Social Innovations
Youth Ideas: A Rich Resource
Today, the United Nations is launching the International Year of Youth to celebrate the energy, imagination and participation of youth in overcoming global challenges. This celebration is about the vibrant ideas of young people around the world and their enthusiasm for putting these ideas into action. President Obama’s recent Young African Leaders Forum highlighted several innovators... (continue reading this blog post)
Today, the United Nations is launching the International Year of Youth to celebrate the energy, imagination and participation of youth in overcoming global challenges. This celebration is about the vibrant ideas of young people around the world and their enthusiasm for putting these ideas into action.
President Obama’s recent Young African Leaders Forum highlighted several innovators - Ariane Inkesha from Rwanda, who is strengthening the role of women in peace-building; Donald Kalokoh from Sierra Leone, who is creating jobs for women and youth; Jalia Nabukalu from Uganda, who is helping women who sell textiles acquire the financial skills to grow their businesses, to name a few. These young leaders are realistic. They are aware of the challenges that their countries face and they continue to push forward with possible solutions
We know that young people have an uninhibited ability to visualize change. Their ideas are often creative, dynamic, and bold. What would happen if these ideas were actually implemented and scaled-up? Would we see an increase in new jobs, economic growth, and social stability, as well as a more equitable society? It’s hard to predict, but there is an untapped potential in youth that may be a valuable resource for all of us. Their ideas could greatly expand our knowledge about creating jobs, addressing poverty and building strong communities.
All ideas require cultivation and tools to take root. This is why our Foundation collaborates with partners that help young leaders and entrepreneurs realize their potential and transform their ideas into enterprises. The African Leadership Academy models this type of initiative effectively. It provides young people with access to skills, mentors, and networks. It also develops the ingrained entrepreneurial spirit of its students by encouraging them to link their ideas to Africa’s challenges and development priorities. The result? A confident, capable and passionate group of young leaders committed to transforming Africa.
This year’s celebration of youth should be a call to action. Let’s listen. Let’s partner with young people to turn their ideas into tangible actions. And finally, let’s embed these ideas and youth-led initiatives within our communities. Why not let youth lay down the foundation for their future?
I would love to hear from young people on this forum. What are your ideas? How are you putting your ideas into action?
Reeta Roy is president and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation, a private, independent foundation based in Toronto. Its global mandate is to enable people living in poverty, particularly youth, to improve their lives and the lives of their families and communities by expanding their access to microfinance and education.
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COMMENTS
BY Alex Tuck
ON August 18, 2010 11:28 PM
Reeta,
Thank you for your kind words about the potential of youth to create significant impact on our society. While I don’t know if I’m considered a “youth” anymore, at 26, I’m sure I’m considered among the younger individuals in the social entrepreneur realm. A little over a year ago, I left my job as a Business Analyst at an investment firm in Philadelphia to start a small nonprofit venture of my own. After about 9 months of research, fundraising, and paperwork, we settled on a solid plan for economic development: 0% interest micro-loans in Nicaragua. Our organization, People Helping People Global, believes strongly that micro-finance needs to return to the main objective upon which it originated: to provide the poor access to otherwise non-attainable credit which would ultimately help them escape the depths of poverty.
While there are plenty of arguments against the 0% model, we believe that extending services to impoverished individuals in the form of credit with temporary abatement from interest payments can really put individuals in a position of success. As our loan recipients increase their standards of living, we provide them with information on other banks and organizations. We try our hardest to provide our loan recipients with the information necessary to move on to bigger loans with market rates. The truth is that our organization aims to provide the world’s poorest individuals with a “boost up to the first rung of the ladder of development” as Jeffrey Sachs puts it. The market can take over from there.
Now, back to the youth for a bit. Our organization is focusing heavily on a neighborhood just outside of Granada, Nicaragua that has an extreme level of respect for education and the potential of youth. These are the types of neighborhoods that will flourish and will produce the future leaders of the country. In Nicaragua (and all over the more impoverished regions of the world), you will see youth used for begging, selling wares in the street, or working on farms. The opportunity cost of their time in school is thought of as too great to warrant their absence from money/resource making activities. Our goal in providing these micro-loans is to allow parents to create viable income-generating ventures while allowing the children to go to school, be children, and grow up to change their country for the better.
I have an extreme hope for our generation and those that follow. We owe it greatly to our parents’ generation for convincing us that anything is possible if you’re willing to work hard enough for it. Tons of my peers are out there taking similar risks and doing what they can to make the world a better place. I think the key is keeping everyone motivated long beyond the years where “youth” ends.
Thanks much for your article,
Alex Tuck
BY Reeta Roy
ON September 3, 2010 02:03 PM
Alex, thank you very much for your thoughtful response . You are right, the time to invest in young people is now. I am so glad to hear that your organization is focused on youth. I wish you and People Helping People Global much success.