APA Session On Youth Accountability At The Regional Peer Academy 2021
APA organized a session on Youth Accountability at the ‘Regional Peer Academy 2021’, of Y-PEER Asia Pacific. The aim of the Youth Academy is to increase the knowledge of Peer Education and SRHR of Young People of Asia Pacific Region. Over 40 youth from around the region are taking part in the academy.
The 5th session had a focus on youth accountability, and aimed to develop the capacity of young people in becoming a more confident, skilled, connected, and empowered young person who is an active agent of change in communities and at the policy level ensuing meaningful youth participation.
APA’s ED, Alexandra Johns, began the session by highlighting that young people have a vital role to play in accountability, especially as Asia Pacific currently accounts for 60% of the world’s population of youth people. Youth-led accountability enables young people to hold decision makers accountable for the commitments they have made towards sustainable development, through increased capacity, access and agency.
APA members Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (YC) and YUWA Nepal were invited to share their expertise and experience during the session. YC emphasized youth-led global advocacy for accountability in action, sharing their engagement in the Generation Equality Forum, and the Young Feminist Manifestorecommendations on substantive and meaningful engagement, and accountability.
YUWA highlighted opportunities for youth-led evidence generation on sexual rights, using the “CSE Teacher Training: Evaluating Teacher Training in Nepal” mini-pilot from APA’s Changing the SRHR Narrative Initiative” as a case study.
Key global policies for accountability to SRHR commitments include the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, Beijing Platform for Action and Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The barriers to youth participation were also explored by the participants during the session. Socially, youth can be stigmatized on the basis of sexuality or merely for working on SRHR. Some religions and cultures such as patriarchy devalue women and girls. There is also the lack of access to spaces, information, language and disability status. Lack of resources such as funds for youth-led organization is another economic barrier.
Participants also learnt about accountability tools into 2 categories—formal and innovative. Formal tools include evidence-based global, regional and national advocacy through participation in policy review process, delegation and side events, civil society evidence generation, research and data collection and reference to human right violations in relation to effectiveness of policies and services. Mass and social media campaigns and advocacy, as well as the adaptation of performing arts such as theatre, dance performance, are considered innovative tools for accountability.
