Gender and empowering urban youth

Today’s young people are the “best educated generation in history,” according to the United Nations World Youth Report 2007.  Greater equality in school enrolment between boys and girls in a growing number of countries, especially at the primary school level, is a contributing factor.

©UN-HABITAT

Globally, young people between the ages of 15 and 24 represent 18 per cent of the world’s population or 1.2 billion people and according to the World Bank, 87% live in developing countries.  Youth are a great resource for building the economies of cities, and indeed of countries.

This is why UN-HABITAT is working hard to improve employability and entrepreneurship among young people, with special attention to young women.  The 2008 State of the World’s Cities report found that only about 3.8% of people between the ages of 15 and 24 in the world are employed. It also revealed that in Eastern and Southern African countries, more than 40 per cent of young women were neither employed nor in education.

Improving opportunities for young women in informal settlements 

In particular, young women in informal settlements often miss out on opportunities for formal paid employment because they have children at an earlier age, compared to their counterparts in planned settlements.  They also take on more domestic responsibilities than men that limit their ability to participate more fully in employment and training.

Taking this into account, UN-HABITAT adapted programming of its One-Stop Youth Information and Resource Centre in Nairobi to make it easier and more welcoming for young women to attend.  The Centre discovered that although many young women from informal settlements expressed interest in using the Centre, their domestic duties and childcare responsibilities made it difficult to travel into the city centre.

As a result, UN-HABITAT has opened three satellite centres in informal settlements in Nairobi, so that young women in those areas can also have a space for services such as employment counselling, computer and internet resources and HIV/AIDS education.  Moreover, the programme has introduced monthly “Girl-to-Girl” talk sessions, where young women have a safe space to talk in confidence about the issues affecting them and to learn from each other.  The other One-Stop Centres in Dar es Salaam, Kampala and Kigali also monitor gender balance in participation levels and strive for good participation from both young women and men.

Supporting youth projects that promote gender equality

When UN-HABITAT launched its global Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development in November 2008, wide marketing of the fund included women’s networks.

The application guidelines further specified that projects promoting gender equality were particularly welcomed.  With grants ranging from $5000 to $25,000, the Fund provides capital for young people to solve problems in their own communities.

©UN-HABITAT More than 250 young women and men from the informal settlements of Kibera and Mavoko in Kenya learned construction and business skills.

And their communities are often the slums and informal settlements.  One out of every three people living in cities in the developing world lives in a slum.  More than 300 young women and men from informal settlements have received training in construction-related skills through UN-HABITAT’s Youth Empowerment Programme in Kenya.

1. Construction is an industry traditionally dominated by men, but the programme was very successful in engaging young women in learning both the more physical side of construction (including block-making, carpentry and masonry), and the softer side of the industry, including business development and computing— transferrable skills that can be used in virtually any business.

Related links:

UN-HABITAT and Youth

Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development