“Where local young people are involved in budgetary decisions there is the potential to develop creative solutions to issues that can result in cost savings and better value for money. Local young people are often very conscious of spending/allocating public money and can therefore be very careful about how they spend it.” Government official, Municipality of Rosario

Participatory youth governance can give youth a greater sense of civic pride and responsibility. The Municipality of Rosario undertakes an annual participatory youth budget, engaging youth from across its six districts in democratic processes to select representatives and decide upon budget allocations for youth services. An initial pilot in 2004 was funded by German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) and the necessary funds are now drawn from the municipal budget. Young people are able to have a say in the design of youth services in their city and in the allocation of resources to support their execution over the course of a six-month annual cycle.

Problems addressed

• Service priorities set by adults may not always reflect the needs and interests of young people.
• Inefficiency in terms of how funds are spent.

Objectives

• To engage youth as protagonists in the design and implementation of local youth services;
• To educate young people in citizenship by active learning.

Youth as partners

An average of 1,000 young people (13 to 18 years) per year engaged in the control and distribution of resources, co-managing decision-making processes.

Youth as beneficiaries

Funded services used by the wider youth population.

Process

1. Initial steps include setting up neighborhood assemblies in each city district.
2. Young people then identify neighborhood priorities and elect delegates to each district’s youth participatory council.
3. This is followed by a full day orientation meeting where budget delegates can meet each other and learn about the process.
4. Subsequently, youth participatory councils meet regularly for several months to develop project proposals based on the neighborhood priorities.
5. The councils then present the proposals in a round of district assemblies, where local youth vote on which to implement.
6. Participants are encouraged to participate in other non-youth specific participatory budgeting processes.

Results

• Three thousand five hundred young people were involved by 2008.
• Gaps in provision were identified and addressed. Funding was allocated to new music and dance workshops, recreational sites and a community library.
• Inspired new youth projects in adult participatory budgeting process.
• Development of new democratic skills, knowledge and attitudes. The elected representatives within the process are also considered ambassadors with a responsibility to involve others.
• Linking of youth groups from different areas.
• The programme is undergoing a steady scale-up process utilising the raised profile and extra capacity brought by projects funded from youth budget for outreach purposes.

“To be a budget delegate means to make decisions responsibly and skilfully, to debate and respect the opinions of others, to orient and guide people who need help, and to propose coherent projects that will be useful in the future.” Youth participant, Rosario

Lessons learned

• Strong political will is required to maintain participation initiatives.
• In an urban environment a level of decentralisation enables the participation of youth from more diverse areas.
• Human resources required: overall direction from within the municipal budget team, youth workers across all six municipal districts and administrative support for the youth budget council.

Potential challenges

• Engaging the most socially excluded groups of young people, especially those heavily engaged in gang activity has been a challenge;
• Maintaining communication with all young people involved.

For further information contact:

Municipality of Rosario, http://www.rosario.gov.ar