Youth-INProject Progress Report July to September 2012

Report type / Quarterly project progress report
Project title / YOUTH INNOVATION (YOUTH-IN): A Caribbean Network for Youth Development
Period / July to September 2012
Prepared by / Paula Hidalgo Sanchis PhD, Youth-IN Project Coordinator
Project Output 1: Culture, sports, arts and innovation: Create new and enhanced interactive mechanisms and synergies with existing global, national, regional youth networks in culture, sports, arts to support enhanced youth networking by Caribbean youth.[1]

Networking among Caribbean youthhas been promoted with all the project activities, supporting youth exchanges in existing global, national and regional youth networks. Interaction in project activities among regional youth representatives (CARICOM Youth Ambassadors, Commonwealth Youth Ambassadors, Youth Think Tank members), national youth representatives (National Youth Councils, National Youth Ambassadors), and youth representatives from regional and national civil society organizations has been promoted. Special efforts have been made to invite youth leaders and representatives with different backgrounds and representing diverse groups to participate in Youth-IN activities. The target criterion used to select project beneficiaries has ensured interaction among networks. Gender balance has also been taken into consideration in all project activities.

Implementation of the pilot programme that promotes knowledge exchange and collaboration on the topics of film production, broadcasting and youth networking between the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination of the University of the West Indies (UWI-EBCCI[2]) (Cave Hill Campus, Barbados) and Italians Centres of Excellence namely Radiotelevisione Italiana 3 (RAI3) /Agenda del Mondo[3] and Sapienza Università di Roma (Sapienza University of Rome) continues. After the first workshop, the production by youth of short documentaries “youth voices” continues and organization of the next workshop is ongoing.

The Youth Think Tank has conceptualized an initiative that will promote youth participation and networking in the fields of art and culture linked to creative industries. The initiative, titled “Youth Talk Through Arts”, aims to: i) Empower youth to participate in governance processes raising their voices through arts; ii) Inform policy highlighting areas affecting youth through the performing arts. A concept note on the initiative is included as annex 1 to this report.

As a follow up to previous discussions with representatives from the Government of Italy, a proposal hasbeen received from the Ministry of Family, Culture, Sports and Youth of Barbados to support the expansion of the Digital Media Film Unit(part of the Youth Mainstreaming Programme). The concept note on the proposal is included as annex 2 to this report.

Project Output 2: Entrepreneurship and micro-credit: Created and established spaces/structures for orientation, training and micro-credit services supporting new and emerging youth entrepreneurial initiatives established and functioning within the framework of regional and national economic diversification strategies which will include frameworks of the GEF Focal Areas and GEF/SGP to generate co-funding opportunities for environmental conservation business projects with new eco-sustainable enterprises. [4]

The implementation of the Youth-IN Entrepreneurship component has continued with a total of 334 youth trained on start up business. Towards the launch of the Caribbean Innovation Challenge (CIC), the rules have been defined and the official website has been created: UNDP’s implementing partner, the NGO Young Americas Business Trust[5] (YABT), has secured commitment from a private sector partner to support the CIC.The private sector partner, PepsiCo Beverages, will award environmentally sustainable projects.A brochure on the CIC is included as annex 3 to this report.

In partnership with Government and private sector a new series of Business Labs were launched. Business Labs focused on Green Enterprises were held in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda (August 13 – 17) and Paramaribo, Suriname (August 20 – 24); and Business Labs focused on Cultural Enterprises were held in Roseau, Dominica (August 20-24) and Nassau, The Bahamas (August 27-31). The business labs were facilitated by trainers from the Golda Meir Mt. Carmel International Training Center[6], sponsored by the Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV), as a contribution to the project. An overview of the workshops is included as annex 4 to this report.

A new modality to engage stakeholders and to train youth on the CIC has been launched: the MiniBusiness Labs. The Mini Business Labs are a 1 day workshop in which participants have an introductory, hands-on experience on economic and social entrepreneurship. The participants learn how to identify a business idea, develop a plan and present the idea in an elevator pitch format. The mini business labs will also help the participants to register their ideas in the CIC, the first mini-business lab took place in The Bahamas (August 20).

The online community of practice[7]( continues functioning with the participation of the trainees and partners. The group now has around 400 members. On line training has started to support young entrepreneurs with the following resources delivered: i. a webinar on social media marketing tools was delivered on July 13 with 40 young people participating; ii. VideoRecorded on-line learning “Business Formalization and Structure – why you should formalize your startup” iii. Video Recorded on-line learning “Drivers of Globalization – why is it important to expand your market”

Under the leadership of CARICOM, support has continued to the “Caribbean Centre of Excellence on Youth Entrepreneurship”. A training manual for National Business Trusts and other national organizations to teach entrepreneurship to “out of school youth” has been developed. The manual “Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity” (CEBO) is included as annex 5 to this report.

Project Output 3: Communications, inclusive governance and regional integration: Increased innovative communications for development, created with ICTs tools to showcase youth capabilities, assets and inputs in cultural, media and audio-visual communication initiatives. Strengthened youth planning, enhanced advocacy and public awareness capacities in Environmental Awareness, Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship[8]

With the project support, the policy instrument “CARICOM YOUTH DEVELOPMENT ACTION PLAN (CYDAP) 2012–2017” and the supporting “Monitoring and Evaluation Plan” have been finalized through a consultative process. A Technical Working Group formed by representatives of CARICOM Members and Associate States and regional institutions, finalized the instruments. The instruments were endorsed by the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) on July 2012. The CYDAP is included as annex 6 to this report.

Development of the Youth-IN portal has continued towards the launch in October. The series of Youth-IN Webisodes produced that highlight personal stories of “positive youth” can be found on line: and .

A new competition has been launched to support advocacy that brings young people to the centre of climate change and human development debates: Youth-IN climate change cartoon competition. The competition encourages young people from the Caribbean to portray issues of concern related to climate change in the region from a youth’s perspective. The concept note of the competition is included as annex 7 to this report.

The “Spice It Up - Sing for Preparedness”competition that was launched in collaborationwith Barbados an Grenada National Red Cross Societies has concluded successfully. The competition encouraged youth volunteerism in Disaster Preparedness while sensitizing the public and promoting the local cultural scene. Professional production of a CD and music videos of the best songs of the competition is now on-going.

The desk review on Youth Volunteerism in the Easter Caribbean countries[9] has concluded with the production of a mapping of existing volunteerism activities and organizations promoting volunteerism in the region. The report produced in included as annex 8 to this report.

To promote capacity building of youth leaders and the participation of youth in regional processes, the project has supported youth to participate in the followingtraining activities promoted by UNDP in the region:

  • Regional workshop[10]: “Enhancing Young Leaders’ Skills for Engaging in Social Audit Processes” (Jamaica 19-20 Sep). The objective of the workshop was to promote among youth leaders from the region the development of management, leadership and practical skills for social audit from different dimensions, such as: political, social, technical and collective action.A concept note on the workshop is included as annex 9 to this report.
  • Sub-regional workshop[11]: Engaging Youth on Citizens Security(Saint Lucia 26-29 Sep). The objective of theworkshops was to engage youth to design a youth friendly tool on UNDPCaribbean Human Development Report 2012, Human Development and the Shift to Better Citizen Security (CHDR). The Annotated agenda of the workshop is included as annex 10 to this report.

A communications company has started to provide support to the on-going communications efforts of the Youth-IN project and the project outreach. Youth-IN activities have been widely covered by the media; examples can be found on the following links of digital media:

Youth-IN Entrepreneurship / Caribarena.com,Nassau Guardian, Bahamas Local, Dominica News Online, Come See TV, Caribjournal.com,DA Vibes, Inside Dominica
Youth-IN competitions / ARC Magazine, Scoop It, Cayo Scoop, Ambergriscaye.com
Bajan Reporter, Barbados Today
Youth-IN Arts and Culture /
Project Output 4. Programme Management, Monitoring and Evaluation[12]

The Youth Think Tank (YTT) for the Caribbean, one of few think tanks in the world that have been created to give the young generations a voice, and that it is unique in its structure is now fully operational. A brief on the YTT is included as annex 11 to this report.

For the reporting period, the following project staff has supported the implementation: Youth-IN Web Portal Manager (National UNV), Volunteerism Project Officer, Youth-IN Project Coordinator, Administrative staff (part time).The Project Officer for Capacity Development and Implementation Supportthat will support the CARICOMSecretariat will enter on duty in October.

The next Project Steering Committee (PSC) will take place on October 4, in St. George's, Grenada, hosted by the Government of Grenada. The Annotated agenda for the meeting is included as annex 12 to this report.

Report on Budget consumption and resource mobilization

Theannual project expenditure has gone according to plan and accounts for approximately USD 700,000, whichrepresents around70% of project budget for 2012. The next table provides an overview of the distribution of the expenditure.

Table 1. Project Expenditure by Output in 2012

Output / %
Project Output 1: Culture, sports, arts and innovation: Create new and enhanced interactive mechanisms and synergies with existing global, national, regional youth networks in culture, sports, arts to support enhanced youth networking by Caribbean youth. / 8 %
Project Output 2: Entrepreneurship and micro-credit: Created and established spaces/structures for orientation, training and micro-credit services supporting new and emerging youth entrepreneurial initiatives established and functioning within the framework of regional and national economic diversification strategies which will include frameworks of the GEF Focal Areas and GEF/SGP to generate co-funding opportunities for environmental conservation business projects with new eco-sustainable enterprises. / 22 %
Project Output 3:Communications, inclusive governance and regional integration: Increased innovative communications for development, created with ICTs tools to showcase youth capabilities, assets and inputs in cultural, media and audio-visual communication initiatives. Strengthened youth planning, enhanced advocacy and public awareness capacities in Environmental Awareness, Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship. / 39 %
Project Output 4. Programme Management, Monitoring and Evaluation. / 31 %

Resource mobilization efforts have continued, promoting Youth-IN among donors, development partners, stakeholders and private sector. The following resources have been mobilized to support project implementation:

-Youth-IN Entrepreneurship: i) the Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV) has sponsored the fees and travel of the trainers of the six (6) Business Labs conducted to date; ii) PepsiCo Beverages will award environmentally sustainable projects as a contribution to the CIC. These contributions have been formalized through collaboration agreements with Youth-IN implementing partner, the Young Americas Business Trust.

-Youth-IN Competitions: i) Private sector companies contributed to the Youth-INSpice It Up competition; the list of Private Sector companies that made donations is included as annex 13 to this report; ii) The ARC Magazine ( ) has advertised Youth-IN competitions on a pro-bono basis.

To explore the possibilities to engage philanthropy to support youth development in the region, a review has been done by an expert in fundraising in Barbados. The review presents a strategy to provide employment opportunities to “out of school” youth that are at risk in Barbados. The report produced with the consultancy is included as annex 14 to this report.

Annexes to the report

Annex 1.Concept note: Youth-IN - YTT initiative - Youth Talk Through Arts.

Annex 2.Concept Note: Youth-IN support to Digital Media Film Programme, Barbados.

Annex 3.CIC Brochure.

Annex 4.Business Labs: Stakeholders and Trainees.

Annex 5.Manual Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity (CEBO).

Annex 6.CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan (CYDAP) 2012–2017.

Annex 7.(a) Concept Note: Youth-IN Cartoon Competition. (b) Youth-IN cartoon competition: Poster.

Annex 8.Report on Youth Volunteerism in the Easter Caribbean.

Annex 9. Concept Note: Enhancing Caribbean Young Leaders Skills for Engaging in Social Audit Processes.

Annex 10. Annotated Agenda of Workshop: Engaging Youth on Citizens' Security.

Annex 11. Youth-IN brief: Youth Think Tank.

Annex 12. Annotated Agenda: Youth IN 3rd PSC meeting.

Annex 13.Private sector sponsors: Youth-IN Spice It Up competition.

Annex 14.Exploring Philanthropy in Barbados.

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[1]Photo: Danielle Gibson, winner of the Youth-IN Spice It Up Competition in Barbados

[2]

[3]

[4]Photo: Participants of the Youth-IN business lab in Antigua and Barbuda.

[5] NGO affiliated to the Organization of Americas States.

[6] The Golda Meir Mt. Carmel International Training Center has a partnership agreement with UNDP’s implementing partner YABT – Young Americas Business Trust (affiliated to the Organization of American States).

[7] The online community facilitates networking, knowledge exchange and learning towards starting a business and participating in the CIC.

[8]Poster of the Youth-IN climate change cartoon competition.

[9] The consultancy outputs will also provide content for the 2012 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report, to address the lack of Caribbean data in the first (2011) report.

[10] Organized by UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin-America and The Caribbean (RBLAC)/Democratic Governance Practice Area.

[11]Promoted by the UNDP Project “Engaging Caribbean youth - Actioning the 2012 UNDP Caribbean HDR on citizens' security.

[12] Photo: Youth Think Tank Members from Trinidad and Tobago and Dominicaduring a working session.