Youth Civic Engagement & Leadership
Today, youth have greater access to opportunities to participate and be engaged at all levels of governance and policymaking than they did in the past. Youth in many countries are taking part in the development of national level policies, frameworks and plans of action; there is broad recognition at the international level that investing in youth and empowering them to be active and engaged participants in their communities and countries is crucial to achieving positive development outcomes. In addition, youth participation enhances skill development, confidence and competency building. ChildFund believes that when youth are equipped to fully participate in decisions that are affecting their lives through access to resources, knowledge, and opportunities for engagement, they become selfconfident, strong, healthy, productive, and secure persons.
literature reviewed. In fact, much of the research has shown that the two are necessarily intertwined, and that civic engagement must include a public leadership component (Adler and Goggin 2005; L. J. Hastings 2011). Specific theories, such as Youth Leadership Development (YLD) connect both civic engagement and leadership. Programs based upon YLD aim to provide young people with the ability to lead by improving leadership skills as well as supporting young people to work constructively in teams with peers, and boost youth participation and contribution in their communities. Many such programs develop these skills within projects that enable youth to enact civic service projects for the good of their community (Center For Creative Leadership 2011; Velsor 2011).
There is often no one specific factor that could be pinpointed as to why young people are or are not civically engaged or assume leadership roles; rather, engagement (or disengagement) among young people is usually the result of several factors that interact to either facilitate the involvement of youth in the community and in civic life or to impede it. While their specific characteristics and their level of importance or relevance might vary from one situation or context to the other, there are some factors which have been identified to be especially significant in either driving or restraining youth civic engagement and leadership.