14 Leveraging Youth Engagement in Disaster Risk Reduction Through Science …
253
While a number of stakeholders engaged in the formulation of the SFDRR have
recognized the benefits of building the capacity of youth in their voluntary commitments (Cumsikey et al. 2015), there is a need of locating the framework for youth in
the DRR engagement and a concerted institutional setup at the national level of each
country to fully engage their youth. Many good practices on youth engagement in
DRR are rather limited to specific case studies, anecdotal evidence, and the SFDRR
itself did not mention a specific role for youth (and children) in DRR (Chatterjee
et al. 2015).
However, there are several challenges to youth engagement in DRR. First, is
the definition of youth itself. In general, the UN generally defines “youth” as the
age group between 15 and 24, which rooted in UN’s General Assembly Resolution A/36/215 and 50/81 whereas it mainly defined as such for statistical purpose
and adopted by most of the UN agencies, e.g., UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, UNESCO
(United Nations 2013). The UN also acknowledges other definitions employed by
Member States and other UN entities, e.g. UN-Habitat recognizes youth up to 32 years
of age. Furthermore, in terms of participation from the children and youth, as one of
the nine major groups of civil society, the United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UNDESA) mandated the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY) for facilitating the participation of children and youth
up and until the age of 30 (Cumsikey et al. 2015). It is the UNMGCY that also
promotes the engagement of children and youth in the negotiation process on the
Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR), which resulted
in agreement on the SFDRR 2015–2030.
Second, especially in Asia, lack of structured and institutionalized opportunities made the role of youth very limited in the decision-making process, including
DRR. Fernandez and Shaw (2014), by describing the case of the Philippines, showcased that a supporting environment by adults and mainstream development actors is
essential to fully make use of DRR knowledge and skills of youth. Furthermore, it is
understood that in the past few decades, young people have been gradually moving
away from engagement in institutionalized structure toward greater involvement in
caused-oriented political activism (UNDESA 2015), e.g. including on DRR, climate
change or environmental cause. Third, the niche of youth engagement in DRR is also
a competing one where it may fall under the part of disaster education and school
safety as well as community-based DRR (CBDRR), hence the term youth-centered
DRR is still relatively new as a stand-alone concept, both in Indonesian and Asian
context. Therefore, real and integrated inclusion and follow up is yet to be seen at
the country and local level, and must be built upon lessons learned of past youth
engagement in disaster risk reduction––including in Indonesia.
14.2 Objectives
This chapter provides an overview of Indonesian youth engagement in DRR and
explores how the current national framework delivers enabling environment for the
youth to best contribute to reducing risks. DRR activities involving youth have been
253
While a number of stakeholders engaged in the formulation of the SFDRR have
recognized the benefits of building the capacity of youth in their voluntary commitments (Cumsikey et al. 2015), there is a need of locating the framework for youth in
the DRR engagement and a concerted institutional setup at the national level of each
country to fully engage their youth. Many good practices on youth engagement in
DRR are rather limited to specific case studies, anecdotal evidence, and the SFDRR
itself did not mention a specific role for youth (and children) in DRR (Chatterjee
et al. 2015).
However, there are several challenges to youth engagement in DRR. First, is
the definition of youth itself. In general, the UN generally defines “youth” as the
age group between 15 and 24, which rooted in UN’s General Assembly Resolution A/36/215 and 50/81 whereas it mainly defined as such for statistical purpose
and adopted by most of the UN agencies, e.g., UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, UNESCO
(United Nations 2013). The UN also acknowledges other definitions employed by
Member States and other UN entities, e.g. UN-Habitat recognizes youth up to 32 years
of age. Furthermore, in terms of participation from the children and youth, as one of
the nine major groups of civil society, the United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UNDESA) mandated the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY) for facilitating the participation of children and youth
up and until the age of 30 (Cumsikey et al. 2015). It is the UNMGCY that also
promotes the engagement of children and youth in the negotiation process on the
Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR), which resulted
in agreement on the SFDRR 2015–2030.
Second, especially in Asia, lack of structured and institutionalized opportunities made the role of youth very limited in the decision-making process, including
DRR. Fernandez and Shaw (2014), by describing the case of the Philippines, showcased that a supporting environment by adults and mainstream development actors is
essential to fully make use of DRR knowledge and skills of youth. Furthermore, it is
understood that in the past few decades, young people have been gradually moving
away from engagement in institutionalized structure toward greater involvement in
caused-oriented political activism (UNDESA 2015), e.g. including on DRR, climate
change or environmental cause. Third, the niche of youth engagement in DRR is also
a competing one where it may fall under the part of disaster education and school
safety as well as community-based DRR (CBDRR), hence the term youth-centered
DRR is still relatively new as a stand-alone concept, both in Indonesian and Asian
context. Therefore, real and integrated inclusion and follow up is yet to be seen at
the country and local level, and must be built upon lessons learned of past youth
engagement in disaster risk reduction––including in Indonesia.
14.2 Objectives
This chapter provides an overview of Indonesian youth engagement in DRR and
explores how the current national framework delivers enabling environment for the
youth to best contribute to reducing risks. DRR activities involving youth have been