Youth Workers Creating Paths to PeaceAn Introduction and Guidelines

November 2015

YOUTH

WEEK

WORK

Our global partners for Youth Work Week are:

In Asia:

Pravah

Pravah is a leading youth development organisation in India with over 22 years of experience in designing and implementing youth interventions that promote peace, justice, equality and inclusion.

In Africa:

Monash, South Africa

Monash South Africa in Johannesburg is dedicated to supporting South Africa and the continent to meet its diverse economic and educational needs by producing internationally recognised graduates. It also runs courses in child and youth development.

Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, South Africa

The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation is responsible for youth development policy in South Africa, and sits with the Presidency of South Africa.

National Youth Development Agency, South Africa

The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is a South African-based agency established primarily to tackle challenges that the nation’s youth are faced with.

University of South Africa (UNISA)

UNISA is the largest institution of higher education in South Africa and on the African continent, with the vision of becoming the leading African university in the service of humanity.

In the Pacific:

Western Australian Association of Youth Workers (WAAYW)

WAAYW is the professional association for youth workers in Western Australia, and promotes, develops and regulates the youth work profession to ensure better service to young people.

In the Caribbean:

Jamaica Professional Youth Workers Association (JPYWA)

JPYWA is the professional association for youth workers in Jamaica, and advocates on youth development and youth work issues, as well as developing and providing training for youth workers.

Youth Work Week

Youth Workers Creating Paths to Peace

An Introduction and Guidelines

November 2015

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ContentsWhat is Youth Work Week? An Event with an Impact

Resources

Commonwealth Youth Worker Awards

Event Ideas Checklist

Social Media Tips

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What is Youth Work Week? An event with an impact

At the Commonwealth, we define youth work as ‘the non-formal social and political education and empowerment of young people within a matrix of care ….’

Youth Work Week celebrates the contribution and achievements of youth

workers, including peer youth workers, and youth organisations throughout the

Commonwealth. It is also an opportunity to promote the value of youth work locally,

nationally and internationally in working with, and transforming young people’s lives

through showcasing the impact awardees have achieved. We also hope that this will

enhance 1. investment and planning around the capacity building of youth work, and

2. in helping youth workers support enabling work with young people on the ground.

We call it an event, but it is an event with an impact.

The Youth Work Week campaign aims to highlight the role of youth work in

supporting young people to understand more about themselves, others and society

and to equip them to engage positively with wider society. During Youth Work Week

youth groups all over the Commonwealth will be increasing awareness around youth

work and raising the profile of youth work.

For the fourth year running, the Commonwealth Secretariat will be celebrating Youth Work Week across the Commonwealth in partnership with the National Youth Agency in the UK from 2 to 8 November 2015, and with proactive youth work partners in the four regions of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

In keeping with the Commonwealth’s broader strategic goal of building tolerance and understanding globally, the Commonwealth Youth Work Week theme this year is Youth Workers Creating Paths to Peace.

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This thematic focus is part of a continuing engagement on a Commonwealth strategic priority which underpins the critical thought piece of the Commonwealth, Amartya Sen’s Civil Paths to Peace (2009) – an iconic document that set the tone for the Commonwealth’s role in reaching the broader goals of “restraining and removing the group-based violence and terrorism that have become such pernicious features of the contemporary world” through smaller steps through exploring “initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect throughout the Commonwealth.”1

How you organise around the Youth Work Week theme is up to all of you. What is important is that the theme of Youth Workers Creating Paths to Peace is also promoted through the events and campaigns. How do youth workers work with young people in situations of armed conflict or other forms of social conflict? How does this work contribute to social and national development?

HistorySince 2012, there has been growing interest for Youth Work Week. Youth workers in Commonwealth countries have set up national youth worker associations, held consultations with decision makers and others on the role and contribution of youth work to national development and contributed to developing plans and strategies to strengthen youth work within national youth policies. They have worked diligently to help young people recognise their strengths and overcome their challenges, and to ensure youth participation in the design of national plans and strategies that enhance young people’s rights.

The Commonwealth Youth Programme continues to prioritise youth work professionalisation, and we have a number of interesting plans that we hope will raise the profile of / support for youth workers. These include:

• Demonstrating and replicating models of youth work practice.

• Joint hosting of the second Commonwealth Conference on Education and Training of Youth Workers, in collaboration with the Government of South Africa and the University of South Africa in 2016

• Formation of a new Consortium of Academic Institutions for the delivery of Youth Work Training

• Establishment of a Commonwealth Alliance of Youth Workers Association in order to consolidate youth work regulation and practice

We also plan to facilitate better networking between youth workers, so you can share your good practices and reflect on your contribution to supporting young people.

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing how you are celebrating Youth Work Week this year.

The material accompanying this document, including the Practice Guide for Youth Workers Creating Paths to Peace, aim to provide some background information and guidance to support you in the run-up to the Week and to make the most of the opportunity when it arrives.

1 Civil Paths to Peace, Commonwealth Secretariat, 2009, p 5.

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Resources1. A Practice Guide to understand and implement actions around

Youth Workers Creating Paths to Peace.

2. The Commonwealth’s A 12-Step Guide to Establishing a Youth Worker Association

3. Guidance on developing Code of Ethics for Youth Workers and Youth Worker Association which promotes enabling, empowering youth work.

The CommonwealthThe Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 nations, supporting each other and working together towards shared goals in democracy and development. There are two billion people living in Commonwealth nations, over half of whom are under 25.

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Commonwealth Youth Worker Awards

The Commonwealth Youth Worker Awards celebrate the achievements of some of the most inspiring youth workers – those who transform the lives of young people and the communities in which they live.

In 2015 the Commonwealth Youth Programme called for nominations for the Commonwealth Youth Worker Awards from youth workers, including peer youth workers, youth organisations and statutory organisations with a specific focus on youth workers working on peace-building and social cohesion. Youth work organisations from across the Commonwealth have nominated youth workers who are passionate about their work, and who have made a great contribution both to young people and to the communities they work in.

The Youth Worker Award will be presented to the winner in London, UK on the 4th November.

If you have any queries about Youth Work Week 2015 please email us at youth@commonwealth.int.

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Event Ideas Checklist Here is a quick checklist of events you can hold in your country or community as part of Youth Work Week. Some of these will vary in popularity and relevance from country to country, however we hope it has something for everyone! Remember to contact your local media and local politicians or people of authority – this is a chance to highlight the impact and importance of youth work in your country!

Use the theme! Focus as much as possible on the theme and slogan in your campaigns, but don’t be limited by it if you feel that there are pressing national/local youth work issues that need to be addressed during Youth Work Week.

Use the Practice Guide: Use the Practice Guide for Youth Workers Creating Paths to Peace available on this website to initiate dialogue and action around social cohesion and peace.

Make your events as high-profile as possible: Try to host events that bring decision-makers together with youth workers for dialogue around youth workers focused on social cohesion and peace-building. Also try to involve those at a local level with credibility in the community.

Link campaigns to existing policy commitments: Does your country have a youth policy or other national planning document that makes commitments towards professionalising youth work or strengthening youth services? Does it specifically mention the role of youth workers in social cohesion and peace-building? Try to link these commitments to the Youth Work Week topic and events so that the relevance of strengthening youth workers to national development is clear.

Circulate the draft Commonwealth Code of Ethics; review and share your thoughts on a Commonwealth Code of Ethics in Youth Work; develop your own national Code of Ethics for Youth Work Professionals.

Hold a national youth worker recognition ceremony/award: Promote outstanding youth workers in your country through the media and various outlets.

Nominate your 2015 outstanding youth worker working towards social cohesion and peace for the Commonwealth Youth Worker of the Year Award.

Organise a meeting with the Minister of Youth on the importance of youth work in creating peace and social cohesion: Meetings could also be organised with other senior officials to discuss the main youth work issues in your country.

Write a case study on a successful youth work project in your country on social cohesion and peace: Share with us; remember to send photos and video content that can also be shared with others.

Hold performing arts workshops on social cohesion and peace-building: These could include films, radio shows, musical presentations, theatre, and dance on the topic of youth work and collective strength.

Visual arts workshops: These could include murals, prints, badges, paintings/drawings, fashion design, digital media, and photography on the topic of youth workers creating paths to peace.

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Host a volunteer event and/or Fundraise: This could be for your organisation or for another worthy youth work cause.

Hold a recruitment drive: This is a great way to boost your profile in the community and recruit more youth workers to the cause!

Organise a flash mob: Brainstorm with local young people to do a random flash mob, the date and venue secret to the public. It could be in the form of a dance in a highly crowded public place, a red carpet at the bus stop, etc.

Produce a youth magazine/or other publication on youth workers creating paths to peace –Young people can submit pieces about their experiences with youth work, and commission interviews with community or political leaders about the importance of youth workers.

Run a local youth event on the theme of youth workers creating paths to peace: This could be in the form or a competition, music event, dance competition.

Run a social media campaign: Use this as an opportunity to generate more interest in your social media presence. You can run a competition, do a poll around the theme, and build your profile by running an article, competition, poll or question each day of Youth Work Week. Don’t forget to include #YWW15 and #Commonwealth in the conversation!

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Social Media TipsTwitter and Facebook are the most popular social media outlets and generally most young people will have accounts or access to these sites. Both of these media are great, and when used in conjunction with each other, are an effective way of interacting with different audiences.

Not only is social media an opportunity to raise your profile among your followers and to engage with young people in your programmes, it is also an opportunity to be seen by major media outlets and politicians. Tweets and Facebook status updates regularly get picked up by the media. The more engaging the information, the more likely it will be noticed.

Targeting young people and stakeholders on social media:

Twitter: Hashtags are the best way to interact with young people on your projects. An effective way of using hashtags is to utilise already developed ones that have significant followings. Start using the YWW hashtag #YWW15 and ask your young people to use it so that they can interact with people around the Commonwealth who are also running events and projects during Youth Work Week. Let us know what you’re up to by tweeting @ComSecYouth, @commonwealthsec and @natyouthagency.

Facebook: When you post a status update make it relevant, interesting and potentially finish with a question/call to action which makes the update more interactive. Other options are running competitions, which gives an incentive for people to get involved, and polls to get people’s opinions – an idea might be to link polls to the Youth Workers Creating Paths to Peace theme.

Please use the Commonwealth Youth Programme’s Facebook page to post details of what you are planning and see what others are doing: https://www.facebook.com/ComSecYouth

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Real-life case study example

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Press Release Template

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Commonwealth Secretariat

Marlborough House, Pall Mall

London SW1Y 5HX

United Kingdom

thecommonwealth.org

Commonwealth Secretariat

Marlborough House, Pall Mall

London SW1Y 5HX

United Kingdom

thecommonwealth.org

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