approach has been found effective and necessary. To really reach youth you need to speak their language. It’s the same with older people; they have their language and it’s important to use that to reach and convince them to give more space to youth. The intergenerational dialogue is the key to success and best knowledge transfer.

A large majority of the responses highlight the importance of involving youth in service planning and decision making, and many National Societies also reported progress in this field. However, some respondents felt that even though there are good intentions, challenges arise when these intentions should be implemented. Joint advocacy work was found important and there is a hope that this consultation will help all leaders to be convinced to implement effective means for real youth empowerment and influence.

Youth add value

Unfortunately, youth still face the question: what is your added value? According to the interviewed youth leaders it’s important that the youth show their value by volunteering and taking part in the service delivery of the National Society. It was highlighted that youth don’t add value just because they are youth, but because they are volunteers making a contribution and valuable as such. Youth engagement results in a larger pool of volunteers. In several countries, youth are the majority of population and volunteers, and without youth the basic service delivery and most programmes would be impossible. Youth give the National Society sustainability, as they are not only the present but also the future. Youth are also key beneficiaries: strong youth of today is a strong society of tomorrow.

Programmes with sports, music and drama motivate the creativity of young volunteers and reach well youth audiences. These new innovative approaches are needed to attract more people and share information on important topics. The youth also use and understand new technologies and social media. Exchange through internet allows them to build competencies and knowledge, and to organise action. Programmes using cell phones are used for example to provide information to people at risk. Some examples of innovative approaches to service delivery include campaign against nuclear weapons (Australia), sustainable consuming (Spain), and “free hugs” for HIV information (Lebanon).

Programmes led by youth allow greater outreach to vulnerable people that the classical structures are not able to reach. If older people have great knowledge and experience, youth often bring energy, enthusiasm and strength. In Tunisia for example the youth wanted to help the casualties of the demonstrations using their first aid knowledge. It was necessary to curb their energy within the limits of the neutral intervention, and when the rules were clearly defined with more experienced volunteers the youth were able to help in the middle of the tensions.

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Best ways to encourage and empower the youth

In many National Societies the youth feel that their situation is good and that they are appreciated when in some others youth feel that there’s still a long way to go before the youth are properly included in decision making. National Societies are different but the best ways to empower youth seem to be quite similar all over the world. According to the interviews the five following points are most important to remember when encouraging and empowering youth:

• Recognition. The responses widely reflect the value of recognition to volunteers and especially to youth. Certificates, awards and even simple “thanks” and personal follow-up are seen as good ways to encourage youth. • Ownership. Being able to propose, design, plan, implement and evaluate programmes builds an ownership feeling that is a key to motivation. Giving genuine responsibility to youth seems to be an issue in many National Societies. • Training. More than half of the responses emphasized the value of training as a ways to empower youth. Youth have two main motivations: helping others and improving their own professional or life skills. As unemployment is one of the most significant youth problems today, all the means to improve their skills thus helping them to find a job are very valuable. • International participation. Many youth feel a great recognition when they are able to participate in international meetings and networks. Such opportunities should be given more as the enthusiasm and new ideas the youth bring back with them can greatly contribute to the service delivery of the National Society. • Formal commitments. A significant majority of the answers confirm that both global and local commitments such as youth policy or signing the pledge 129 are important and useful when advocating for youth. They strengthen the legitimacy of youth actions and give a clear message about the importance of youth empowerment.

9. Conclusions

This baseline gives a brief synopsis of the current situation of youth involvement in the Red Cross and Red Crescent worldwide and, more importantly, can provide National Societies with ideas to further engage young people in their structures in order to better respond to collective humanitarian challenges of our Movement.

Inspiring invitation: Spain.

It’s time for action.

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Annex 1 Criteria for Excellence

The following Criteria for Excellence are based on the IFRC Youth Policy and Strategy, the Evaluation Criteria set in the Pledge 129, the indicators of the Youth Development Programmes 2010-2011 and Strategy 2020:

1. The potential of reaching out of the youth volunteer base.

2. National Society with an adopted youth policy.

3. Youth engagement in decision-making processes.

4. Youth programmes address local needs and use effective methodologies.

5. Benefiting from regional youth networks.

6. The existence of national cooperation between the National Societies and partners working with and for youth.

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Annex 2 Survey Questions

1. Youth Volunteer Base a. What is the approximate total number of active volunteers (volunteering at least 40 hours per year) engaged in your National Society? b. What is the percentage of youth volunteers engaged in your National Society? c. Could you tell us approximately how many of them are between: 6 – 13 years? 14 – 25 years? 26 – 30 years? 31 – 35 years? d. Could you indicate their percentage by gender? Male / Female e. How does your National Society profile youth volunteer actions in order to make the RCRC the organisation of choice to volunteer with?

2. Youth Policy Does your National Society have a national youth policy? a. If so, when was it adopted? b. If not, what are the reasons or obstacles that have not allowed your National Society to develop/adopt one?

3. Youth Engagement in Decision-Making Process a. Is there a youth representative as a full member in the Governing Board of your National Society? b. If not, how do you involve youth in proposing solutions to today’s humanitarian challenges?

4. Strengthening Youth Programmes a. Following the 3rd World Youth Meeting in Solferino in 2009, how did your National Society strengthen or adapt youth programmes based on local needs? b. Please list the main youth programmes you strengthened in the following areas: i. Adapting to climate change and addressing catastrophes ii. Enable healthy and safe living iii. Promote social inclusion and a culture of non-violence and peace c. Please share the methodology used in implementing these programmes: i. Peer-to-peer, non-formal education, non-cognitive approaches (Yes/No) ii. Others

5. Regional Youth Network Do youth and your National Society benefit from regional youth network activities? a. If yes, how? b. If not, why?

6. Partnership and Cooperation a. Has your National Society concluded any national cooperation agreement with organisations working locally with and for youth to effectively address humanitarian needs (e.g. Ministry of Youth) since 2009? b. Did your National Society engage in any partnership with the private sector to support youth initiatives? If so, please describe the partnership(s) giving examples.

7. Any other comments: 21

Annex 3 List of the 110 National Societies that replied to this Consultation

N Zone Country National Society 1 Africa Burkina Faso Burkinabe Red Cross Society 2 Africa Burundi 3 Africa Cameroon Cameroon Red Cross Society 4 Africa Cape Verde 5 Africa Chad 6 Africa Comoros Comoros Red Crescent 7 Africa Gambia 8 Africa Ghana 9 Africa Guinea Red Cross Society of Guinea 10 Africa Ivory Coast Red Cross Society of Côte d'Ivoire 11 Africa 12 Africa Lesotho Lesotho Red Cross Society 13 Africa Madagascar Malagasy Red Cross Society 14 Africa Malawi Malawi Red Cross Society 15 Africa Mauritania Mauritanian Red Crescent 16 Africa Mauritius Mauritius Red Cross Society 17 Africa Namibia Namibia Red Cross 18 Africa Niger Red Cross Society of Niger 19 Africa Nigeria Nigerian Red Cross Society 20 Africa Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Red Cross Society 21 Africa South Africa South African Red Cross Society 22 Africa Swaziland Baphalali Swaziland Red Cross Society 23 Africa Togo 24 Africa Uganda 25 Africa Zambia 26 Africa Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Red Cross Society 27 Americas Anguilla - Anguilla 28 Americas Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda Red Cross Society 29 Americas Argentina 30 Americas Bahamas Bahamas Red Cross Society 31 Americas Belize 32 Americas Bolivia Bolivian Red Cross 33 Americas British Virgin Islands British Red Cross - British Virgin Islands 34 Americas Canada Society 35 Americas Chile Chilean Red Cross 36 Americas Colombia Society 37 Americas Costa Rica Costa Rican Red Cross 38 Americas Dominica Dominica Red Cross Society 39 Americas Ecuador Ecuadorian Red Cross 40 Americas El Salvador Salvadorian Red Cross Society 22

41 Americas Guyana Guyana Red Cross Society 42 Americas Honduras 43 Americas Martinique - Martinique 44 Americas Mexico Mexican Red Cross 45 Americas Nicaragua 46 Americas Paraguay Paraguayan Red Cross 47 Americas Peru Peruvian Red Cross 48 Americas Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the 49 Americas Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross 50 Americas Suriname Suriname Red Cross 51 Americas Trinidad and Tobago The Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society United States of 52 Americas America 53 Asia Pacific Afghanistan Afghanistan Red Crescent 54 Asia Pacific Australia Australian Red Cross 55 Asia Pacific Cook Islands Cook Islands Red Cross Society 56 Asia Pacific Fiji Fiji Red Cross Society 57 Asia Pacific Society of Hong Kong 58 Asia Pacific India Indian Red Cross Society 59 Asia Pacific Indonesia Indonesian Red Cross Society 60 Asia Pacific Japan Japanese Red Cross Society 61 Asia Pacific Korea Republic of Korea National Red Cross 62 Asia Pacific Maldives 63 Asia Pacific Micronesia Micronesia Red Cross 64 Asia Pacific Nepal 65 Asia Pacific Pakistan Pakistan Red Crescent Society 66 Asia Pacific Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Red Cross Society 67 Asia Pacific Philippines 68 Asia Pacific Singapore Singapore Red Cross Society 69 Asia Pacific Sri Lanka The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society 70 Asia Pacific Timor Leste Timor Leste Red Cross Society 71 Asia Pacific Vanuatu Vanuatu Red Cross Society 72 Europe Andorra 73 Europe Armenia Armenian Red Cross Society 74 Europe Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society of Azerbaijan 75 Europe Belarus 76 Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina 77 Europe Bulgaria 78 Europe Denmark Danish Red Cross 79 Europe Finland Finnish Red Cross 80 Europe France French Red Cross 81 Europe Georgia Red Cross Society of Georgia 82 Europe Germany 83 Europe Greece 23

84 Europe Hungary Hungarian Red Cross 85 Europe Iceland 86 Europe Italy 87 Europe Kazakhstan Kazakh Red Crescent 88 Europe Latvia 89 Europe Lithuania Lithuanian Red Cross Society 90 Europe Luxembourg Luxembourg Red Cross 91 Europe Moldova Red Cross Society of the Republic of Moldova 92 Europe Monaco 93 Europe Norway 94 Europe Poland 95 Europe Portugal Portuguese Red Cross 96 Europe Slovakia Slovak Red Cross 97 Europe Spain Spanish Red Cross 98 Europe Sweden 99 Europe Switzerland 100 Europe Turkey Society 101 Europe Turkmenistan Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan 102 Europe Ukraine Ukrainian Red Cross Society 103 Europe United Kingdom British Red Cross 104 MENA Algeria 105 MENA Egypt Egyptian Red Crescent Society 106 MENA Iran Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran 107 MENA Israel in Israel 108 MENA Jordan Jordan National Red Crescent Society 109 MENA Lebanon 110 MENA Tunisia

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Annex 4 List of the 72 National Societies signatories to the Pledge 129

N Zone Country National Society 1 Africa Benin 2 Africa Burkina Faso Burkinabe Red Cross Society 3 Africa Burundi Burundi Red Cross 4 Africa Cameroon Cameroon Red Cross Society 5 Africa Cape Verde Red Cross of Cape Verde 6 Africa Chad Red Cross of Chad 7 Africa Comoros Comoros Red Crescent 8 Africa Ethiopia Ethiopian Red Cross Society 9 Africa Gambia Gambia Red Cross Society 10 Africa Guinea Red Cross Society of Guinea 11 Africa Ivory Coast Red Cross Society of Côte d'Ivoire 12 Africa Lesotho Lesotho Red Cross Society 13 Africa Liberia Liberian Red Cross Society 14 Africa Madagascar Malagasy Red Cross Society 15 Africa Malawi Malawi Red Cross Society 16 Africa Mauritania Mauritanian Red Crescent 17 Africa Mozambique Mozambique Red Cross Society 18 Africa Namibia Namibia Red Cross 19 Africa Niger Red Cross Society of Niger 20 Africa Senegal Senegalese Red Cross Society 21 Africa Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Red Cross Society 22 Africa South Africa South African Red Cross Society 23 Africa Swaziland Baphalali Swaziland Red Cross Society 24 Africa Togo Togolese Red Cross 25 Africa Uganda Uganda Red Cross Society 26 Africa Zambia Zambia Red Cross Society 27 Americas Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda Red Cross Society 28 Americas Barbados Barbados Red Cross Society 29 Americas Belize Belize Red Cross Society 30 Americas Bolivia Bolivian Red Cross 31 Americas Canada Canadian Red Cross Society 32 Americas Costa Rica Costa Rican Red Cross 33 Americas Dominica Dominica Red Cross Society 34 Americas Grenada Grenada Red Cross Society 35 Americas Guyana Guyana Red Cross Society 36 Americas Haiti Haiti Red Cross Society 37 Americas Jamaica 25

38 Americas Saint Lucia Saint Lucia Red Cross 39 Americas Suriname Suriname Red Cross 40 Americas Trinidad and Tobago The Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society 41 Americas Venezuela Venezuelan Red Cross 42 Asia Pacific Australia Australian Red Cross 43 Asia Pacific Japan Japanese Red Cross Society 44 Asia Pacific Nepal Nepal Red Cross Society 45 Asia Pacific Philippines Philippine Red Cross 46 Asia Pacific Singapore Singapore Red Cross Society 47 Europe Armenia Armenian Red Cross Society 48 Europe Austria 49 Europe Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society of Azerbaijan 50 Europe Bulgaria Bulgarian Red Cross 51 Europe Denmark Danish Red Cross 52 Europe Finland Finnish Red Cross 53 Europe France French Red Cross 54 Europe Georgia Red Cross Society of Georgia 55 Europe Iceland Icelandic Red Cross 56 Europe Ireland 57 Europe Italy Italian Red Cross 58 Europe Moldova Red Cross Society of the Republic of Moldova 59 Europe Monaco Red Cross of Monaco 60 Europe Norway Norwegian Red Cross 61 Europe Poland Polish Red Cross 62 Europe Portugal Portuguese Red Cross 63 Europe Romania 64 Europe Slovenia 65 Europe Spain Spanish Red Cross 66 Europe Sweden Swedish Red Cross 67 Europe Switzerland Swiss Red Cross 68 Europe Ukraine Ukrainian Red Cross Society 69 Europe United Kingdom British Red Cross 70 MENA Egypt Egyptian Red Crescent Society 71 MENA Palestinian Occupied Territory Palestine Red Crescent Society 72 MENA Tunisia Tunisian Red Crescent

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