Rural Youth Inclusion, Empowerment, and Participation

Abstract

This paper focuses on participation in decision-making processes and how rural youth could benefit from its use in development projects and initiatives. General literature and relevant international experiences related to participation mechanisms aimed at youth show that participation boosts interventions linked to improvements of young people’s livelihoods and developmental opportunities. However, participation mechanisms are less explored (and used) in rural settings: we know little of the effectivity of rural participation, even less so for youth, in developing countries. Based on the review of 54 documented cases about participation of rural youth in developing countries, we conclude that participation mechanisms towards rural youth can produce substantial results to enhance the development and social inclusion opportunities through three channels. First, collecting rural youth´s opinions around issues relevant to them through platforms that are sensible to the challenges they face to participate. Second, capitalising rural youth and their organisations, improving their financial assets but also working in character skills and intergenerational partnerships that let them break the status quo. Third, articulating youth with new institutions, organisations, and territories through new links supported by diversification of the urban-rural continuum and new information technologies.