Capacity Building and Youth Empowerment

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Community-Based Projects for Youth
Communities and nations around the world depend on the meaningful contribution of all stakeholders in order to achieve substantial development and growth. These stakeholders include children, the youth, adult men and women, government and non-governmental organizations. Each of these stakeholders plays a critical role in society in a bid to achieve the desired results. Community-based projects for the youth form fundamental cords necessary in the provision of social services in the community as well as pivotal in youth empowerment. The youth constitute an essential source of social and human capital that benefit their communities, and hence, regarded as important social priorities. Therefore, it is paramount for the society to critically consider the development and enhancement of skills and wellbeing of young people as a priority, coupled with youth empowerment and education to safeguard the safety and sustainable progress of the community. Therefore, it is imperative for society to create adequate opportunities and provide sufficient capacity building and empowerment skills for youths through various community-based projects.
As societal priorities, young people should be well-prepared to handle societal issues appropriately. Adequate youth development has proven to be a promising strategy to tackle carious societal challenges, such as teen pregnancy, and other risk behaviors prevalent among the youth (Gallagher et al. s61). Youth development approaches support the strengthening of readily available youth assets and ensure that young people are enabled to achieve their maximum potential (Gallagher et al. s62). Community-based projects focus on both individual and communal oriented services that will empower the youths, promote the development of their strengths, and support the reduction of risk behaviors among the youths. A number of community-based projects have been developed in the past, focusing on youth education, skill development, social and athletic prowess, youth mentorship, overall youth empowerment, and leadership development, with an overall aim of nurturing the youth to mature to adulthood possessing the best quality of skills and traits. Some of these community-based projects are discussed below in detail, highlighting the benefits imparted on the youth.
Capacity Building and Youth Empowerment
Youth empowerment is an essential approach in youth development and provides self-power to the youth in a variety of areas, including social, economic, and political levels, influencing the lives of the youth, both individually and collectively. Youth empowerment offers sustainable support mechanisms to the youth, supporting their access to economic opportunities, avail necessary social services, and enable them to participate in local governance with ease. Youth empowerment increases opportunities available for the youth, and also improves their confidence in making life decisions, ensuring that only appropriate decisions are made and ensures risk behaviors among youths are minimized ((Fitzsimons et al. 4-5). Overall, youth empowerment seeks to promote equality and equity in the society, increases both interpersonal and political power among individual and collective youths, improves their quality of life through an enhanced economic situation, and opposes the oppression and marginalization of the youth (Gutierrez 149). Therefore, the establishment of youth empowerment programs is critical in the maturity of the youth to adulthood, promoting economic and political inclusion, and reducing youth marginalization and oppression.
In a bid to create a more connected and less segregated society, empowerment of the youth, especially in the sphere of decision-making, promotes positive youth and civic development. An increase in the reported cases of conflict between young people and adults within schools, in the communities, and in homes, is a prove of the increased youth alienation and apathy within the society, necessitating the need for renewed youth empowerment and community connectedness (Zeldin et al. 1648). Engaging youth in various community-based projects and programs, including community programs and school-based extra and co-curricular activities provides youths with adequate decision-making opportunities, support them in engaging in future projects they find relevant to them, sharpen their leadership skills by helping them perform progressive exigent tasks, and improve their confidence to the point of demanding sharing of power and reciprocity with the adult counterparts (Zeldin et al. 1638). Engagement of youth in various community-based projects, supported by caring adults, supports their sense of agency, confidence, and empowerment, laying the foundation of future societal success.
Youth empowerment projects have led to a massive increase in youth-led leadership roles in program development, promotion of health and research, and proliferation of community organizing. Community-based projects laying more emphasis on youth-led initiatives promote youth rights and empowerment of young people, thus enhancing the collective success of the society. For example, implementation of youth empowerment projects has been proven to boost self-efficacy and self-esteem as well as promote academic achievement and limit antisocial behavior among the youth (Bulanda and Byro Johnson 305). Engagement of youths in empowerment projects and programs has been proven to improve their feelings of self-determination, with participants recording positive developmental outcomes, including “self-efficacy, and self-awareness, as well as positive identify development, positive social bonding, awareness of organizational operations and interpersonal relations, and a sense of purpose” (Bulanda and Byro Johnson 305-6). Therefore, youth empowerment projects are fundamental approaches in the implementation of community-based projects with the primary goal of producing positive developmental outcomes for the youths, both at individual and collective levels.
Capacity-building among the youth involves deliberate and intentional actions and schemes carried out with a sole aim of providing support to individuals and collective youth in a bid to improve their position in the society and enable them to compete fairly for economic opportunities. Capacity building ensures that young people develop skills and knowledge, both at individual and collective levels, that are relevant in the design, improvement, and maintenance of necessary infrastructures, both operational and institutional, as well as processes that are meaningful and impactful to the society in general. Capacity building structures meant for the youth ensure that there are clear and consistent rules and expectations of the community programs, adult supervision and supportive relationships, maintenance and application of positive social norms and promote a sense of be...