The overall objective of the project is to increase the capacities of governments, youth-led civil society organizations and the broader Community Based Organization community in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of effective national youth policies and action plans that promote conflict prevention, peacebuilding and sustaining peace in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda. The substantive focus of the project lies in capacity development for analysis, review and reformulation of relevant social policies through participatory processes involving young people and other relevant stakeholders. These processes will lead to the production, roll out and dissemination of a Training Module for Promoting Sustainable Peace through National Youth Policies. They will also support partnership building and coalition development on issues regarding youth, peace and security and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the target countries.
Today more than half of the world’s population has no access to social protection at all. In Lao PDR and Tajikistan exclusion is even larger with, respectively, 87.9 and 73.4 percent of the population with no income security in cases of old age, maternity, unemployment and other life cycle and socioeconomic risks. Poor governance, lack of integrated policy responses, and insufficient and unsustainable financing of social protection are key issues for a number of countries including Lao PDR and Tajikistan in their efforts to extending the coverage of social protection to all. There is a growing need for awareness raising at the global and national levels as well as for the sharing of knowledge and good practices, and the development of practical guidance for the strengthened governance and digitalization of social security systems, identified as a key accelerator enabling to leapfrog some of the bottlenecks to close the social protection coverage gap. The main objective of the project is thus to accelerate and extend universal social protection through the strengthening of the policy design, administrative governance and the digital transformation of social protection systems in Lao PDR and Tajikistan, and promote lessons learned to benefit other countries in the Global South. The project will pursue a two-fold strategy. In two focus countries, Lao PDR, and Tajikistan, technical support will be provided through the ILO country offices to strengthen governance, social security administration and services, and technical capacities of institutions and practitioners, including through the promotion of connectivity and digitalization. In parallel, the project will develop a knowledge base of good practices as well as hands-on training modules including on digital transformation of social protection planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation. These knowledge products will be useful for all countries and disseminated widely through UNRC network, DESA and ILO websites, seminars/workshops and training sessions including as part of the course offer of the ILO International Training Centre in Turin.
The project aims at enhancing the capacity of the target groups in the following selected countries in Africa: Angola, Namibia, Uganda and Zimbabwe to engage in constructive policy dialogues and/or participatory mechanisms, with a view to develop strategies and initiatives to advance inclusive development and SDG achievement for indigenous peoples in the framework of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Through capacity building of both national and local governments and indigenous leaders, the project aims to promote the participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making processes at all levels, with a special focus at the local level, where the most vulnerable indigenous peoples live. The project also intends to enhance the capacity of governments to develop and implement policies, programmes and legislation that recognize and respect indigenous peoples’ development priorities and rights, that include their full and effective participation in national socio-economic development policies, enhancing dialogue mechanisms among indigenous peoples, the government and UNCTs. The project also aims to strengthen the capacities of stakeholders in targeted countries to engage in those processes, as well as to work in the implementation of national action plans, policies and measures on the Declaration.
The objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of Governments, civil society organizations and sport associations/federations, including Paralympic committees and national special Olympic organizations in the target countries to jointly elaborate plans for the full and effective inclusion of persons with disabilities, with a specific focus on autism, in society through sport. At the same time, the project aims at developing the skills of sport instructors in the field of running to train young people with autism and their family members and monitor their progress in sporting activities over time.
The aim of this project is to strengthen national capacity in the three project countries to formulate, implement, monitor and evaluate effective and evidence-based national policies and programmes aimed at social and economic integration and inclusion of young people with disabilities. As set out in the Programme of Action of the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development, the aim of social integration is to create “’a society for all’, in which every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to play.” In the case of the present project, inclusion of youth with disabilities means that they are to be actively engaged, as both agents and beneficiaries, in the two focus areas of the project: 1) the design and implementation of national policies for social inclusion of youth with disabilities, and; 2) the design of national programmes and strategies for creating employment opportunities and including youth with disabilities in national labour markets.
Project activities will consist of a combination of analytical and operational capacity building work engaging national and international experts in conjunction with UNDESA and ECLAC/UNDP staff. The main beneficiaries/participants in the project will be policymakers, members of parliaments, and Government officials with mandates related to youth, employment and persons with disabilities. Representatives of youth organizations and disabled persons organizations will participate as both beneficiaries and resource persons for the project.
Activities will further include delivery, in project countries, of comprehensive training on formulating and monitoring participatory evidence-based youth policies and programmes aimed at achieving social inclusion and employment opportunities for youth with disabilities. This will support policymakers to work with and create the space for the participation of young people and relevant civil society organizations. It will also contribute to effective policy-making, and a greater awareness of the needs of young people with disabilities in national planning initiatives.
Upon the completion of the project, national programs for training and employment of young people with disabilities will be incorporated into the existing national development plans and programmes in the project countries.
The Ministry of Social Affairs of Kyrgyzstan requested UNDESA to provide assistance on designing and conducting a national survey on ageing formulating an evidence-based national policy on ageing in order to follow-up to the recommendations contained in the UNDESA Mission Report conducted by DSPD/DESA in Kyrgyzstan in April 2014. This project is a continuation of the initial support that UNDESA has provided to Kyrgyzstan in 2014 by advisory mission that concluded that, among other things, the country needs to analyse current social conditions using evidence - based approach and to develop sound social policies for social groups.
The objective of the project is to develop a standard methodology to produce, analyze and deliver a database of harmonized indicators on the situation of older persons in Africa. The project is the starting point of a larger DESA initiative that aims to assist countries in collecting and analyzing data on older persons in order to more accurately monitor the changing situation of older persons during the implementation phase of the new 2030 Development Agenda. The project will conduct a review of age-related data in three African countries, with the methodology to be piloted in one of these three countries. The survey-tool is to be developed in close collaboration with national and regional policy makers, statisticians and experts dealing with issues related to older persons in Africa. The experience of international researchers and academics that have developed and deployed such tools in Africa as well as in other parts of the world will also be drawn upon. The project aims to promote the participation of all relevant stakeholders at the national and regional level towards the formulation, monitoring and implementation of more inclusive policies that are responsive to the needs and priorities of older persons in the African region. The project further aims to develop survey guidelines appropriate for African countries based on a capacity building and learning approach. The intervention will further contribute to the enhancement of the capacity of government officials, scholars and civil society in sub-Saharan Africa to formulate, monitor and implement evidence-based policies on ageing.
The project aims at enhancing the capacity of the Indigenous Peoples in selected countries in Africa and Asia to engage in constructive policy dialogues and/or participatory mechanisms with a view to develop strategies and initiatives to improve their well-being and economic and social status, including through the promotion of social integration and inclusive development. The formulation, implementation and evaluation of the project respond to the principles upheld in the UN Declaration on the Rights of indigenous Peoples and other related instruments, both international and regional. Thorough capacity building of both national and local governments and indigenous leaders, especially indigenous women and youth, the project aims to promote the participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making processes at national, regional and local levels, towards more inclusive development that is responsive to their needs and priorities. The project also intends to enhance the capacity of governments to develop policies, programmes and legislation that recognize and respect indigenous peoples' development rights and priorities and that include their full and effective participation in national socio-economic development policies. This will advance greater cooperation, national cohesion, and improve relationships between indigenous peoples and governments while also reducing tensions and misconceptions. The project will establish new consultative mechanisms, and/or strengthen existing ones where applicable, such as participatory policy dialogues, between the government representatives and representatives of indigenous peoples utilizing mediation, consensus building, constructive dialogue, participatory and inclusive development planning. The ultimate beneficiaries of the project are the indigenous peoples in the countries participating in the project.
The objective of the project is to strengthen capacities of governments, scholars and civil society as well as youth and youth-led organizations in select African countries for evidence-based formulation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs on youth. The project will conduct a review of youth-policy related data in three African countries followed by national workshops to identify youth policy priority areas as well as data gaps based on the empirical evidence gathered. Further, the project will, in consultation with national, regional and global experts, review existing national, regional (such as the African Youth Charter (AYC) and the African Youth Decade Plan of Action) and global youth action plans and related indicators (such as the World Programme of Action on Youth (WPAY) as well as the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets and indicators), to identify suitable indicators for mainstreaming and monitoring the implementation of national, regional and global youth action plans and policies. The interventions will further develop recommendations on the application of these indicators for national youth policy formulation, monitoring and implementation and provide support to related capacity building. The project also aims to raise awareness on the use of youth indicators and support their dissemination to local youth policy makers in order to strengthen youth civic engagement at the local level. Critical to the success of the project is the active and full inclusion and participation of all relevant stakeholders, particularly youth and youth-led organizations in all steps towards the identification of relevant indicators and their application in the formulation, monitoring and implementation of more inclusive policies that are responsive to the needs and priorities of youth in Africa. Finally, the project will convene a regional workshop for project beneficiaries and additional countries as well as regional intergovernmental bodies, civil society, youth-led organisations and academia to engage in a dialogue to share best practices and to agree on a set of recommendations on evidence-based policies on youth to be presented to a wider audience in sub-Saharan Africa.