International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue X, October 2022|ISSN 2454-6186
Youth Participation in Community Development in Eastern Uganda
Okullo Awany Andrew Job
School of Business and Management, Uganda Management Institute, Uganda
Abstract: The study investigated youth participation in community development in Eastern Uganda. Specifically, the study assessed youth awareness of their need to participate in annual planning, budgeting processes and decision making in the development of their communities, and the obstacles that hinder their participation in the development of their communities. The study employed descriptive survey design, and 305 respondents. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were the main instruments used for data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression. The study revealed that the youth were no aware of their need to participate in the annual planning, budgeting processes and decision making. Furthermore, the factors that hindered their participation in community development included among others lack of information, bureaucracy, low level of education, political affiliation, corruption, gender inequality, and poverty. The study further revealed that there is a positive and significant effect of youth participation on community development (adjusted R2 = .363, p = 0.000). The study recommended that leaders must purposefully engage young people to participate in maters that directly affect them during the planning and budgeting process, and a variety of strategies, including capacity building and education, can help increase youth participation.
Index words – Youth Participation, Community Development, Youth, Eastern Uganda
I. INTRODUCTION
A basic right is the right to participate, one of the tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it has been reaffirmed in numerous subsequent conventions and declarations (Nations, Youth Participation, 2019). Through active engagement, young people are given the power to play a crucial part in both their own and their communities’ development, empowering them to gain essential life skills, acquire awareness of human rights and citizenship, and encourage constructive civic action. Young people need the correct tools, such as knowledge, education, and access to their civil rights, in order to engage effectively. Young people are a significant human resource for development and important agents of social change, economic growth, and technical innovation, as acknowledged by the UN for a long time. The UN’s agenda for youth has participation in decision-making as one of its top priorities (Nations, Society and Decision Making Factsheet, 2020).