YOUTH JUSTICE IN SOUTH AFRICA - Application for ODW 2021 from KFUK-KFUM Global and South Africa YMCA - Operasjon Dagsverk
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Time Magazine Cover Page, May 2019
YOUTH JUSTICE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Application for ODW 2021 from KFUK-KFUM Global and
South Africa YMCA
Søker: KFUK-KFUM Global (YGlobal)
Tema: Ungdom på kant med loven
Land: Sør-Afrika
0
1. Norsk sammendrag
Sør-Afrika er landet i verden hvor det er størst forskjell på fattig og rik. Selv om det nå er 26 år siden
apartheid tok slutt, lever fremdeles over halve befolkningen under fattigdomsgrensen, og rasismen
gjennomsyrer samfunnet. Ungdom er spesielt hardt rammet. De forteller at det er vanskelig å skaffe
seg en trygg inntekt og jobb, de er stigmatisert og blir sett på som late og i opposisjon. Mange opplever
at de ikke lyttet til og at meningene deres blir ikke respektert av de voksne. Ungdommer som vokser
opp uten gode familiestrukturer og trygghet rundt seg presses ofte ut i kriminalitet, rusmisbruk og
vold. I mangel på en familie søker mange felleskap i gjenger og ender opp i konflikt med loven. Unge
jenter er spesielt sårbare fordi fysisk og seksuell vold mot kvinner er et enormt stort samfunnsproblem
i Sør-Afrika.
Gjennom et opplæringsprogram i livsmestring, og gjennom aktiviteter på YMCA Sør-Afrikas lokale
Youth Justice-sentre vil 5000 ungdommer få en helhetlig oppfølging i og utenfor skolen. Dette er
ungdom som er i risikosonen for å komme på kant med loven, som allerede har begått lovbrudd, eller
er ofre for kjønnsbasert vold. Mange av disse er i ferd med, eller har allerede droppet ut av skolen.
Programmet vil gi ungdommene grunnleggende ferdigheter i konflikthåndtering, helse og HIV, seksuell
og reproduktiv helse og rettigheter, samt ledertrening. De vil videre få psykososial rådgivning og støtte,
og de som trenger det vil få hjelp til avrusning og rehabilitering. Gjennom aktiviteter og kurs får
ungdom ferdighetene og støtten som trengs for å komme seg ut av destruktive miljøer og ikke droppe
ut av skolen. På lokale Youth Justice-sentre vil deltagerne i programmet få datatrening, jobbsøkerkurs
og økt kunnskap om entreprenørskap. På Youth Justice-sentrene får ungdommene ta del i Peacemaker-
grupper som styres av ungdommene selv, og hvor de driver påvirkningsarbeid, utfordrer
beslutningstakere eller utvikler egne sparetiltak og småbusinesser. Programmet vil jobbe på 12 ulike
steder i Sør-Afrika.
Norge er ett av landene i verden med størst likhet mellom fattig og rik. Den store ulikheten og
urettferdigheten ungdommer opplever i Sør-Afrika vil kunne være en øyeåpner for ungdommer i
Norge. I Sør-Afrika er det slik at mulighetene du har i livet i stor grad avgjøres av hvor og av hvem du
er født, ettersom det er liten grad av sosial og økonomisk mobilitet. Deltakelse i Youth Justice-
programmet gi ungdom muligheten til å selv ta tak i og endre kursen i livet. Dette vil ungdom i Norge
kunne bidra til gjennom Operasjon Dagsverk. KFUK-KFUM nettverket i Norge består av mange
engasjerte ungdommer over hele landet som kan bidra i OD-kampanjen og vi kan gi muligheter for
ungdom til å engasjere seg videre i etterkant, slik vi har sett med OD 2018.
2. The situation for youth in South Africa
South Africa is ranked as the world’s most unequal country in economic terms1. The country has
experienced growth and social development in the years following apartheid, however this growth has
not benefited the population equally. Poverty and racism have prevailed, and over half the population
live below the poverty line2.
Youth are particularly vulnerable with 59 per cent at the age of 15-24 being unemployed3. The rise in
poverty, and lack of opportunities and social security systems, force many youth from disadvantaged
backgrounds to engage in dangerous and illegal activities. These are being recruited to steal, smuggle,
sell drugs or other illegal products, and are constantly at a high risk of ending up in conflict with the
law. It is very likely that these youth drop out of school, making their situation even harder. Poverty
and lack of opportunities also lead to a rise in alcohol and drug abuse, violence in general and violence
against women and LGBTIQ persons, also called gender-based violence (GBV). The rate of gender-
1 https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SI.POV.GINI/rankings
2 http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=12075
3 http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=13379
1based violence in South Africa is tremendously high. Between 01.04.20 and 31.02.20, more than
53,000 sexual offences were recorded, and on average are seven women killed every day4.
Youth with a complicated relationship to their families or who are orphans can find a replacement for
family ties, shelter, survival, and sense of belonging in a group of friends or a gang who shares a similar
background. Within a community of youth at risk, the influence of peers can often lead to the usage
of drugs, alcohol, and petty theft. These negative habits can spread through negative peer pressure
across a broader range of youth, e.g. when these youth attend school whiles being involved in a gang
or addicted to substances. This weakens the educational opportunities for the whole school and is a
risk to the safety and security of students. According to an evaluation by YMCA, almost 90 % of school
dropouts in Cape Flats abuse different forms of substance.
Generally, the environment in South Africa is characterized by adult centrism and is quite authoritarian
towards youth who are expected to be quiet and do what they are told. As such, youth often lack the
possibility to participate in decision making Youth are also often stigmatized as wrong doers. As such,
tension between the community and youth at risk is prevalent, and youth who have adopted
inappropriate attitudes, for instance not willing to get engaged in civic duties; failing to do homework;
or skip school – put themselves out of the community system. This leads to them being excluded from
their community and labelled as an undesirable person. At the same time, this behavior may originate
from being excluded or stigmatized in the first place.
Youth at risk are often excluded from sexual and reproductive health educational programs. This
results in high numbers of teenage pregnancies and spread of sexually transmitted diseases within this
group. Moreover, these youth are especially vulnerable for sexual harassment and rape, which is
worsened by the authorities’ lacking understanding and engagement. Youth who end up in prison lack
proper follow-up and reintegration into society during and after their imprisonment, resulting in many
being re-arrested short time after their release. This is a great concern especially as the South African
detention centers and prisons face extreme overcrowding resulting in serious health and human rights
violations.
2.1. Role of civil society organizations
In the absence of a strong government support net, civil society organizations play a large role in
supporting vulnerable youth. An organization like South Africa YMCA, which has a strong value-based
mission and is open to all youth in society, can play an important role in a young person’s life. By
providing good alternatives and targeted initiatives aimed at South African youth, this program will
contribute to reducing the risk of youth ending up in criminal activities and/or help rehabilitate these
to reduce the risk of return.
This proposed program is a continuation and scaling-up of the Youth Justice program that has been
run by YMCA for several years. The youth see YMCA as a welcoming safe space where they are met
with respect and not stigmatized because of their looks or their behavior. Through the Life Skills
program and other activities in this program, youth gain faith in themselves and in their future. The
program provides the tools needed to be able to take control over their own lives and to influence
their community and contribute to positive change.
4 https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-south-africas-crime-statistics-for-2019-20/
23. Expected results
The proposed program will contribute to the following: By 2026, 5000 South African, high-risk youth5
will have developed resilience and taken steps in becoming active citizens and agents of change in their
local communities and to their peers. This program objective is linked to the Overall Development Goal
of the program: “Youth have the Voice, Space and Ability to Influence those in Authority”. To achieve
the objective and contribute towards the Overall Development Goal, there are three Intermediate
Objectives with the following activities.
1. Youth at risk have strengthened their resilience through access to their rights and through
training that has been successfully linked to opportunities
▪ Life-skills training
▪ Counselling
▪ Drug rehabilitation, and access to other relevant services (through referral)
▪ Computer training
▪ Vocational training
▪ Economic empowerment through entrepreneurship and business training
2. Youth at risk have increased knowledge of gender justice and take active part in the fight against
gender-based violence
▪ Transformed masculinity and gender equality training
▪ Counselling of victims of Gender Based Violence
3. Youth have become active citizens and can challenge and influence duty bearers and those in
authority.
▪ Peacemaker groups advocacy training
▪ Peacemaker groups actions organized by the youth themselves
3.1. Youth at risk have strengthened their resilience through access to their rights and through training
that has been successfully linked to opportunities
80 % of the targeted youth are reached in high schools and the focus is on prevention. A three-month
Life Skills program with eight modules is run within school hours, in collaboration with the schools.
Here, youth are trained and those that need special attention are identified and given further
counselling and referral to drug rehabilitation or other services. The Life Skills training includes
modules on conflict management, health and HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health and
rights, and leadership skills.
The youth taking part in the Life-Skills program are usually identified in collaboration with the teachers.
The youth report that they decide to join the Youth Justice-program because many feel that they for
the first time in their life are treated with respect, taken seriously and not stigmatized because of their
looks or their behavior. The youth can be students at risk of dropping out of school or students who
have dropped out. These youth are often orphans or from child- or grandparent headed families, they
can be in conflict with the law, and are often absent from school.
All the Life Skills training in schools and counselling services offered to youth at risk are driven by YMCA
staff and young volunteers. The project will provide in-depth training in counselling skills for 200
volunteers and 12 staff. These skills are seen as critical to the success of the program. Trained
counsellors, on a peer to peer basis, can trigger many youth to change the course of their life. This is a
new component in the Youth Justice program and increases the youth participation and engagement
5High-risk youth is defined as vulnerable youth who: have dropped out of school; are homeless; live in juvenile sections in
prions; are survivors of gender-based violence; live in grandparent- or child headed homes.
3by giving youth the space to be trained and then engaged with their peers on a regular basis. The
training to become a lay counsellor, will also increase the resilience of the volunteers who themselves
come from broken communities. Training of counsellors A resilient person:
will be provided through a partnership that the SA YMCA ▪ Has a positive identity – individually and
has with the University of Kwazulu-Natal Psychiatry in connection to others
Department and the National Department of Health. ▪ Has a sense of belonging – for support
and safety
▪ Constantly learns – social skills, life skills,
Through the Life Skills training, youth develop resilience. work-orientated skills
Resilience is about being able to cope with negative ▪ Is able to cope – problem solve, keep
experiences, grow from this and become a stronger person boundaries, reflect and re-orientate
(see textbox). ▪ Has a core self, based on hope – belief,
emotional intelligence, responsibility
The Life Skills program uses the YMCA methodology
Subject to Citizen, designed to unlock the potential of youth as active citizens and equip them with the
skills and confidence to transform themselves and other youth (see figure below). The Subject to
Citizen-approach is based on the concept that youth are subjects in the way they are both excluded
and manipulated politically, economically, and socially. The result is that many youth are at risk, idle,
lack hope and confidence and are thus open to exploitation or in conflict with the law. Through the
Life Skills program youth move to a state of citizenship where they understand the root causes of
problems, articulate viewpoints and are part of positive change at various levels of decision-making,
and they are taken seriously.
About 20% of the targeted youth are youth in prisons/ youth correction centers, or who are homeless.
The focus of the work with this group is on re-integration back to society. In addition to going through
the Life Skills program, these youth are given mentoring, health education, counselling,
victim/offender mediation, home visits, and leadership development. These youth are aged up to 25,
however the majority of them still below 19. For youth not attending school, vocational training can
be part of the process. After going through the Life Skills program, youth may be referred to
organizations that do vocational training, and YMCA supports them to get a job and earn an income.
This program proposes the establishment of Youth Justice centers in local YMCAs. These centers are
safe spaces where youth can continue their engagement with the YMCA and where they can feel safe,
respected, and welcomed – no matter their background. Here, youth can access computers and the
internet to improve their digital skills and connect with the world. Youth are given trainings on how to
write job applications, how to start their own small businesses, and they can get counselling. The Youth
Justice centers will be attractive to youth and an arena for youth mobilization.
3.2. Youth at risk have increased knowledge of gender justice and take active part in the fight against
gender-based violence
Trainings in transformed masculinity and gender equality will be given to the youth as part of the
program. Transformative Masculinity is an understanding and framework to enable the program
intervention to transform young men from a toxic, dominant, hegemonic masculinity towards a
masculinity developed by young men on mutual understanding and respect. This is a methodology that
will be integrated in the new and scaled up Youth Justice program, as a response to the disturbing
4increase in gender-based violence afflicting South Africa. Survivors of Gender Based Violence are
supported through counselling and get access to the Youth Justice centres as safe spaces.
3.3. Youth have become active citizens and can challenge and influence duty bearers and those in
authority.
After a person has graduated through the Life Skills program, he or she can decide to join a YMCA
Peacemaker group. The Peacemaker group operates either in a school after hours, or at the Youth
Justice centers in connection to the local YMCAs. Peacemaker groups are coordinated and facilitated
by youth and run activities that the youth themselves have decided to do. YMCA’s role is to support
the groups in the process with resources, further training, and mentoring.
The Peacemaker groups will be trained in advocacy. The aim is to address issues facing youth such as
gender-based violence, other violent crime, unemployment, corruption, and aspects of mental health,
and to have institutions to respond to the needs of youth. Youth in a Peacemaker group identify what
to address and how to address the identified issues. Advocacy is done mostly on a community and
local level, towards institutions and politicians locally. Peacemaker groups can also get involved in
committees of YMCA at national and international level, link up youth in other countries and
participate in global advocacy campaigns through the YMCA movement and in collaboration with
YGlobal. The advocacy component will be strengthened in the new Youth Justice program, and youth
will use their voice and be seen as a resource.
An annual Youth Justice summit for youth representatives from the program and other stakeholders
will be held to exchange experiences and to raise important issues. The Youth Justice summit will also
play a role in the monitoring of the program.
3.4. Theory of change
The three intermediate objectives above are all reflected in the following Theory of Change:
4. Program information
Primary target group: The primary target group for the program is high-risk youth (about 55 % boys
and 45 % girls) aged 13-19 years. A smaller group (less than 10% of the total) of the target group will
be up to the age of 25. This latter group are youth who have not been able to complete school and
need support to get access to opportunities (education or jobs) and be a part of the re-integration.
Secondary target group: The secondary target group in the program is the beneficiary’s
family/guardians (often older siblings or grandparents). The involvement of the family into the
5program is important as a way of hindering youth to fall into serious crime and to encourage re-
integration. Teachers are also targeted in the program as they play an important role in identifying
youth who can benefit from being included into the program.
Geographical area: At the moment, YMCA works on Youth Justice at six sites across the country:
Soweto, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ravensmead and Cape Flats. With the
support from ODW, the Youth Justice program will expand to up to 12 sites. The new sites will be:
Garankuwa, Mamelodi, Kwamashu, Edendale, Athlone, Cape Town. These sites are selected based on
the following criteria: (1) These are all deprived areas where youth are facing huge challenges, as
described in the situation analysis. (2) The YMCAs in these sites have requested to join the Youth justice
program after seeing how successful it has been where it is currently running. The new sites will
gradually be brought into the program, 2 in each of the first three years, so that from 2025 the program
will be running in all 12 sites.
Time frame: The program will be running over a period of 5 years, from 2022-2026.
Experiences from the Youth Justice program: Internal evaluations of the Youth Justice program show
that the re-imprisonment rate of the youth who have participated in the program is low. While the risk
of re-offending on a general basis is 80%, the youth who have taken part in the Youth Justice program
have a 20% risk of re-offending. Regarding the prevention part of the program, no detailed, statistical
study has been conducted. However, indications in reports and individual stories show that the
program have had a positive impact on the participating youths’ lives.
4.1. Youth Participation
Youth who have taken part in the current Youth Justice program have participated in the development
and design of the suggested ODW-program. Youth-led workshops have been arranged during this
process to identify the most important challenges experienced by youth. This ensures that the program
deals with the issues that youth themselves prioritize, and not only what is assumed by adults.
Generally, youth’s feedback is an integral part of the program development and implementation. The
feedback is followed up on and youth are kept informed using different communication tools, social
media and in physical meetings.
The Life Skills program is based on a participatory methodology where youth participation is at the
core. The sessions are facilitated by young volunteers who themselves have graduated from the
program and who have been trained as facilitators. These volunteers are aged 18-24. Furthermore, the
Peacemaker groups are run and led by the youth themselves – allowing them space to decide what to
focus on. The YMCA program staff play an important role in supporting the youth and help coordinate
the program and partnership with schools and other external actors.
4.2. Partner in South Africa
YGlobal and South Africa YMCA have been partners since the early 1980’s, when we were collaborating
in the fight against apartheid. YGlobal has for several years observed the Youth Justice program run by
YMCA and is impressed by the results. The potential in this program is great, and funding is needed to
secure further running and expansion, as well as to allow for innovation in the program. At the same
time, we see this specific program as a very good match with ODW’s vision and principles. YGlobal will
be the contact towards ODW and secure high quality, reporting, and communication, while YMCA will
be the implementing partner in South Africa.
The South Africa YMCA is a non-political Christian youth movement, that reach out to all youth,
irrespective of their race, religion, gender, or ability. Nelson Mandela himself was a member of the
6Soweto YMCA in his youth. The YMCA was founded in 1865 in Cape Town and is made up of 15 local
associations in four provinces: Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
The YMCA has been involved in Youth Justice activities since 1989. Since then the movement has
impacted over 35,000 at risk youth through various programs. YMCA is cooperating closely with
schools and education authorities. As the YMCA experience began to develop with headmasters,
teachers, governing bodies and students, the challenges of education in post-apartheid South Africa
began to surface. Extensive research was done to identify the reasons why youth were unable to
complete their basic schooling. This led the YMCA to initiate the Youth Justice Prevention program. A
positive aspect is the direct collaboration with schools, allowing for the program to be run within the
school hours and in close collaboration with the headmasters and teachers.
YMCA constitutes of different independent local branches that work in the different sites. The
proposed program will be coordinated at the national level and implemented at the local branches,
where each branch will be in charge of their separate budget and where the program will be adapted
to the local context in each region. All branches work in schools, and some of the branches, but not all,
work in prisons and with homeless youth. In addition to the cooperation with schools and school
authorities, YMCA also cooperates with organizations that provide vocational training, health clinics,
social services, and drug rehabilitation centers. This means that they can refer youth in the program
to collaborating instances to complement the program.
4.3. Risk assessment
When working with vulnerable and high-risk youth in the context of South Africa, an extensive risk
analysis will have to be made before one can begin program implementation. Below are some of the
major internal and external risks in the program.
Prob-
Risk Consequence Preventive measures
ability
Internal risks
- Gradual implementation of program in new branches
- Branches lack ownership - Select branches with interest and capacity of program
Poor coordination
to program implementation
Low
and implementation
- Reduced quality in the - Involve branch coordinators and youth in program
after expansion to
program implementation development
new branches/sites
- Targets are not reached - Regular follow-up, good reporting routines and
transparency in the budget
- Ensure proper implementation of anti-corruption and
- Funds do not reach the
Mismanagement of financial mismanagement policies
Medium
intended target group
funds, corruption, - Have systems that hold responsible people accountable
- Freeze of program
embezzlement, or - Report any such cases to YGlobal immediately
support or termination of
nepotism - Program partnership agreement should include clauses on
the program agreement
zero-tolerance, anti-corruption and whistle-blowing
Sexual - Destructive effect on - Establish a clear whistle-blowing mechanism
harassment and program implementation - Train and communicate sexual harassment policies with all
Low
exploitation of actors - Mistrust to the program staff and volunteers
in the program and organization - Report any incidents to YGlobal for further follow-up
External risks
- Ensure to have good alternatives to normal
- Reduced program
implementation
quality
Challenges in - Train staff and volunteers in online tools as way of
Medium
- Lack of engaged
implementation due continuing the activities in case of lock-down or travel
beneficiaries
to Covid-19 or other restrictions.
- Difficulties in reaching
pandemics - Provide alternative measures of contact to youth and
the most vulnerable/
beneficiaries who do not have access to online services
marginalized
- Comply with national health measures
7- Participants can be
Beneficiaries/staff/ - Ensure that staff and volunteers have training in working
Medium
harmed
volunteers face with high-risk youth and in high-risk environments
- The program cannot be
dangers during - Involve beneficiaries and volunteers into dialogue
implemented as planned
implementation - Practice a do-no-harm policy
- Loss/theft of valuables
- Program goals are not
- Emphasis on including marginalized youth in all
Prejudices and biases met
Medium
groups, trainings, seminars, and other activities
toward high-risk - At risk youth are
- Include local community groups, religious/local leaders in
youth leads to lack of increasingly marginalized
assessing damage and planning adjustment of activities
integration - Youth lose faith in the
- Awareness raising through dialogue with local community
program
4.4. Budget
South Africa YMCA – Costs NOK
Operational cost
Life Skills volunteer training and follow-up (facilitation, project management, etc.) 1 200 000
Counselling training and follow-up of staff and 200 volunteers to become lay counselors 896 000
Digital skills training in Youth Justice centers (computer literacy, coding, video editing, design) 392 000
Business and entrepreneurship training 364 731
Equipment (including computers for Youth Justice centers) 950 880
Events and campaigns/communications 816 480
Annual Youth Justice conference for 200 persons 856 800
Travel for 200 volunteers/12 site coordinators to and from project sites 1 484 000
Program branding for volunteers and youth (T-shirts, caps, bags, pens, notebooks, banners) 407 680
Technical follow-up 634 816
Monitoring and evaluation 500 000
Total Operational cost 8 503 387
Personnel cost (salaries incl social benefit costs etc.)
National Project Manager 748 500
Local Youth Site Coordinators (12) 1 189 440
Finance Manager 545 782
IT Manager 561 375
Youth Justice center coordinators (12) 467 813
Total Personnel 3 512 910
Administration and finance
Office rent (incl. Youth Justice centers, phone, printer cartridges, Wi-Fi, software) 1 060 640
Audit fee 311 875
Bank fees and transfer 31 188
Total Admin and finance cost 1 403 703
TOTAL COSTS SOUTH AFRICA YMCA 13 420 000
YGlobal – Costs NOK
Evaluation and capacity building of partner on youth participation 500 000
Follow-up, including travels (8%) 1 280 000
Administration (5%) 800 000
TOTAL COSTS YGLOBAL 2 580 000
TOTAL PROJECT COSTS 16 000 000
85. About YGlobal:
YGlobal (KFUK-KFUM Global) is a youth focused development and solidarity organization closely
connected to its two owner-organizations, KFUK-KFUM Norge and KFUK-KFUM-speiderne. YGlobal
consists of a highly qualified and multinational staff of about 15, mainly young staff, as is in line with
our recruitment policy. The staff has extensive experience working with and for youth in advocating
for and realizing the SDGs. Furthermore, YGlobal have expertise in financial and results-based
management, monitoring and evaluation and reporting.
Our funding comes from Norad, Norec, BUFDIR, Operasjon Dagsverk and through own fundraising, and
we currently fund development programs in Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, Palestine, Madagascar, and South Africa. YGlobal is closely connected with the global
YWCA/YMCA-network which are found in over 140 countries and reach about 70 million children,
youth and women across the globe. Most of YGlobal’s work abroad is through local YMCAs or YWCAs.
These are well-established youth organizations in their respective local communities that in turn help
ensure a high level of local ownership and participation. This creates a balanced, equal, and mutually
enriching relationship between YGlobal and our local partners.
YGlobal has four strategic and crosscutting themes, just peace, climate justice, gender justice and
economic justice. Since 2012 we have had youth led policy units for each of the thematic areas. The
roles of these groups are to influence the decision making in the organizations, train others and to take
a lead role in advocacy work. Education is also a high priority and crosscutting theme at YGlobal and
we have long experience in working with partners on both formal and in-formal education.
Our owner organizations, KFUK-KFUM Norge and KFUK-KFUM-speiderne are two of Norway’s biggest
youth organizations with about 30 000 members nationally. YGlobal work closely with both
organizations on all four thematic areas giving us a unique possibility to reach out to Norwegian youth
all over the country in the fight for global justice and peace. Furthermore, close cooperation with KFUK-
KFUM’s six different Forandringshus will also help us to engage minority youth in the ODW-campaign.
If we were to be chosen for the ODW-project 2021, we would as an organization be able to mobilize
volunteers all around the country that could contribute to the ODW campaign.
In 2018 YGlobal organized the ODW-campaign for our project in Palestine (Frihet til å leve). The
campaign created a massive media-attention and debates all over the country. The attention rose as
Palestine was seen as a “controversial” choice of program-country, but also because YGlobal and our
volunteers managed to engage hundreds of youth in debates, school visits and also support youth in
pushing the importance of the ODW-campaign in their local communities and media. The 2018-
campaing has given us valuable knowledge and experience that we will bring into a new campaign in
2021. This is especially an important asset faced with the shrinking participation in the ODW-campaign.
5.1. Youth participation in YGlobal
Youth are the primary target group for YGlobal’s work, and youth participation is therefore a central
and crosscutting theme in our strategy. Youth are actively involved in shaping all our programs and
participate in the different projects. YGlobal’s overall goal states that “Empowered youth actively
participate in building justice and peace”, as such – the fundament in all our program-work is to give
youth a platform, space and a voice to be able to influence decision makers and create change.
Youth leadership is a guiding principle in the way decisions are made in YGlobal. YGlobal’s statutes
state that 50 % of the board members shall be below the age of 25. As previously noted, YGlobal have
four active youth-led political units focusing on the four crosscutting thematic areas of the
organization. Notably, the political unit on Climate Justice has played an instrumental role in the last
year’s climate strikes around the country. YGlobal always prioritize to send representatives at big
9international conferences such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the Conference
of the Parties (CoP). To ensure real impact and participation, the youth are trained and supported both
before and during the conferences. This empowers them play an important role in arranging side
events, meetings with politicians, advocate and contribute to social media. YGlobal and partners also
work actively along the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 to strengthen youth participation
democratic processes.
Proper youth participation and involvement is not a given most places in the world. As such, this is a
high priority in our work with partners abroad. Through conversations, trainings and capacity building
we are working together with our partners to create structural changes in the organizations and local
communities, pushing for youth to play a bigger part in the board rooms, and the development and
implementation of the programs.
5.2 Youth participation in YMCA South Africa
The YMCA in South Africa have a clear objective to empower youth and to support them in
transforming their lives for leadership and service. On decision making level, YMCA has a policy to
include 30 % youth on all local YMCA Boards and the National Executive committee. This ensures that
youth participate in key decision-making functions within the organization. Currently 90 % of YMCA’s
program volunteers are between 18-24 years.
In the ongoing Youth Justice program, YMCA has had good routines in receiving feedback from the
participating youth as a way of improving the program activities. Moreover, YMCA performs
assessments and evaluations after each life skills session using both digital tools and physical
meetings/focus groups with the participants. YMCA does a good job in involving experienced youth in
the running of the program activities - for example as peer-to-peer educators, group facilitators or
volunteers.
Though advanced, the YMCA is far from fully inclusive yet. In many branches it is still common that
older staff and volunteers make decisions on behalf of youth rather than including them into the
process. The YMCA does acknowledge that it has scope to improve in this area. This proposed ODW-
program with its strong focus on youth participation would add a lot to YMCA as an organization and
be a valuable force in raising the voices of the youth both within the organization and in the South
African society. YMCA has explicitly stated that in partnership with ODW and YGlobal, this program has
the potential to be a spearhead in the work for real and meaningful youth participation in their work,
both at program level and organizational level. YGlobal will support this process of meaningful youth
participation as reflected in the budget.
5.3. Procedures for monitoring and control
The key tool for results management and monitoring is the results framework. We will have detailed
plans in place to collect, analyze and use data for monitoring, and potentially adjusting approaches or
activities to achieve expected results. The intervals for collecting data depends on the
project, activities, and tools. Results will be documented and published in annual reports to ODW.
YGlobal supports the development of the partner’s planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning with
capacity development during regular visits and/or online meetings and annual capacity building-
partner meetings. YGlobal aims at being a learning organization open for improvement and prioritizes
time and resources to follow up on lessons learned and new initiatives. To secure high quality of our
systems, one staff member has been appointed with the role as M&E focal person. Partners report on
a bi-annual basis including narrative comments on progress and challenges. The partners are
responsible for the follow-up of the results of their individual projects. YGlobal will verify and run some
participatory assessments, such as running a small trial of the Most Significant Change, while visiting
10for project follow-up. In general, external evaluations are commissioned to evaluate larger and
strategic programs by the end of the implementation period. Internal or external mid-term reviews
are often used as a tool to adjust during the program.
YGlobal is committed to a zero tolerance for fraud and corruption. YGlobal has an anti-fraud and
corruption policy as well as whistle-blowing policy that all partners are required to adhere
to. YGlobal’s written whistleblowing policy is available on our webpage.
YGlobal has detailed financial management manuals. Routines on how to deal with mismanagement,
including freeze the funds, informing the donor and forensic audit is part of the manual. All
partners have to comply with the routines for follow-up of partners outlined in the respective manuals
and procedures. The routines specify requirements prior to sending funds, as well as formats for
budgeting and reporting. The partners prepare budgets and reports in local currency. The budgets are
converted to NOK using actual exchange rates as given at the time of budgeting. For the contract
agreements, the agreed amounts are given in NOK. Prior to receiving funds, the partners must provide
double confirmation of the correct account. Partners report using formats prepared by YGlobal. Before
entering into collaboration with new partner organizations, a financial assessment is performed, and
financial reviews are done as part of project monitoring, using an adapted version of the MANGO tool
for financial health check. Monitoring based on the same tool is also performed during every partner
visit.
Partners annually submit project audits as well as their full organizational audit. The partners’ auditors
are required to run an assessment checking specific areas defined by YGlobal. The assessment
identifies gaps from the standard that YGlobal has defined as good standard for financial management.
The assessment is an addition to the auditor’s standard audited financial statement. Based
on recommendations from an organizational review conducted by Norad in 2018, YGlobal’s audit firm
(BDO) has developed routines in which all local partner’s auditors need to be checked and approved
by BDO prior to their annual audit. This is done to ensure that proper audit measures are followed in
all partners’ countries.
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