Restless Development has been championing the role of young people in implementation and accountability mechanisms throughout the post-2015 process. In recent months, development sector players have been sharing their proposals for the accountability architecture of the SDGs. There is a lot of rhetoric around harnessing citizens’ role in formal review and accountability processes, but few practical suggestions on what this could look like on a long term and sustained basis. Restless Development has seized this moment to assess the options for the role of young people in these proposals, learning from young people’s experiences of formal and informal accountability mechanisms to date.
THE CENTRAL QUESTION IN THIS SCOPING STUDY IS:
How can young people be embedded in the formal and informal review processes for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
Through reflecting on existing theory and practice, we have identified three sets of practical recommendations on a sliding scale of ambition that would transform current youth engagement and leadership in national, regional and global reviews of progress on sustainable development. These recommendations are provided as a tool for government officials, parliamentarians, youth advocates and other stakeholders to develop inclusive, transparent, collaborative and responsive mechanisms that go beyond review and enable accountability to citizens at all levels. They are intended to stimulate joint action on youth-led accountability and future advocacy and collaboration from 2016 onwards. We have used existing research and policy as a benchmark, whilst scoping new models from the youth sector and beyond, to propose new approaches to youth engagement in formal and informal governance processes for the SDGs.
Our intention is not to generate new theories or principles, but to highlight practical ways that governments and young people can drive action. We give particular emphasis to national and subnational level processes that are closest to where the people are, meaning review processes can be most inclusive of marginalised social groups, including young women. There also tends to be more formalised structures for citizen participation at district and municipal levels.