Youth Participation in Community Development: Issues and Implications

Abstract

Youth is a dynamic category and a potential human resource for sustainable development and a resilient Society. Although they are numerically determined high but often seen less in terms of their participation in community development. Therefore, a few questions arise, while determining youth participation in Community Development viz., Why are youth neglected and not much discussed as a center of community development? Why is their least interest in community development critiqued rather than analyzed critically? Are the structural barriers hindering youth participation in community development? Are the youth disengaging themselves owing to the inter-generational conflicts? Do they possess a deep drive for individualization? Are they self-engaged? Are they afraid of accepting the responsibilities due to their commitment? Do they lack institutional support and guidance? which undermines youth participation in community development. Globally, the youth are a sizable population, and having realized that the United Nations emphasized the crucial role of youth explicitly in the 2030 Agenda especially for implementing the SDGs. Youth being a functional unit of any society, they can be made as social change agents for Community Development. They can play the roles of critical thinkers, change-makers, innovators, communicators, and leaders in achieving the SDGs by ensuring their active participation in the community development activities. This chapter focuses on the importance of socio-economic and political context of the youth and also the contextual factors that influence them in rendering their participation in community development. The strength-based approach in Social Work is suggested as a suitable intervention to work with youth, to enhance youth social capital for Community Development.