101
lack the resources and opportunities to participate in national decision-making. Consequently,
they lack faith and trust in the government. The
impact of climate change and calamities is so
severe that the youth are proposing urgent injection of resources (human and financial) to build
their capacity for adaptation to take place and a
change in the governance and political landscape
of SVG, i.e. change in the current crop of politicians and the political system. In summary,
changes are needed in the overall scheme of governance as well as more effective adaptation
strategies to ensure the effective implementation
of change enablers.
Change enablers, namely, (i) change enablers/
drivers that lead to youth empowerment and (ii)
change enablers/drivers that lead to adaptation,
are linked to Step 4 of the conceptual framework,
the adjustment to youth development policy strategy. This step focuses on creating the mechanisms to adjust to or make changes (change
enablers) to processes, policies and/or strategies
to empower and build the resilience of the youth
to adapt to the impact of climate change and create sustainable livelihoods.
Youth Empowerment and Climate
Change Adaptation
Youth empowerment is concerned with creating
policies and programmes that focus on involving
the youth in the national development decisionmaking process. This consists of putting forward
specific actions and approaches to ensure the full
participation of the youth in all CCA projects.
This strategy starts from the premise where government and key stakeholders recognise the
youth as having an important role to play in the
national development processes. This recognition
will give the youth the confidence and the drive to
create changes at all levels of society. The government’s role should focus on providing the
enabling environment for such changes to take
place (Commonwealth Secretariat 2007).
The empowerment of the youth must take
place at two levels, i.e. at the personal level and
the community/national level. At the personal
level, youth development and life-skills programmes should be provided to enable the youth
to exert control, improve competencies and
develop critical awareness to collaborate with a
range of stakeholders and institutions effectively.
At the community/national level, efforts must be
put in place to improve the community’s reaction
to climate, social and economic stressors, risks/
vulnerabilities and threats to the quality of life at
all levels. A vital component of this should be the
participation of the youth in decision-making at
all levels. The focus should be on the provision of
opportunities for the youth to develop leadership
and participate in the governance process at community and within national institutions. The
development of youth and community organisations and networks is an important component of
youth empowerment. The government should
provide the resources to support the creation and
maintenance of such entities.
The following actions are proposed under the
youth empowerment change enablers: enhancing
sustainable livelihoods, building technological
innovations and building community resilience.
Sustainable Livelihoods in SIDS
Livelihood is sustainable when it helps people to
cope and recover from shocks and stresses such
as natural disasters and economic and social
upheavals and enhances their well-being and that
of the future generation. Therefore, adaptation
can be successful when people and communities
can reduce the vulnerabilities that confront them
(Adger et al. 2005; Sem 2007) by enhancing their
adaptive capacity (Hernandez-Delgado 2015).
The livelihoods that are available to the youth in
SIDS are not sustainable under climate change;
therefore, climate change is already having devastating effects on agriculture, tourism and fisheries. Governments and key stakeholders should
guarantee that resources are provided for training, education and research to ensure that livelihoods become sustainable. They need to
emphasise the following strategies: (a) sustaining
the livelihoods that are already in place through
retraining of workers to provide them with releTheme 4: Exploring Approaches for Delivering of Climate Change Adaptation
lack the resources and opportunities to participate in national decision-making. Consequently,
they lack faith and trust in the government. The
impact of climate change and calamities is so
severe that the youth are proposing urgent injection of resources (human and financial) to build
their capacity for adaptation to take place and a
change in the governance and political landscape
of SVG, i.e. change in the current crop of politicians and the political system. In summary,
changes are needed in the overall scheme of governance as well as more effective adaptation
strategies to ensure the effective implementation
of change enablers.
Change enablers, namely, (i) change enablers/
drivers that lead to youth empowerment and (ii)
change enablers/drivers that lead to adaptation,
are linked to Step 4 of the conceptual framework,
the adjustment to youth development policy strategy. This step focuses on creating the mechanisms to adjust to or make changes (change
enablers) to processes, policies and/or strategies
to empower and build the resilience of the youth
to adapt to the impact of climate change and create sustainable livelihoods.
Youth Empowerment and Climate
Change Adaptation
Youth empowerment is concerned with creating
policies and programmes that focus on involving
the youth in the national development decisionmaking process. This consists of putting forward
specific actions and approaches to ensure the full
participation of the youth in all CCA projects.
This strategy starts from the premise where government and key stakeholders recognise the
youth as having an important role to play in the
national development processes. This recognition
will give the youth the confidence and the drive to
create changes at all levels of society. The government’s role should focus on providing the
enabling environment for such changes to take
place (Commonwealth Secretariat 2007).
The empowerment of the youth must take
place at two levels, i.e. at the personal level and
the community/national level. At the personal
level, youth development and life-skills programmes should be provided to enable the youth
to exert control, improve competencies and
develop critical awareness to collaborate with a
range of stakeholders and institutions effectively.
At the community/national level, efforts must be
put in place to improve the community’s reaction
to climate, social and economic stressors, risks/
vulnerabilities and threats to the quality of life at
all levels. A vital component of this should be the
participation of the youth in decision-making at
all levels. The focus should be on the provision of
opportunities for the youth to develop leadership
and participate in the governance process at community and within national institutions. The
development of youth and community organisations and networks is an important component of
youth empowerment. The government should
provide the resources to support the creation and
maintenance of such entities.
The following actions are proposed under the
youth empowerment change enablers: enhancing
sustainable livelihoods, building technological
innovations and building community resilience.
Sustainable Livelihoods in SIDS
Livelihood is sustainable when it helps people to
cope and recover from shocks and stresses such
as natural disasters and economic and social
upheavals and enhances their well-being and that
of the future generation. Therefore, adaptation
can be successful when people and communities
can reduce the vulnerabilities that confront them
(Adger et al. 2005; Sem 2007) by enhancing their
adaptive capacity (Hernandez-Delgado 2015).
The livelihoods that are available to the youth in
SIDS are not sustainable under climate change;
therefore, climate change is already having devastating effects on agriculture, tourism and fisheries. Governments and key stakeholders should
guarantee that resources are provided for training, education and research to ensure that livelihoods become sustainable. They need to
emphasise the following strategies: (a) sustaining
the livelihoods that are already in place through
retraining of workers to provide them with releTheme 4: Exploring Approaches for Delivering of Climate Change Adaptation