Integrating youth development in the Free State

Abstract

This report forms part of a five-year plan designed by the Centre for Development Support (CDS) of the University of the Free State on behalf of the Free State Youth Commission (FSYC). As part of a cluster of research projects on governmental youth programmes and actions, the project aims to inform government departments on how best to integrate youth related issues into their structures and programmes. The main rationale for this cluster is related to the current lack of any effective integration of youth affairs into the institutional arrangements of government departments, and the need to develop practical guidelines for effective integration. The aims of the study are three fold: - to determine the current extent, and type, of integration and intersectoral collaboration in the area of youth development at provincial and local government spheres in the Free State, - to determine the constraints and opportunities for such integration and intersectoral collaboration of youth development policies and programmes within the current policy and administrative context, and - to develop strategies and operational principles to facilitate integrated youth development within and across these spheres in the province.