Bridging the Gaps: UNDP Youth Strategy and Key Populations

As young key populations strategically using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Youth Strategy 2014-2014 [PDF], the Bangkok, Thailand-based network led by young men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender (TG) people, Youth Voices Count, or YVC (see Related Summaries, below) launched this guide to integrate their advocacy in the Asia and Pacific region and beyond. The objective of the guide is to enable them and other like-minded youth activists to use both SDG and UNDP Youth Strategy platforms to deliver integrated and effective advocacy interventions at the local, regional, and global levels. "The framework we present here provides you with an easily digestible summary of the UNDP Youth Strategy in order to facilitate a better understanding of its expected outcomes, approaches and entry points. As young people advocating for the rights, issues and needs of young people, it is crucial that we seek to maximize our partnerships with stakeholders by aligning our strategies with theirs."

As detailed here, the UNDP youth strategy is grounded in 2 basic principles:

1. Young people in all their diversity have both a right and a duty to participate and contribute to development at the community level and beyond.
2. Participation of young people in community development, labour markets, political processes, public life, environmental stewardship, peace building and conflict prevention will increasingly shape and transform the quality of prospects for sustainable development.

Grounded in these 2 premises, the strategy takes a 4-pronged approach: (i) support through capacity building; (ii) engagement through advocacy and mainstreaming; (iii) influence through thought leadership; (iv) sustained through national policy...to reach 3 outcomes: (i) increased economic empowerment of youth; (ii) enhanced youth civic engagement and participation in decision making and political processes and institutions; and (iii) strengthened youth engagement and resilience building. The strategy aims for the fulfillment of the civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights of young people, who are central to UNDP's sustainable human development framework.

The core argument presented here: "Achieving the strategic outcomes of the UNDP Youth Strategy necessitates meaningful engagement of young people from key populations including young LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people. In order to do this UNDP need[s] to implement effective strategies to ensure that young people from these populations are reached, engaged and benefited from their engagement. Local and regional organizations of young key populations and young LGBTI people have a vital role to play in bridging UNDP outreach and capacity gaps in reaching young key populations due to their extensive established networks."

To explain how this might look, the guide takes the reader through the 4 key elements (see above), summarising the linkages of these elements to HIV advocacy and young people with a focus on young gay men, young bisexual men, other young MSM, and young transgender people. To cite only one example, with regard to "engagement through advocacy and mainstreaming", suggestions are made for the engagement of young people from marginalised communities in planning and design, implementation, measurement, and engagement alongside governments on policy and programming that contribute to sustainable human development planning, solutions, and innovations. This might involve: investment in developing and strengthening systems or networks of youth information exchange and dissemination in collaboration with state and non-state actors; inclusion of digitally excluded young people such as young people living in rural areas, young people in areas of conflict, young people with disabilities, and illiterate young people; identification of youth goodwill ambassadors to engage young people without access to information and communication technologies (ICT); establishment of youth-sensitive organisational mechanisms within UNDP at the global, regional, and national levels; and establishment of youth technical advisory boards and youth engagement task teams to oversee the degree of youth inclusivity.

In order to reach the outcomes set out in the youth strategy, UNDP provides key recommendations that could be carried out by partners, stakeholders, and youth advocates. They are summarised in this guide. This section is followed by a discussion of YVC's advocacy work as it relates to the UNDP Youth Strategy, the SDGs, and HIV. YVC's experience and perspective lead it to recommend the following actions to further increase the support for young people to meaningfully participate:

Stakeholders

• "Support the capacity building interventions led by and serving young key populations targeting meaningful engagement in policy advocacy;
• Support capacity building workshops of young key populations on policy advocacy through provision of technical assistance and resources;
• Conduct capacity assessments of organizations and networks led by and serving young key populations to identify capacity gaps;
• Create quotas, positions and spaces available for young key populations in advocacy platforms, bodies and committees especially in SDG processes including indicator development;
• Integrate guidelines into existing process or mandates to ensure spaces for young key populations in advocacy platforms;
• Convene special sessions for and with representatives from young key populations parallel to the larger advocacy meetings;
• Ensure disaggregated data generation on young key populations as a means of monitoring and evaluation;
• Invest in generating disaggregated data on young key populations;
• Disaggregate data in IBBS [integrated HIV bio-behavioral surveillance] and other data generated nationally and locally;
• Engage young key populations in designing, implementing and analyzing data generation efforts;
• Support economic empowerment initiatives targeting young key populations;
• Lobby local and national governments to create specific quotas for young key populations in vocational training centers;
• Advocate for policies and guidelines on addressing stigma, discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) at work places;
• Support initiatives building the capacity of young key populations on smart investments, savings and entrepreneurship;

Young key populations

• Actively explore and establish partnerships with other community organizations, UN agencies and stakeholders working on SDG implementation, indicator development and monitoring;
• Develop briefs of key priorities of young Key populations engaging in the SDG implementation process at the country level;
• Reach out to other community organizations and UN agencies with the key priorities of young key populations on SDG implementation at the country level;
• Form young key populations task teams to initiate, maintain and continue advocacy towards meaningful engagement of young key populations in the SDG implementation process;
• Support and lead the disaggregated data generation on young key populations at the country level;
• Lobby with local governments, UN Agencies and other community organizations to initiate, support and fund disaggregated data generation on young key populations;
• Engage and contribute to the designing and implementation of data generation efforts on young key populations in data analysis;
• Volunteer in the implementation of data generation mechanisms to reach young key populations at all levels;
• Mobilize and strategically organize young people locally and nationally to advocate for issues that concern young people and sustainable development;
• Reach out to other organizations, networks and groups of young people to initiate linkages and collaborations;
• Disseminate information on SDGs, SDG implementation, indicator development;
• Involve other young people in key discussions on SDG implementation to bring more representation at the country level."

Annex A of this document provides a coordinated approach taking into account the linkages between young key populations, the SDGs, and the UNDP Youth Strategy in order to better align advocacy efforts with the global 2030 agenda. Annex B offers a "5 Ps approach to UNDP youth strategy and Switched On: Youth at the Heart of Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific."