Policy Collaboration Agreement
The Challenge
It is important to identify strategies to ensure the voice of Aboriginal youth directly feeds into programming and policies that both directly and indirectly impact youth. Aboriginal youth are the population most significantly impacted from long term visioning and planning stages, therefore it is crucial to ensure that short term and long term forecasts prioritize key considerations are integral to the realities of Aboriginal youth. NWAC recognizes that challenges can exist in appropriately and adequately engaging, involving and empowering Aboriginal youth within program and policy development and implementation. With the existing governance structure of organizations, community and councils, it is imperative to exemplify increased access to information and showcase successes throughout the Aboriginal population as a whole and the direct connection to youth. It is equally important to share the historic reality faced by Aboriginal people in order to best understand how to work together to find solutions to the real issues that our Aboriginal youth are facing today. The idea of securing a solid foundation for youth input has developed over a period of time through learned challenges and celebration of successes of youth council activities. Like other NAOs, NWAC has a youth council structure comprised of young Aboriginal women across Canada. This provides a formalized means to facilitate and obtain direct youth input into program develop, design and implementation. This is a critical component to any youth engagement process, however NWAC has also recognized that additional opportunities exist that would add to, and support, a broader based framework for youth engagement.
The Program
The previous HRSDC Youth Intervenor initiative funded by HRSDC and delivered by NWAC focused on youth council activities. The current Policy Collaboration Agreement (PCA) project is considered a transition to the Youth Intervenor and includes activities focusing Aboriginal youth participation and direct input into policy development and program recommendations which will feeding into the Youth Department “Aboriginal Youth Engagement Framework”.
The Opportunity
The PCA project will develop a solid Aboriginal Youth Engagement Framework by conducting face-to-face dialogue tables to highlight the voice of Aboriginal youth at local, regional and National levels, as well as other web based approaches and opportunities. Through the development of the Aboriginal Youth Engagement Framework NWAC will identify specific opportunities for youth participation and involvement at the sessions. NWAC will provide linkages to engagement sessions uout the alternative and innovative approaches that result from the youth engagement sessions.
- Coordinate youth specific engagement sessions based on identified policy areas for in-depth review and focused discussion
- Develop workshop PowerPoint presentations, Agendas, training materials and resources using guiding documents from policy development and HRSDC updates as available
- Facilitate discussion opportunities to Identify alternative and innovated approaches to education, training and transition to employment
- Participate in knowledge exchange activities relating to youth to develop solid Aboriginal Youth Engagement Framework highlighting effective strategies for building a foundation the meaningful inclusion of youth within all process
- Build on work to date from NWAC youth related programs including the Violence Prevention Toolkit, National Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy and previous Youth Intervenor initiative to identify key considerations for an Aboriginal Youth Engagement framework
- Finalize Aboriginal Youth Engagement Framework