Youth empowerment

Today, the world is home to the largest generation of youth in history. While youth demonstrate the ingenuity, creativity and energy to create positive solutions for themselves and their communities, their full potential remains untapped. DRC focuses on empowering displaced and host community youth as the much-needed change agents in regions marred by protracted conflict and political instability.

Why work with youth?

Today there are over 2,4 billion people between the ages of 10-29

90 percent of youth live in the Global South

As a lot of their homecountries are tainted by conflict, youth faces difficulty growing under healthy circumstances

The share of young people will continue to grow in both displacement and host communities

Young refugees at the Summit of the Future

The Summit of the Future has been called "a-once-in-a-generation for multilateral cooperation to develop solutions for future generations". Not only were young people the topic of conversations and discussions, but they were also meaningfully participating in the decision-making processes concerning them and their futures.

During the Summit of the Future, the world leaders adopted the Pact for the Future, the Declaration on Future Generations, and the Global Digital Compact - a global commitment to work with, for, and by young people for a more sustainable and equitable future. Read more about DRC's participation at the Summit of the Future and the Action Days preceding.

Summit of the Future

The Global Refugee Forum 2023 and beyond

Every four years, states, refugees, civil society, the private sector and other actors come together at the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) to share best practices and provide pledges in terms of, for example, financial support, technical expertise, and propose policy changes to achieve the goals of the Global Compact for Refugees.

From the 13th-15th of December 2023, the 2nd Global Refugee Forum (GRF) took place, and youth were on the agenda! Read about our work to promote meaningful participation of young people towards, during, and beyond GRF 2023.

Global Refugee Forum 2023 and beyond

Young people’s input to key policy processes

On International Youth Day, 12 August, directly from DRC’s office Kampala, Uganda, young people presented their views, engaged with high-level representatives from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and provided recommendations to some of the most important policy processes at current time, including the upcoming UN Summit of the Future, the strategy of Denmark's engagement in Africa, and beyond.

Recommendations and highlights

The World's Biggest Opportunity Podcast

The purpose of the podcast series is to explore challenges and solutions for improving opportunities for the world’s largest generation of youth in history. Through four thematic Podcast episodes, Haya – a young woman from Syria, living in Denmark – will explore central aspects related to the global youth agenda with a specific focus on displacement and humanitarian aspects. Through conversations with the most insightful and committed actors, Haya will invite a broader audience – including young people, civil society actors, the private sector, governments, donors, and others – to join the journey, gain knowledge and engage.

Listen to the podcast

We Believe in Youth

Youth agency, leadership, and engagement in all aspects that concern them are gaining more momentum in international policy forum, and the voices of youth are becoming a force of global change.

The We Believe in Youth initiative advocates for the systemic, meaningful, and effective participation of young people in displacement i the lead-up to the Global Refugee Forum 2023 and beyond. Read more about the initiative here.

We Believe in Youth

Youth participation and engagement

Programs and policy can only be more effective if host governments, humanitarian and development partners collaborate with young people on the matters that concern them. DRC is committed to promote meaningful, inclusive youth participation in conflict and displacement contexts to ensure programmes and policies pertaining to youth are informed by their diverse perspectives, and thus are more representative and sustainable.

Youth focused and inclusive programming

In recognition of the capacities of youth to be a transformative positive force driving development and sustainability, DRC focuses on working with and for displaced and host community youth to fulfil their potential and to improve the structural barriers that disadvantage young people.

Over the past several years, DRC has focused on developing flagship models for empowering refugee and host community youth in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Tunisia and the Sahel.

Advocacy and mobilization on the youth agenda

DRC is a member of the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action and is committed to enhancing future opportunities for displaced and host community youth through engagement in the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) processes and several commitments at the Global Refugee Forum (GRF).

DRC is coordinating a joint youth pledge by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and seven major NGOs to support local and refugee youth and to promote the youth agenda towards the second GRF in 2023.

Read about the With and For Youth network here

DFUNK- Danish Refugee Council Youth

DFUNK (Danish Refugee Council Youth) was created in 2007 and established as an independent organization in 2009. DFUNK is governed by a board of 10 young people, 7 of whom currently have displacement experience. DFUNK engages 800 volunteers in Denmark and has a growing project portfolio related to youth empowerment, advocacy, education, and self-reliance in addition to social and intercultural activities. The Chairperson of DFUNK is an observing member of DRC’s Board which supports the ongoing dialogue between DFUNK and DRC on the inclusion of youth in DRC’s organization and programs.