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Society and Economy

DOI: 10.1556/SocEc.2012.0001

1 POVERTY ERADICATION:
2
3
THE ROLE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION
4 AS A CATALYST FOR SOCIAL CHANGE1
5
6
MOSTAFA NEJATI
7
8 Researcher, Universiti Sains Malaysia, School of Management
9 E-mail: mostafa.nejati@gmail.com
10
11 ALI ASGHAR POUREZZAT
12 Associate Professor, University of Tehran, School of Management
13
14 ARYAN GHOLIPOUR
15
16 Associate Professor, University of Tehran, School of Management
17
18
19 Youth are becoming the frontiers and catalysts of positive social changes through their participation.
This paper examines youth involvement in the society to get a better understanding of the process of
20 youth participation in development programs, and to investigate the perceptions of youth regarding
21 the poverty issue in the world. Two different methods were applied in the study: a critical in-depth
22 literature review was conducted followed by a validation process to better elaborate the process of
23 youth participation in development programs. Questionnaires and an analysis of the findings were
also used. The results show that the youth who live in poor countries are more used to poverty and
24
consider it as an inevitable part of their lives. Besides, the more that youth think about and are aware
25 of poverty in the world, the more responsible they feel towards it. Also, those youth who believed in
26 the important role of holding conferences and events in making young people aware of the necessary
27 actions to eradicate poverty had also taken more actions to tackle it.
28
Keywords: youth participation, poverty, poverty eradication, Millennium Development Goals
29
30 JEL-code: I30
31
32
33 1. INTRODUCTION
34
35 Poverty is a problem which has affected billions of peoples’ lives directly and in-
36 directly throughout history and is one of the worse characteristics of social life
37 that negatively influences the development process (Stewart et al. 2009). In spite
38
39 1
Mostafa Nejati would like to acknowledge the support of University Sains Malaysia for support-
40 ing the publication of this paper through the USM Fellowship.

© 2012 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest


2 MOSTAFA NEJATI et al.

1 of the efforts of global NGOs, international organizations, and governments to


2 eradicate poverty, the problem still exists and influences people’s lives in differ-
3 ent ways. In fact, over 800 million people worldwide are suffering from poor liv-
4 ing conditions and live in absolute poverty (United Nations 2007b).
5 Before we can think of ways to solve any problem, we need to understand the
6 problem itself; because only then can appropriate solutions be thought of. As for
7 the issue of poverty, there are different perceptions on how poverty can be de-
8 fined. Some studies have focused on poverty as a relative concept, while others
9 have considered it as an absolute figure. Nevertheless, the view which has most
10 often been used considers poverty as an absolute concept. For instance, the offi-
11 cial U.S. poverty standard has always been an absolute standard where poverty is
12 defined as the income level necessary to buy goods and services needed in order to
13 maintain a living at its minimum level (O’Boyle 1998).
14 Poverty is a sophisticated concept that entails the incapability to reach the min-
15 imum standards of living which may result in different types of economic, social,
16 and psychological deprivations. Therefore, different criteria are needed to study
17 poverty’s various dimensions (Hye 1996; Ahsan Ullah – Routray 2007).
18 There are different perspectives on how poverty is created. While some re-
19 searchers consider poverty as a result of individual characteristics and failings
20 (Burton 1992; Rank 1994), others believe that poverty is not a personal and volun-
21 tary choice which is created by individuals, but rather a result of wrong organiza-
22 tional policies and decisions (Elahi – Danopoulos 2004). But poverty is not just
23 complicated and diversified in its definition, but also in terms of its dynamics and
24 complexity; therefore, different criteria are required to analyze the dimensions
25 and nature of poverty effectively (Sen 1976; Thon 1979; Kakwani 1980;
26 Chakravarty 1983; Foster et al. 1984; Shorrocks 1995).
27 Considering the increasing involvement of youth within the society and their
28 role as catalysts of positive social changes, this study aims to examine youth in-
29 volvement in the society to get a better understanding of the process of youth par-
30 ticipation in development programs, and to investigate the perceptions of youth
31 regarding the issue of poverty in the world. First however the paper discusses the
32 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals can be considered as a step
33 to better address the problems faced by the humans, and as a means to enhance
34 quality of life.
35
36
37 2. THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
38
39 The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is a program of the United Nations
40 which has been initiated in order to improve the quality of peoples’ lives and make

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POVERTY ERADICATION: THE ROLE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION 3

1 the world a better. In September 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit,
2 world leaders agreed to a set of time bound and measurable targets for combating
3 poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimina-
4 tion against women which were categorized in a set of goals called as the Millen-
5 nium Development Goals (see Table 1). The Summit’s Millennium Declaration
6 also outlined a wide range of commitments in human rights, good governance and
7 democracy. The MDGs provide a framework for the entire UN system to work co-
8 herently together towards a similar goal (United Nations 2002; Millennium Pro-
9 ject 2003; UNV 2003; Curtis 2006; United Nations 2007a; United Nations
10 2007b).
11
Table 1
12
13 Millennium Development Goals
14 Goal 1 Halve extreme poverty and hunger
15 Goal 2 Achieve universal primary education
16 Goal 3 Empower women and promote equality between women and men
17 Goal 4 Reduce under-five mortality by two thirds
Goal 5 Reduce maternal mortality by three quarters
18 Goal 6 Reverse the spread of diseases, especially HIV/Aids and malaria
19 Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability
20 Goal 8 Create a global partnership for development, with targets for aid, trade and debt relief
21 Source: United Nations (2007b)
22
23 These goals that aim to reduce poverty and enhance health and well-being of
24 the world within a designated timeframe can result in a better quality of life for ev-
25 eryone if they are achieved (Curtis 2006). As Easterly (2009) discusses, the Mil-
26 lennium Development Goals are meant to be a “motivational device” and mobiliz-
27 ing factors to monitor and improve development efforts.
28 Despite the plans to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, a
29 United Nations report in 2007 (United Nations 2007b) showed that poverty was
30 decreasing at a rate much lower than what was expected; it thus seems that the first
31 goal of the Millennium Development Goals regarding eradication of absolute
32 poverty will not be achieved. Therefore, the necessity to use the maximum poten-
33 tial of every individual and entity to empower the efforts aimed at poverty elimi-
34 nation is inevitable. Kasper, Affronti and Sydor (2009) believe that eradicating
35 poverty requires the engagement and participation of all citizens of the society.
36 Yet, it seems that in order to enhance poverty eradication activities, more attention
37 should be made on the youth, as they are the ones who make the future and are the
38 effective social powers in the society. They can create positive ever-lasting
39 changes and can use their potential and capabilities to shape social, human, and
40 scientific values. Hence, there is a need for enhancing youth participation, and

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4 MOSTAFA NEJATI et al.

1 valuing the potentials and roles of youth in contributing to the society (Head
2 2010). In fact, apart from empowering personal skills, social participation allows
3 youth to exploit their expertise to contribute to a more democratic and equal soci-
4 ety (Checkoway 2011). However, there is still a lack of research on how young
5 adults and youth experience the poverty problem, as the literature on youth pov-
6 erty has only recently started to emerge (Aassve et al. 2006; Ayllón 2009).
7
8
9 3. YOUTH AND POVERTY
10
11 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the youth age range is not
12 the same in all countries, but is mainly considered to be between 15 to 24 years old
13 (cited by UNICEF 2003). Based on this definition, from almost 1.1 billion young
14 people worldwide, nearly a quarter (22.5 percent) survived on less than one dollar
15 a day. Besides, up to 110 million youth are estimated to be malnourished and up to
16 7,000 become infected with HIV daily (United Nations 2003). As such, the World
17 Youth Report emphasizes the need for further research on the relationships be-
18 tween the youth and poverty.
19 As “active agents of change” in their respective societies (Roger 2008), youth
20 are at the forefront of attention for their considerable role towards contributing to
21 social development. Nowadays, youth are increasingly recognized as key partici-
22 pants in decision-making and development, and are playing an ever-increasing
23 role in the social development efforts by participating in the good causes, NGOs,
24 civil society, and youth-led development initiatives (Ad Hoc Working Group for
25 Youth and the MDGs 2005). They are the generation of tomorrow and those who
26 can build a responsible society. As one of the unique social capitals which a soci-
27 ety can possess, youth can facilitate the efforts for positive social changes by their
28 participation and community involvement. They have large potential and capabil-
29 ities which can be directed to shape a better life in the community and help to ex-
30 pand the human, social, and scientific capitals.
31 However, youth need motivation and driving forces to be guided and take ac-
32 tions. The concern that might be raised is that youth in poor countries tend to get
33 used to poor living conditions and might consider that situation as a fate. They
34 might not believe in their capability to change things, and consider poverty as an
35 inevitable part of their lives that cannot be eliminated. Therefore, based what has
36 been discussed, it is hypothesized that:
37
38 Hypothesis 1: There is a significant relationship between the existence of poverty
39 and hunger in the everyday lives of people and getting used to poverty and accept-
40 ing it as an inevitable part of life.

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POVERTY ERADICATION: THE ROLE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION 5

1 But of course, the situation has to change, and this is only possible by changing
2 the mindsets and empowering youth to stand up and take part in the social
3 changes. Researchers consider different rationales for youth participation. For in-
4 stance, Head (2010) point out three rationales for greater youth involvement in so-
5 ciety which includes rights (their right to be involved in the community), effi-
6 ciency (having more efficient youth services by engaging youth in the related
7 planning, performing and assessment stages), and development (empowerment of
8 youth). Similarly, Zeldin et al. (2007) identify three main underlying principles
9 for youth participation, including a) ensuring social justice and youth representa-
10 tion, b) forming a civil society, and c) empowering youth and promoting their
11 skills’ development. In this study, more focus is put on the last two rationales,
12 considering youth involvement and contribution to social development and bet-
13 terment of the quality of life. Therefore, building the capacity of and creating sus-
14 tained partnerships with young people are crucial strategies for achieving the
15 MDGs.
16 With this in mind, getting to know the way that youth look upon society and
17 how they participate in national and international development arenas, has a con-
18 siderable impact on achieving the development goals and eradicating poverty, as
19 it will enable the decision makers to recognize youth’s perceptions and motives,
20 and plan carefully to maximize youth participation in achieving global pledges. It
21 seems that those young people, who are better aware of the social problems (such
22 as poverty) and think about solutions to those problems, tend to be more responsi-
23 ble, and it is more likely that they will act to help resolve those problems. There-
24 fore, considering what has been discussed, it is hypothesized that:
25
26 Hypothesis 2: There is a significant relationship between thinking about global
27 poverty, and feeling responsible towards its effects and trying to resolve these.
28 Undoubtedly, utilizing youths’ potentials to resolve poverty issues requires
29 empowerment and enhancement of youths’ skills and capabilities. This way,
30 youth will have better opportunities to have active participation in society and
31 contribute to decision making.
32
33
34 4. EMPOWERMENT
35
36 Nowadays, there is a focus on empowerment as a means to enable people to
37 change their situation and overcome problems, be it poverty or other problems.
38 Empowerment refers to having the right and opportunity to select from among
39 various options. Of course to empower people, the conditions for equal access to
40 different improvement opportunities in the cultural, economic, scientific, and po-

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6 MOSTAFA NEJATI et al.

1 litical areas should be provided. As this will enable people to make a better living,
2 enhance their skills, and expand their capabilities (Pourezzat et al. 2007). Through
3 empowerment, people get to actively participate in different social arenas and
4 have their voices heard by the decision makers.
5 Besides, empowerment can affect peoples’ chances of coming out of social
6 problems such as poverty. A research by Hong and Padney (2007) showed that
7 factors such as education level, job-related trainings, and health conditions can in-
8 fluence the chances of people falling into poverty. All of these factors and skills
9 can be acquired as part of the empowerment process. As Spreitzer (1995) points
10 out, during the empowerment process, different capabilities and skills including
11 controlling, planning and work design are taught to people. Therefore, empower-
12 ment results in an increase in peoples’ confidence in continuous improvement
13 from the current situation. Even, there has been a special consideration in the Mil-
14 lennium Development Goals (Satterthwaite 2003). Empowerment expands capa-
15 bilities and strengthens people to actively participate in the decision-making pro-
16 cesses on the issues of their concern. It will also enable people to overcome the ob-
17 stacles in the way of participating in political, social and economic activities
18 (World Bank 2004).
19 Based on what has been discussed, it seems that organizing national or interna-
20 tional gatherings where young activists come together to exchange ideas and
21 share their experiences on how they have taken actions to make positive changes
22 within their own communities can help to inspire other youth. Such events can be
23 a good time for knowledge sharing among youth and empower them even further,
24 as they can form new bonds and collaborative networks. Therefore, it is hypothe-
25 sized that:
26
27 Hypothesis 3: There is a significant relationship between how youth evaluate the
28 role of international events and gatherings for young people aimed at raising
29 awareness on poverty eradication approaches and the efforts to resolve the pov-
30 erty problem.
31 Over the past several decades, a number of countries have initiated the design
32 and implementation of national policies and strategies focused on youth. How-
33 ever, most countries do not have specific structures in place for effective youth
34 participation. Neither have they successfully managed to mainstream youth
35 concerns, as the issues relating to young people fall across a variety of policy areas
36 such as education, health, or juvenile delinquency. Moreover, despite youth con-
37 stituting more than 50% of the population in many countries, governments rarely
38 consult young people on matters affecting their lives, such as poverty reduc-
39 tion strategy efforts. Even those governments that have developed legislation on
40

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POVERTY ERADICATION: THE ROLE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION 7

1 youth issues often lack comprehensive and holistic approaches to the challenges
2 faced by the younger generation (Ad Hoc Working Group for Youth and the
3 MDGs 2005).
4
5
6 5. METHODOLOGY
7
8 Two different phases were followed in order to test the three hypotheses outlined
9 above. Each phase used certain methods to collect the necessary data, which are
10 described in detail below.
11
12
13 5.1. Phase 1
14
15 In the first phase, to get a better understanding of the process of youth participa-
16 tion in development programs and to investigate the impacts of youth participa-
17 tion on poverty eradication, an in-depth literature review was carried out. Then, in
18 order to validate these research findings, they were sent to nearly twenty experts
19 to get their feedback and comments on the research findings. The experts were
20 chosen from two groups: a) highly qualified university professors who had years
21 of experience in the research areas of poverty-related social and economic studies;
22 and b) coordinators and decision makers of renowned NGOs or campaigns work-
23 ing with youth groups towards the goal of poverty eradication. These experts were
24 contacted via email and were asked to share their feedback on the findings of the
25 research.
26 After collecting the experts’ opinions and feedbacks, they were reviewed and
27 analyzed, and the necessary modifications were applied to the findings based on
28 the feedbacks.
29
30
31 5.2. Phase 2
32
33 In the second phase, in order to test the hypothesis and investigate the perceptions
34 of youth regarding the poverty issue in the world, a questionnaire was developed
35 and distributed among youths attending an international youth assembly taking
36 place in Europe. The questionnaire items have been drawn from the literature re-
37 view and prior experience. The respondents consisted of the young people from
38 66 countries participating in the CIVICUS Youth Assembly in May 2007 in Glas-
39 gow, Scotland, UK. The assembly brought together the world’s most engaged,
40

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8 MOSTAFA NEJATI et al.

1 dynamic young activists in the field of social and civic justice to provide them
2 with a unique opportunity to meet and work with other young people who were
3 making changes in the lives of others. One of the authors who attended the youth
4 assembly himself, managed to personally distribute 150 questionnaires, out of
5 which 130 completed and usable forms were successfully collected which was
6 used as the research sample, resulting in a return rate of 87%.
7 The questionnaire items mainly focused on the following points from the youth
8 perspectives:
9 – thinking about poverty worldwide;
10 – getting used to poverty and accepting it as an inevitable part of daily life;
11 – feeling responsible towards people living in poverty and hunger;
12 – feeling responsible towards global poverty and trying to eradicate it;
13 – importance of realization of justice and accountability to resolve the poverty
14 and hunger issues;
15 – existence of poverty in the respondent’s respective country;
16 – experiencing poverty in one’s life;
17 – opinions about helping the poor;
18 – Opinions on the impacts of international events and gatherings held for
19 young people aimed at resolving poverty issue.
20
21
22 6. RESULTS
23
24 One of the main arguments of the paper is that raising awareness on the MDGs
25 among youths, as well as training and empowering them will have an important
26 role in mobilizing their capabilities to achieve the MDGs. As the study design
27 consists of two phases, the research findings are also presented in two phases ac-
28 cordingly.
29
30
31 6.1. Results of Phase 1
32
33 Following the in-depth literature review and consultation with experts to validate
34 the results, the findings of phase 1 are illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1 depicts the
35 process of effective participation of youth in development programs and poverty
36 eradication projects.
37 As is shown in Figure 1, the first step to use active participation of youths in
38 development programs is raising awareness on the importance of transition from
39 the current conditions to a better situation and informing about the necessity for
40 change. Next step is to empower and create capacity in youths. This is to ensure

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POVERTY ERADICATION: THE ROLE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION 9

1
Personal
2 Acceptance
Proactive
Empowerment & participation of
3 Raising awareness
capacity building youth
4
5
6
7 Enhancement of Social construction of
8 participation culture reality
9
10
Figure 1. Process of youth participation in development programs
11
12 Source: authors.
13
14 that youths have the required skills and capabilities to take effective actions.
Proactive participation will only occur if this step is leads to acceptance for
15
change among the youth. According to the theory of social construction of reality
16
(Berger – Luckmann 1966), such participation can lead to the development of a
17
movement among youth for making the world a better place to live for everyone.
18
In other words, others will be motivated by the actions taken by the young
19
proactive change makers and will be encouraged to make a start for themselves.
20
This movement will then create a culture of participation among youths and other
21
members of society.
22
As youths get empowered to participate in different social arenas and become
23
capable to voluntarily cooperate in achieving development programs and the
24
MDGs, the requirements for social construction of reality and development of the
25 poverty eradication activities among youth is facilitated. The social construction
26 of reality indicates that people and groups who interact with each other within a
27 social system, will gradually shape the principles and beliefs of other society
28 members, so that their behavioral habit will become a routine and way of life for
29 other people, as well (Berger – Luckmann 1966). This way, the participation cul-
30 ture can be institutionalized among youth. The importance of developing such
31 concepts is that youths are the ones who will make the future, so their viewpoints
32 and motivations to live a better life, can affect their efforts to change the current
33 situation for better.
34
35
36 6.2. Results of Phase 2
37
38 The second phase of the research attempted to explore the perspectives of youth
39 towards the issue of poverty by distributing a questionnaire. More information on
40 the profile of the respondents is provided below.

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10 MOSTAFA NEJATI et al.

1 As for demographic information, the average age of the respondents was 21.1
2 years. The youngest respondent was 17 years old, whereas the oldest was 25 years
3 old. Table 2 summarizes the continents from which the respondents came from.
4
5 Table 2
6 Geographical distribution of the statistical sample
7
8 Continent Number Percentage
9 Asia 23 18
10 Africa 32 24
Europe 52 40
11 America 18 14
12 Australia 5 4
13
Source: authors
14
15 Table 3 illustrates the findings of phase 2 of the study. Findings show that the
16 majority of youths in the studied respondents (74%) consider poverty as one of
17 their major concerns in life and at least think about it often. Moreover, the respon-
18 dents consider poverty as a global problem which should be tackled collectively.
19 Results show that 82% of youths believe that poverty is not an individual problem
20 but a global issue that all people are responsible against. Besides, according to the
21 findings, 72% of youths believed that realization of justice and accountability can
22 help resolve hunger and poverty problems in the world; something they think is
23 lacking at the moment.
24 Another interesting finding of the research is the fact that about 95% of youth
25 agree with the positive impacts of holding international events and gatherings for
26 young people, on resolving poverty issues. This is mainly because holding such
27 events can raise awareness among youth and inform them about the necessity for
28 them to take actions for a positive change in the society. Therefore, youth will be
29 mobilized to take steps in order to transform the lives in their communities and in-
30 form and encourage other youth to get involved. This is in line with the first part of
31 this research’s finding illustrated in Figure 1.
32 According to Table 4, testing hypothesis 1 shows that there is a significant rela-
33 tionship between the existence of poverty and hunger in the place where a person
34 lives, and getting used to poverty and accepting it as an inevitable part of life, at
35 the 99% significance level. This signifies that youth who live in poor countries are
36 more used to poverty and as a result, consider it as an inevitable part of living. This
37 can lead to lower involvement of poor youth in community activities. As
38 Checkoway (2011) highlights, youth who are poor tend to participate less actively
39 in formal politics and community activities than their peers from higher income
40 levels. Therefore, as it gives the hint that when poverty and poor quality of life be-
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POVERTY ERADICATION: THE ROLE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION 11

1 Table 3
2 Findings from the questionnaires
3
4 Item Responses Percentage
5
1 Respondent’s level of think- Not at all 0
6 ing towards poverty problem
7 Sometimes 26
8 Often 47
9 Almost always 27
10 2 Respondent’s belief in the Agree 13
11 impossibility of poverty Not sure 12
12 eradication
Disagree 75
13
14 3 Respondent’s feelings to- Necessity to get used to it and ac-
15 wards the fact about millions cepting it as an inevitable social
of people living in poverty reality 5
16
People are incapability of fighting
17
against it 3
18
Necessity for others' action
19 against it 3
20 Necessity for responsible action
21 from everyone in the society 89
22
23 4 Respondent’s perception Agree 82
about responsibility of all Not sure 11
24 people towards the poverty
25 issue in the world Disagree 7
26
5 Importance of the realization To a great extent 72
27
of justice and accountability Has little effect 25
28 in helping to eradicate pov-
29 erty in the view of the re- Has no effect 3
30 spondent It makes the problem worse 0
31 6 Existence of poverty in the Large extent 63
32 respondent’s country To some extent 31
33
Not at all 5
34
Has no knowledg 1
35
36 7 Personal experience of pov- Yes 38
37 erty No 54
38 Not sure 8
39
40

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12 MOSTAFA NEJATI et al.

1 8 Respondent’s viewpoints It is excellent 64


2 about those who help the Good but should be controlled 27
3 poor
Does not know 4
4 It has no significant effect and
5 cannot solve the problem 2
6 It does not help, and makes prob-
7 lems worse 3
8
9 Respondent’s viewpoints Definitely effective 36
9 about the effectiveness of in- To some extent 59
10 ternational youth conferences
11 to help raise awareness about Not at all 5
12 poverty and resolving the
problem
13
14
15 comes part and parcel of peoples’ routine lives, people are apt to accept it as a real-
16 ity and inevitable fact. This is a problematic thought as it can weaken peoples’ ef-
17 forts to change their situation and come out of poverty.
18
19 Table 4
20 Hypotheses test results
21
22 Hypotheses Correlation Significance
23 coefficient level
24 Hypothesis 1 Relationship between the existence of 0.349* 0.001
25 poverty and hunger in the everyday
26 lives of people and getting used to
27 poverty and accepting it as an inevita-
ble part of life.
28
29 Hypothesis 2 Relationship between thinking about 0.325* 0.001
30 global poverty, and feeling responsi-
ble towards its effects and trying to
31
resolve these.
32
33 Hypothesis 3 Relationship between how youth 0.231** 0.029
34 evaluate the role of international
events and gatherings for young
35
people aimed at raising awareness on
36 poverty eradication approaches and
37 the efforts to resolve the poverty
38 problem.
39 * 0.01 significance level
40 ** 0.05 significance level

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POVERTY ERADICATION: THE ROLE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION 13

1 Testing hypothesis 2 shows that there is a significant relationship between


2 thinking about global poverty, and feeling responsible towards global poverty and
3 trying to resolve it, at the 99% reliability level. In other words, the more that youth
4 think about poverty, the more responsible they will feel towards it and try to re-
5 solve the problem. This is especially a valuable finding, because it emphasizes the
6 importance of raising awareness among youths to make them aware of the exist-
7 ing problems and encourage them to think about and act against poverty. There-
8 fore, if youths are more aware of the problem and are empowered with capabilities
9 and skills to take actions, they can initiate positive changes in their communities
10 and help to uproot poverty, as previously illustrated in Figure 1. This finding is in
11 line with the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1991), where it is emphasized that
12 the individuals’ intention play a key role in encouraging and motivating the per-
13 son to perform a given behavior. Besides, generally as the intention of individuals
14 to engage in a behavior gets stronger, they are more likely to act on and take ac-
15 tion.
16 Testing hypothesis 3 shows that there is a significant relationship between con-
17 sidering the positive role of holding international events and gatherings for young
18 people aimed for raising awareness on poverty eradication approaches, and the ef-
19 forts to resolve the poverty problem, at the 95% reliability level. This implies that
20 those youths who believe in the positive roles of international youth events and
21 gatherings for raising awareness on poverty eradication approaches, are expected
22 to do more in order to fight against poverty. They are more likely to stand against
23 poverty and get involved in projects and initiatives aiming to tackle this problem.
24
25
26 7. CONCLUSION
27
28 Poverty is a social problem which has affected different aspects of human life and
29 has existed in society despite various programs and initiatives which have been in-
30 troduced to eradicate it. It seems that the efforts to fight against poverty require
31 special attention to the youth, as the future makers and invaluable social capitals.
32 Youth can contribute to decision-making and enhance the effectiveness of organi-
33 zations and communities (Zeldin et al. 2007); therefore, the way youths think
34 about society and how they participate in decision making as well as national and
35 international development programs, have a considerable impact on achieving the
36 Millennium Development Goals and on top of it, eradicating poverty.
37 This article has investigated the opinions of youths about the poverty issue in
38 the world and studied their views towards their roles and responsibilities in re-
39 solving this global problem. The research results showed that those youths who
40 live in poor countries are more used to poverty and consider it as an inevitable part

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14 MOSTAFA NEJATI et al.

1 of their lives, compared to the ones who live in less poor countries. Besides, the
2 more that youth think about the poverty problem in the world, the more responsi-
3 ble they feel towards the necessity to take action for resolving it. Also, those
4 youths who believed in the important role of holding programs and conferences in
5 informing young people about necessary actions to eradicate poverty, have
6 thought more about it and have taken more actions to resolve poverty. The authors
7 do believe that paying more attention to the thoughts, beliefs, and potential of
8 youths can help better mobilize them in contributing to the efforts to eradicate
9 poverty and making it fade away.
10
11
12 REFERENCES
13
14 Aassve, A. – Iacovou, M. – Mencarini, L. (2006): Youth Poverty and Transition to Adulthood in Eu-
rope. Demographic Research 15(2): 21–50.
15 Ad Hoc Working Group for Youth and the MDGs (2005): Youth and the Millennium Development
16 Goals: Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation. http://www.un.org.ir:80/Pub_Gal-
17 lery/Publications/mdg/mdgyouthpaper.pdf (Accessed 5 January 2010).
18 Ahsan Ullah, A. K. M. – Routray, J. K. (2007): Rural Poverty Alleviation through NGO Interven-
19 tions in Bangladesh: How far is the Achievement? International Journal of Social Economics
34(4): 237–248.
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