Anthropology and Development Studies

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Browsing Anthropology and Development Studies by Subject "community development programmes"

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    Assessing the Participation of Youth in Community Development Programmes at Mtubatuba Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Province
    (University of Zululand, 2019) Mbatha, Sandiseni Lennox
    The youth are fresh- minded and innovative and are an asset to their countries. Investing in them could yield tremendous social and economic results, particularly in the countries that are still classified as developing. Young people can be drivers of development; and therefore, the youth should be given adequate opportunities to develop and participate in community development initiatives. The aim of this study was to examine the nature and level of participation of the youth in community development programmes (CDP) at Mtubatuba Local Municipality (MLM). The research examined the views of the youth who are participating in CDPs, as well as of the government officials (Key Informants) who work closely with the youth in community development programmes. The focus of the study was to reveal the nature and level of the youth participation, and the attitudes of the youth towards participating in CDPs. This study was conducted in ward 1 and ward 2 of Mtubatuba Local Municipality, and focus groups were used to solicit information from the youth participants. It, therefore, used unstructured interviews for the key informants. The study was qualitative in approach but employed some quantitative elements to support the narrative data. The results of this study revealed that the youth do actively participate in social - activities of (CDP’s), but their level of participation is satisfactory, although the youth are assigned and informed in CDP, which leaves them with limited access to control CDP’s. It was also discovered that there is no designed youth participation model within the local municipality, which may lead to difficulties in engaging the youth in initiation of CDP’s, however the youth are working diligently to implement programmes brought before them by development agencies. The youth were informed and assigned to community development programmes. Centralisation of power and authority influences the level and nature of participation in community development programmes. It was also clear that the adults centralise power and authority in CDP’s and, as a result, the youth have no control over CDP’s, they often join programmes during the implementation stage and, therefore, are in no position to take decisions on the VIII programmes. Youth involvement in the design, implementation and evaluation of community development initiatives is recommended.
University of Zululand