Winrock International - Project Fact sheet: LIDER Program

Project Title:
LIDER Program

Project Website

Program Group:
Empowerment & Civic Engagement

Country:
Russia

Project Length:
2008 - 2010

Funding:
USAID

Creating a Future for Russian Youth

In the Russian Far East (RFE), economic, health, and social problems stemming from the political transition of the 1990s prevent youth from becoming productive and active members of society. High levels of unemployment, chronic disease, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS infection contribute to increased crime and outward migration. Youth do not have incentives to build livelihoods or contribute in a meaningful way to the development of their communities. Winrock International's LIDER program will strive to link young people more directly with the communities in which they live and boost their participation in local governance and advocacy. At the heart of the program are the values expressed in the Russian acronym LIDER: Leadership, Initiative, Action, Unity, and Results.

Mobilize and improve the institutional capacity and professionalism of NGOs working in the fields of youth and advocacy and youth social development.
Improve networks of NGOs and government services and support systems at community and regional levels capable of addressing multiple needs of youth.
Promote and build multi-sector coalitions advocating for innovative youth-targeted policies and programs that impact many of the social ills facing Russian youth.
Increase access to youth-friendly programs and services.
Increase the number of youth participating in programs to address critical civil society and social issues facing Russian youth.

The goals of the program extension are:

Fostering the long-term sustainability of youth NGOs to promote and deliver youth-friendly services in their communities; and
Institutionalizing youth-focused best practices and innovative models identified through the LIDER project.

Winrock and its partner, the Far Eastern Scientific Center for Local Self-Governance (FESC), will implement LIDER in two pilot regions: Khabarovski and Primorski krais. LIDER will focus on improving health and social services through a solutions-based, three-fold approach: strengthening NGOs in organizational and technical areas; encouraging partnerships between NGOs, government, and the private sector to help youth advocate for changes in legislation and policy; and replicating successful programs and services that engage and serve RFE youth. A Youth Advisory Council (YAC) in each krai will lead the program, inspiring its evolution and sustaining its outcomes in RFE communities. Over the life of the program, LIDER activities will engage at least 20,000 youth ages 14-20, creating 8 multi-sector partnerships, strengthening 16 local NGOs, introducing 5 changes to youth policies, initiating 20 new NGO programs or activities through leadership exchange participants, involving 2,000 youth in stipend-recipients' local programs, and supporting 10 new active and health life programs.

In the first two years, LIDER fostered youth participation in advocacy and local governance, built partnerships with the government and private sector, and strengthened local youth-oriented NGOs. LIDER engaged 36,753 young people ages 14-20 (as compared to the target of 22,000); facilitated development and submission of 7 legislative proposals to local authorities (target of 5) and strengthened 47 local NGOs serving youth.

Youth Advisory Councils (YACs), one in each krai, are a driving force for the LIDER program design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. At present, YACs unite 22 young leaders from Khabarovski and Primorski krais. Quarterly YAC meetings were organized, allowing the participants to share experiences, plan and analyze activities, and establish linkages between different initiatives. YAC members successfully organized multiple community events, including the Seven Weeks of Youth Activism and the Spring Week of Kindness campaigns, which reached at least 650 youth. Also YAC members conducted 8 trainings (target of 4) on youth engagement for 173 young leaders. As a result of the two years of work, YACs developed strategies for their institutionalization in both krais. Primorski krai YAC initiated creation of the coalition of youth organizations entitled "Round table." Khabarovski YAC began working on establishing a Youth Resource Center in their city.

LIDER partnership grants supported 8 cross-sector projects addressing youth problems in areas of ecology, employment, entrepreneurship, public health, and youth self-governance. 815 youth actively participated in the projects' realization, 175 of them organized 20 advocacy events (target of 12) for 660 participants. As a result, 8 legislative initiatives on issues important to youth - volunteerism, public health education, water quality monitoring, entrepreneurship and other topics - were initiated. Seven have been submitted for consideration to local authorities, and 2 of them have been formally adopted.

Short Film Contest and Festivals, implemented by Vzlyot and Vozrazhdenie NGOs, were a great success: Youths created 89 public service announcement (PSAs), and the best PSAs were presented at film festivals in Nakhodka and Khabarovsk. Pilot Internship Program effectively addressed the vital economic roots of many problems that youths face in the RFE. Working together with the Union of Business Women (Khabarovsk) and the Association of Credit Cooperatives (Vladivostok), LIDER provided 315 students with 46 job skill and career trainings, 193 of them were placed in internships with local companies, and 93 received employment offers.

Eleven capacity building trainings conducted for 47 NGOs in project management, life skills and leadership development, fund-raising, and other subjects are expected to lead to better services for youth.