An Expert Consultation on Extension Rural Youth Programmes and Sustainable Development was held at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 29 November to 1 December 1995. Twenty-three high level experts attended from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and the United States of America. All participants were invited in their personal capacity because of their interest and experience in strengthening rural youth programmes in developing countries. Twenty-four FAO staff from Headquarters and the FAO regional and sub-regional offices joined the Consultation in discussing strategies for strengthening and expanding rural youth programmes.
Following the presentation and discussion of a number of background papers on youth development, three major issue areas were discussed by the participants: (1) youth policy and resources; (2) institutional development and programme management; and (3) educational content and delivery systems.
Draft proposals and recommendations for FAO, for governments and for rural youth programmes were developed by the participants as the basis for preparation of a Draft FAO Action Programme for Rural Youth.
Recommendations
The Consultation experts affirmed the importance of rural youth programmes and the positive impact they can have on young peoples' development, and that of their families and communities. Despite this, rural young women and men are often neglected due to the overwhelming concern for immediate solutions to national problems, especially in urban areas. An additional reason is the often inaccurate perception that youth are not yet productive and contributing members of society.
The Consultation recommended that FAO intensify its efforts of advocacy on behalf of rural youth, playing a role in assisting governments in formulating national youth policies and in developing action programmes for creating or strengthening youth programmes.
It also recommended that FAO play a greater role in helping build partnerships at both the national level and international levels among government and non-government organizations (NGO's). By encouraging the exchange of information, unnecessary duplication of effort could be reduced. At both national and on a multi-country regional basis, this would involve the facilitation of forums and meetings to enable professional youth workers to exchange ideas, information and resources and to provide assistance in the development of training curricula and materials.
In a time of reduced budgets, rural youth programmes will also need to develop alternative resources at all levels, from local community-based fundraising to the development of national private sector not-for-profit foundations to support rural youth work. FAO should play a role in helping governments and rural youth programmes in financial resource development.
A strong recommendation of Consultation participants was that, in line with the urgent need for assistance to member nations and the potential positive impact rural youth programmes can have on sustainable development and food security in Low-Income, Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDC's), FAO needs to provide more human and financial resources at Headquarters and at the FAO regional and sub-regional offices to more adequately support rural youth work worldwide.
