UN Women Australia hosted a side event at the Commission on the Status of Women last week.  I had the opportunity to speak about the importance of, and how to, engage young women in the work of non-governmental organisations.  In this article, I outline some of the key points of my talk.

The point of this article is to give some good, general advice on how to engage young women meaningfully in the work of an NGO.  I speak from my experience as a leader in a youth-run NGO and from being involved in non-youth-run NGOs that still work extensively with young people.  In this article, I want to discuss three key themes: the importance of engaging young women, the key issues faced by NGOs in doing so, and some strategies for overcoming these difficulties.  

Firstly, it is essential for NGOs to ask themselves why it is important to engage young women.  Organisations should have a clear idea of the 'why' so that they can be truly effective in carrying out the 'how'.  For me, there is one overarching reason that is widely given for wanting more young people involved: the common notion that young women bring energy, a fresh perspective, ideas and enthusiasm to an organisation.  I will say more on this later.  However, I think it is equally important to recognise just what your organisation can give to a young woman who gets involved.  I have gained some of my most useful skills and experience, not to mention increased self-confidence and leadership skills, from being involved in NGOs. View the engagement of young women as a synergy: by giving young women meaningful opportunities to get involved in your NGO, they will grow and be able to give back.  

So, we come now to the major issues that NGOs face in engaging young women.  These can be summed up as the common complaints of 'we can't get young women interested' and 'we can't hang onto interested young women - they come to one meeting and then leave!'  Sound familiar?  If so, some of my advice below could be of help.  

The idea underlying all of the advice below is that NGOs should give young women spaces to meaningfully participate.  Keep in mind that my advice is not meant to be exhaustive.  Different contexts will call for different solutions  However, I hope that it is a good starting point from which your NGO can begin a discussion about how best to engage young women. 

1.  Show confidence in young women.  It is absolutely essential that your NGO shows faith in young women.  Many organisations are scared that young people will make mistakes.  This is a legitimate concern; however, we should remember that everyone, regardless of age, makes mistakes, and it is rare that these mistakes are truly catastrophic!  Furthermore, we learn best by doing, so it follows that we learn best from our successes and failures.  If young women don't feel like they have the trust and support of the organisations, then I can guarantee they will seek more fulfilling opportunities elsewhere.  Worse still, if no one shows faith in a person, then they will not show faith in themselves.  One of the best things that older and/or more experienced members of an organisation can do is to tap a younger woman on the shoulder and ask her directly to take on responsibility for a particular task or project.  Many young women lack the self-confidence to put their hands up to take on jobs, although they are probably more than competent.  

2.  Give young women ownership.  Meaningful participation means giving responsibility to young women.  If young women can feel like they are truly part of a project or task, that they have been entrusted with a responsibility, then they will become much more engaged, rather than just hanging around on the sidelines.  Giving young women ownership for things such as running events, coming up with ideas for new initiatives, etc., also gives them the chance to gain new skills or improve new ones.  This is good for young women and good for your organisation.  

3.  Consultation.  If your organisation wants to carry out a project targeted at young women, then ask young women themselves about what would be most effective!  Unfortunately, consultation is often done very poorly.  Consultation should be carried out with a group of an appropriate size and it should be as representative as possible, with regard to the context.  Facilitation should be about getting the young women themselves to speak, rather than asking participants to sit and listen.  Above all, respect people's intelligence and avoid tokenism at all costs.  Make sure that participants know what the outcomes of the consultation will be and give them the chance to be involved with the delivery of the project.  

4.  Peer-to-peer education.  One of the most effective techniques for engaging young women that I have seen and used countless times is peer-to-peer education.  This means equipping young women with the skills and knowledge to teach and inspire other young women about the work of your NGO.  Get them to write materials such as presentations and workshops, and help them develop skills in public speaking and facilitating group discussions.  This is a great way of showing faith in young women and it gives them the chance to exercise and improve their leadership skills.  Peer-to-peer education is so effective because peers know best how to communicate with each other.  It eliminates the barriers presented by age, different communication skills or status that often prevent young women from getting really engaged in and excited about a topic.  It also gives young women positive role models in their own peer group.  

5.  Mentoring.  As I've mentioned, being involved in an NGO can be hugely beneficial for a young woman.  Mentoring takes this one step further and helps to create intergenerational dialogue and solidarity that will strengthen your organisation.  Consider 'buddying up' a young women with an older and/or more experienced member who can guide them through your NGO's structure and culture, encourage them to take on new opportunities as they arise and give them advice when they need it.  

To wrap up, here are some final points that are important to keep in mind:

1.  Young people are not endless fountains of energy and enthusiasm.  This common belief can lead to young women being tasked with more than they can cope with (especially as we are not yet good at saying 'no'!).  Please take care of young women in your organisation and stress quality, not quantity, of involvement as being the most important in order to avoid burn out and the loss of interest.  

2.  Allow young women to speak for themselves as much as possible.  As Kofi Annan said, 'If you want to know about young people, ask them'.  

3.  Young women often get told, 'youth are the leaders of tomorrow'.  This is just plain wrong. Young women lead today, in their communities, nationally, regionally and globally.  Don't let young women think that they have to 'grow up' before they can be 'real leaders'.  Encourage them to recognise the various ways in which they are already showing leadership and help them to develop further.