“Young people are the leaders of tomorrow.” How often do you hear that phrase? Here at Restless Development, we hear it constantly, from all angles of society. It’s great that so much attention is currently focused on the importance of investing in our futures. But the thing is, too often young people are overlooked in the creation, implementation and monitoring of exactly those key decisions that will ultimately affect us – because we are seen as the leaders of ‘tomorrow,’ not today. To be honest, it’s a saying we’re getting pretty tired of by now.

In fact, what the evidence is telling us is that young people are already the leaders of today. It’s just that our key role in building truly effective development cooperation is yet to be fully recognised.

Young people have an incredible amount of energy, passion and desire. Harnessed in the right way, we can bring about a new era of successful global development cooperation where citizens and their governments are connected like never before. Young people have the energy, skills and ambition to bring about real change, ensuring positive rhetoric becomes effective action. It’s what we at Restless Development call Youth Power.

This will mean tackling some of the toughest obstacles in our path. One of the biggest challenges young people face today is the lack of employment opportunities available, stifling their potential to lead their communities and societies out of poverty. Restless Development’s vision for ensuring young people have the life skills and opportunities to fulfill their potential, is grounded in evidence. Our ground-breaking youth-led research project in Uganda, ‘Strength, Creativity and Livelihoods of Karimojong Youth,’ demonstrated the power of bringing marginalised young people into the heart of our work, ensuring real and lasting impact which directly benefits those who we serve. The Case for Space initiative’s research, centred around 18 global young researchers, investigated the significant opportunities and challenges that young people face, both in terms of accessing their rights and in building their livelihoods

In 2015, we saw young people leading the way in some of the biggest development and humanitarian challenges the world faced. In Sierra Leone, young people led a community mobilisation model which helped end the Ebola outbreak. Over 350 young volunteers signed up overnight to help lead the fight, with over 2000 volunteering to empower their communities to protect themselves from the virus, helping Sierra Leone reach zero cases of Ebola. We also saw the strength and resilience of young people in Nepal, in the face of two devastating earthquakes, using their networks to lead disaster relief efforts.

Ultimately, it is young people and their networks, at the centre of their communities, who will ensure the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Our Big Idea is at the heart of this, empowering young people with the data, knowledge and skills they need to hold their leaders to account at the local,national and global levels. From Uganda to Malawi and from Nepal to the UK, young people are coming together to form their own networks, designed to monitor successful implementation of the Global Goals. Our Accountability Advocates are the perfect example – 20 young people from seven countries who are driving forward this movement, calling for greater accountability from world leaders.

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The Global Partnership has a history of involving young people in its processes, which we welcome. But we believe you can do more. Let’s be ambitious. Young people want to show the Global Partnership that there is a powerful new model for youth-led development, which is already producing incredible results on the ground in countries around the world. We believe that the Global Partnership, with its global influence and convening power, can become a true champion for the role of young people in implementing and monitoring the Global Goals, thus ensuring that the promises made last September in New York are fulfilled.

We are calling on the Global Partnership to place young people at the heart of your work. With our energy, ideas, passion and desire for change, young people are ready for this role at the centre of the Global Partnership; ready to provide the resources, trainings, networks and more to make this idea a reality. To encapsulate all of this, we believe that the next high-level meeting of the Global Partnership should host a Youth Forum, where vibrant, intelligent youth delegates, who are already leaders in their communities, can tell you exactly why you need young people at the heart of the Global Partnership.


Author Jack McQuibban


About the Author

Jack McQuibban, 23, is the Advocacy & Networks Coordinator at Restless Development, the international development agency which places young people at the forefront of change.