Project description
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During the period 2001 and 2007, UN-HABITAT Safer Cities Programme has developed regional strategies on youth in Africa and Latin America building on demonstrative pilots carried out in several cities in both regions. The two regional strategies presented innovative research on the most vulnerable categories of youth advancing the perspective of youth as resources building on the social capital rather than a problematic approach to crime and violence. Building on the strategies, an International Youth Crime Prevention and Cities Summit was held in Durban in June 2008 which proposed the advancement of action-oriented research and tools on socio-cultural programmes run by urban youth in slums in Africa and Latin America. This has led to the establishment of a Safer Cities International Youth-led Urban Development Platform (DARUA) – a network of urban arts groups working in disenfranchised neighbourhoods. Furthermore, it led to the establishment of a Global online interactive website facility run by Baobab Connections with active nodes in cities where the Safer Cities Programme is active in supporting local government capacity building on urban safety and social cohesion. However, inspite of notable results of these urban arts programmes on the ground there is a lack of successful integration of these initiatives into policy, demonstrating the need for local policy designed for reduction of urban vulnerabilities to crime and violence using socio-cultural tools targeting urban youth in slums within these localities. The purpose of the present proposal is therefore to initiate a series of socio-cultural activities targeting reduction of urban vulnerabilities to crime and violence that will inform and contribute to the development of local level policies integrating social cultural tools in the urban safety and social cohesion agenda, a prerequisite in the attainment of the goals and targets of the Millennium Declaration. By creating working groups of key government and civil society actors in four localities affected by high crime and violence, this project will create the necessary conditions for the exchange of relevant knowledge between key actors in all four localities, that will inform the establishment of a socio-cultural tool to enhance the role of youth in crime and violence prevention strategies at the local level, the design of an online resource facility by local actors for each locality, and advocacy for the utilization of the socio-cultural tools in integrating young people by local government and civil society groups. |
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Location: : Dar, Nairobi, Kampala, Durban, Bujumbura, , Goma, Medellin, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro |
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Partner: UN-HABITAT, UNODC, UNICEF and Harvard University |
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Budget: USD 625,000 |
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Received/Pledged: |
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Focus Area(s)
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Background
Of the estimated 1 billion people living in slums and inner cities, more than half are comprised of youth under the age of 25 and 40 percent are estimated to be under the age of 19. They are the primary victims of poverty and unemployment and lack of access to health and education. The living conditions in slums, characterized by inadequate shelter and related infrastructure and services, are further compounded by the lack of physical space and social facilities for poor urban youth to develop themselves physically, mentally and emotionally. Despite this potentially explosive situation, the issues of urban youth living in slums and inner cities are largely absent in urban policies and strategies. Furthermore, urban youth, often perceived by public authorities as a problem rather than part of effective solutions, are rarely included in decisions affecting their livelihoods. Yet many urban youth living in disenfranchised neighbourhoods are increasingly turning to socio-cultural media using urban art towards providing alternative opportunities for young people at risk of falling into gangs or other forms of delinquency with notable results of art programmes on the ground. The explanations behind the majority of the successful programs based on the art are in the creative dialogue created by the artistic process, where the artist and the community interact with resultant social benefits to the neighbourhood cohesion. As a powerful tool to stimulate the creativity, the self-knowledge and the diffusion, the art provides the essential hardware for initiatives directed to including those who for diverse reasons are socially excluded. However, there is still an increasing need for more in-depth analysis on urban art as one of the multidisciplinary actions aimed at the prevention of crime and violence. Without a useful explanation of how and why is the art employed in the prevention of the urban crime and violence, will keep many doubting the evidence of the efficacy of the art and thus losing opportunities of effective investments in urban youth.
Objective
To develop local level urban youth development policies reducing urban vulnerabilities through socio-cultural tools. The project aims at emphasizing the power of art and media as transformative tools for telling stories, reshaping society and consciousness, and sharing experiences that contribute to the reduction of urban vulnerabilities shift towards safer cities and communities.The project will also contribute to the Global Network on Safer Cities including the International Youth-led Urban Development Platform established at the 2008 International Youth Crime Prevention and Cities Summit in Durban, South Africa. In the final analysis, the project will also contribute to the leveraging of practices for the UN-HABITAT Youth Source Book.
Target Group
The project is targeting “doers” as well as decision-makers in four cities, : Dar, Nairobi, Kampala, Durban, Bujumbura, Goma, Medellin, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro
