Jongeren strategie/ Youth Strategy

Reactie

Naam	Green Creation (Mr RC ten Veen)
Plaats	Veendam
Datum	15 augustus 2019

Vraag1

1. If you look at the 3 regions that we focus on (MENA, Horn of Africa, Sahel) – can you mention specific trends per region which are relevant for the strategy. Are there, for example, specific sectors where there is much to be gained? Or specific skills that young people lack in a certain region or sector?

MENA in particular is a huge region, with a great variety of environments, politics, people, cultures etc ... commonalities are perhaps the international intervention (and means dependent on what role the region/ country/ area plays in international politics: does NL have a vested interest in terms of natural resources, geopolitical interest ...). No 'one size fits all' but what many young people have in common: lack of hope, lack of realistic expectation of a (longer term) living wage income/ livelihood. Better would be to ask young people *there* what they want/ need (e.g. to prevent them considering risking their lives to cross the mediterranean, which in their eyes is sometimes 'less risky' than staying in a hopeless situation), not people in NL.

Vraag2

2. Do you have examples of successful "scaled up" initiatives / programs in the field of education and work to increase youth employment, and if so, which ones? Or do you know of certain successful initiatives that are worth scaling up in the 3 regions mentioned?

There is good reason to take positive examples from what works in one region and see how they might fit in other areas. However, this should never be a case of copy-paste: two (or more) regions may share certain characteristics, but are never equal and will thus always need to be localised to the

Vraag3

3. Do you have specific ideas or additions about how we can make young people part of this policy? How do we ensure that they participate in the implementation of this strategy?

Ensure policy and implementation is more bottom up - *with* them, not just *for* them (as interpreted by others than them)

Vraag4

4. Anything else you feel is worth mentioning?

Always ensure clear separation between NL foreign policy and support of others: only what is truly in the interest of poor youth in mentioned region will ultimately have a sustainable/ durable impact. Focusing too much on national foreign policy will ultimately 'backfire' and thus in many senses be lost money (and more so, lives ruined/ negatively affected/ trust lost).