Empowerment of the Youth as panacea to curbing delinquency.

By definition: Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. This is achieved through taking action in order to improve their access to resources; transforming their consciousness, their beliefs, values and attitudes. Youth empowerment aims to improve quality of life and it is achieved through participation in empowerment programmes. There are various models that youth empowerment programs use to achieve youth empowerment. A variety of youth empowerment initiatives abound around the world. These schemes can be through non-profit organizations, government programs, schools, or private institutions. Youth empowerment is different from youth development because development is centered on developing individuals, while empowerment focuses on creating skills acquisition, community change, relying on the development of individual capacity Youth empowerment is addressed as a gateway to intergenerational equity, civic engagement and democracy building. It has been institutionalized as a means of curbing delinquency, youth unemployment, criminality and youth involvement in community decision making. What do we mean by empowerment? Empowerment means the creation of processes that enable people to participate in schemes for the uplifting of the well-being of individuals in the society. Empowerment enhances control through shared decision-making; creating opportunities to learn, practice, and increase skills. Empowerment theory suggests that engaging the youth in pro-social and community enhancing activity that the youth themselves define and control, helps youth gain vital skills and confidence necessary to becoming productive and healthy adults. Youth empowerment examines six interdependent dimensions: psychological, community, organizational, economic, social and cultural. Psychological empowerment enhances an individuals consciousness, belief in self- efficacy, awareness and problems and their solutions. This helps an individual to address problems that can harm their quality of life through creative problem solving. This dimension creates self confidence giving the youth knowledge and skills. Community empowerment focuses on enhancing the development of the community through leadership development and creating a network of support in addressing community concerns. Organizational empowerment creates a base of resources for a community, including voluntary organisations unions, and associations that aim to protect, promote and advocate for the powerless. Economic empowerment teaches entrepreneurship; how individuals can take ownership of their assets and how to have income security. Social empowerment teaches youth about social inclusion and financial literacy as well as helping kids find resources to be proactive in their communities. Cultural empowerment recreates cultural practices and redefine cultural rules and norms for the youth. Through these dimensions of empowerment, programmes can be made to empower the youth in one or more aspects of their lives. The goals of youth empowerment programmes are the creation of healthier and higher qualities of life for the underprivileged or at-risk youth. The five competencies of a healthy youth are: (1) positive sense of self, (2) self control, (3) decision-making skills, (4) a moral system of belief, and (5) pro-social connectedness. Empowerment programmes have to be anchored on these competencies that define positive outcomes of healthy youth. There are many types of empowerment programmes. However, the beneficial outcomes to youth empowerment are improved social skills, the curbing of delinquent behaviour, increased academic achievement, increased self esteem and increased self- efficacy. There are programmes aimed at just empowering women and girls; these effects improving women's well-being; enhancing their social status by teaching them technical and organizational skills. Some youth empowerment programmes are focused on poverty alleviation. Such programmes are aimed at empowering poor youth, working toward livelihood protection or livelihood promotion. Also, youth empowerment has been used as a framework to prevent delinquency and reduce youth violence. Research shows youth empowerment improves conflict avoidance and resolution skills, increases leadership skills, improving ethnic identity and reducing racial conflict. Examples of youth empowerment programs around the globe includes India where exists a Youth Empowerment Foundation. The not for profit foundation focuses on at uplifting the underprivileged young generation of the society. It provides them with basic education which creates a strong foundation for their careers. It develops their personality skills because the youth is the future of the country. Namibia's most popular empowerment programme is Pots of Hope. Its main aim is to reduce the vulnerability of the youth to HIV and AIDS through education, income security. It provides counselling to those in the rural areas who do not have access to information and awareness. In the United States there are countless empowerment programmes for the youth. There are those urban based which are culturally responsive. Those community based engage families, youth and community in the development of the youth. The community based empowerment helps youth build skills to enable them overcome economic and social barriers. Each major political party in the US including the Republicans, the Democrats and the Green Party, as well as political parties in Europe, South America (Peru), and Australia have manifestos supporting youth empowerment. USAID have youth empowerment programmes around the world aimed at access to resources and opportunities for education and employment. Youth empowerment is a central tenet of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which every country in the world has signed into law except the USA and South Sudan. The United Nations has numerous development programmes, one of which is for youth empowerment. Their youth empowerment programmes examine all the dimensions of youth empowerment, seeking to improve all of them. In the European Union (EU) youth is defined as those between the ages of 15 and 29. The EU is the birthplace of youth empowerment movements across the centuries. Articles 165 and 166 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is the basis for youth empowerment in the EU. In the Republic of Ireland, government in 2002 established a youth council in every local government through her Irish for Youth Council under the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The 53 member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations all signed the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (2007-2015). The Plan of Action underpins the work of the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP). The Commonwealth of which Nigeria is a member defines youth as: "Young people are empowered when they acknowledge that they have or can create choices in life, are aware of the implications of those choices, make an informed decision freely, take action based on that decision and accept responsibility for the consequences of those actions. Empowering young people means creating and supporting the enabling conditions under which young people can act on their own behalf, and on their own terms, rather than at the direction of others." In Nigeria, the Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme was launched in October 2020. This was followed a week later by the launching of the N75 billion youth investment scheme by the Minister of Youth and Sports. Nigeria's leading global system of mobile communication network MTN through its MTN Foundation has a youth empowerment programme. Also, empowerment opportunities abound in Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the Bank of Agriculture's Small Business Loans Scheme where you can access up to N5 million per business. In Nigeria, the Islamic Development Bank also offers an education empowerment programme. Also, the Jaiz Bank of Nigeria offers youth empowerment schemes of loans without collateral and without interest. Miss Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan won the Nobel Prize for Peace for her youth empowerment advocacy. She is the youngest Nobel laureate.