| Introduction
The International Conference on Urban Youth at Risk is the second
in a series of Safer Cities regional youth meetings. The first
conference was held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 2002
and focused on the Africa region.
Conference Objectives
The conference will address causes of urban youth violence,
social crisis as well as policies addressing delinquency and
incivility. It views youth as resources rather than problems.
The conference will focus on the extent to which the current
characteristics and situation of the region’s youth at
risk allow or hinder their potential contribution to the revitalisation
and vitality of cities and foster their sense of belonging in
urban space and citizenship values.
Young people in Latin America and the Caribbean make up a large
proportion of the region’s population and the majority
of them are victims of social exclusion which increases their
risk of becoming involved in urban crime and violence.
Interventions focusing on youth at risk are undertaken by both
the criminal justice system the community at large. The two
approaches will be analysed and compared in order to identify
lessons and experiences that can be replicated in Latin American
and Caribbean cities. In addition, the link should be made between
urban safety policies and policies targeting youth at risk.
Similarly, criminal justice practices and the approaches of
civil society institutions involved in youth at risk reintegration
should be linked to municipal policies.
The conference will consider the role of the main local partners
involved with youth at risk, in particular local authorities
and the criminal justice system, the family, the education system,
the civil society and the community. The conference recognizes the crucial importance of local level action: it is only at
the local level that the impact of deviant behaviour can be
assessed, the degree of tolerance determined, and responses
formulated, implemented and evaluated.
The conference will also highlight the role of youth NGOs involved
in crime prevention activities and rehabilitation programmes.
It will focus on social outlets that provide youth a way to
express their social and political voice such as youth parliaments
and municipal youth councils and how they take into account
the needs of the most marginalized.
The conference will address the specific contexts of each region
in Latin America and the Caribbean and the possibilities of
replicating successful experiences, taking into account traditional
forms of social control, traditional laws, ethnic values and
religion.
Finally, regarding the different levels of risk of urban young
people, the conference will consider the specific situations
of Urban Youth at Risk in the family, school, community and
work within the context of social exclusion at the city level.
Thus, the conference will formulate effective measures tailored
to specific regional urban youth contexts to tackle the root
causes of "risk" as well as to reinforce protective
factors for young people.
Expected Results
- Publication of conference proceedings and a strategy paper
for Urban Youth at Risk in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Establishment of a network of cities and public and private
organizations working with youth at risk.
- A city declaration on principles of action in the field
of youth at risk.
- Training of trainers to build the capacity of local authorities
to work more effectively with youth NGO/CBOs in urban crime
prevention.
- Dissemination of existing UN-HABITAT capacity building resources
and tools to support the overall conference objectives and
the resultant youth strategy.
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