Good morning, Mr. Chair, and members of the standing committee.
I would like to speak to you very briefly about three strategies for youth empowerment that we have tested in a wide variety of settings and which have proved transformational in our work both at home and abroad.
First, we enable young people's empowerment using the assets-based approach through education, training, volunteer opportunities, social networks, and other social determinants of health. We do this in a manner that gives explicit value to the role of women and minorities in society, and in this way contributes to efforts to eradicate those issues of particular concern to this committee by working on the underlying social determinants of these abuses. Our work has a strong emphasis on youth leading youth. By building community among young people, we build their resilience and encourage their positive involvement in civil society.
The youth empowerment model used by the Africa Alliance of YMCAs, called “subject to citizen”, is an excellent example of the use of peer education and dialogue to trigger a positive shift in youth self-identity.
Second, community building through local leadership puts the emphasis on “nothing about us without us”. It sets local YMCAs on a path toward sustainability as opposed to reliance on foreign advice or resources. All YMCAs are formed, owned, and operated by local leadership. This means that local grassroots YMCAs, with their capacity, know-how, deep roots, and networks are frequently able to serve communities experiencing conflict or instability. When Canadian YMCAs get involved overseas, they do so through a partnership model, providing financial and technical support to match local social capital for projects that respond to local needs.
My last point is about the importance of strengthening civil society in the local communities in which we work. Partnerships and collaborations built on the ground are key, both to the cost-efficient and effective use of resources and to creating a strong and resilient social platform that can be leveraged in many ways for different purposes. This work may take many forms: training and democratic decision-making, media outreach, public engagement activities, and citizen participation. This work is well aligned with the federal government's new emphasis in its recently announced civil society partnership policy.
In closing, we are a voice for the world's young people, who account today for some 40% of the global unemployed, with long-term consequences for their individual, family, and community health and well-being. It's important that our work internationally, as the YMCA and as a country, creates options for the world's youth and builds their sense of hope, choice, and alternatives to crime, street life and gangs, and violence and war, especially in contexts where there are few employment opportunities. Their more active participation in civic and political life needs to be seen as an untapped asset.
YMCA Canada encourages the federal government to invest in youth empowerment strategies by committing greater resources to initiatives that employ peer-to-peer dialogue, community building with local leadership, and civil society strengthening, and by advocating for more emphasis on young people and their concerns in the post-MDG agenda.
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the work of the committee. We are both happy to answer any questions you might have.