UN-HABITAT's mandate and overarching goals of improving sanitation, infrastructure and service as part of a holistic concept of "shelter", and particularly their efforts to support grassroots upgrading projects for dwellers in informal settlements ("slums") are best explained by those actually doing the work on the ground. Here, in a clip from a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news item, EYA team members and residents explain how they are turning "trash into cash" in a newly built recycling facility serving one of Kibera's villages:
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The Global Partnership Initiative for Urban Youth Development (or GPI) is a collaboration between selected cities worldwide and UN-HABITAT, intended to address the growing need for the engagement of youth as full partners in urban development and governance issues. Youth comprise a significant and growing proportion of the world's population, and indeed are the majority in many developing countries, most especially in their rapidly expanding urban centres. As our species crosses the threshold from primarily rural to primarily urban – 2007 marking the first time in history when more people lived in cities than outside them – the GPI is all the more critical and timely.

An excerpt from the UN-HABITAT website says: "The agency regards young people as partners in building a better world and promotes their empowerment through effective and meaningful participation in decision-making. Adopted by 171 countries at the 1996 City Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, the Habitat Agenda recommends a participatory approach to promote employment, training, and crime prevention. It also stresses the role of young people in the alleviation of poverty and inequality. "

In 2004, UN-HABITAT launched the GPI in Barcelona at the World Urban Forum, formalizing the agency's commitment to engaging with youth across the world in shaping and achieving development and governance goals. Two years later, the following WUF in Vancouver, Canada, had a strong focus on the role of youth in urban spaces, and on how youth in both developed and developing countries are already taking leadership roles and helping shape their own futures.

Today, with the support of the Government of Norway and a variety of partners, UN-HABITAT's Partners and Youth Section are launching One Stop Youth Information and Resource Centres as a powerful platform for youth involvement in issues of development and governance.
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Nanjing, China – November 1, 2008 – 500 youth activists from over 50 countries world-wide, gathered today in the city of Nanjing, China, for the 3rd session of the World Urban Youth Forum, convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT). The conference, hosted by the Nanjing Youth Federation which is on the 1st and 2nd of November, is launched right before the World Urban Forum, and themed “Harmonious Urbanization: The Challenge of Balanced Territorial Development.”



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One Stop Youth Centres, piloted in four East African cities to start with, are the central activity of the GPI project. One Stop Centres grew out of a collaborative process with key stakeholders including youth, municipal leaders, and UN-HABITAT, and are envisioned to provide youth with safe spaces in urban settings where they can meet and be part of youth-led development activities.

The Nairobi One Stop – run by Nairobi City Council – is the first to officially open, and has been the host for several innovative youth-led projects already. One Stop centres in Kampala and Dar es Salaam are underway, with generously allocated land from their respective city councils being developed, while in Kigali the centre is in its planning and consensus-building phase.
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Launched in 2004, the We Are the Future (WAF) initiative is the result of a strategic partnership between the Glocal Forum and the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation with the support of a coalition of stakeholders, including the World Bank and major private sector companies. We Are the Future’s main goal is to mobilize global resources for the benefit of children in post-conflict cities through the creation of municipally-owned WAF Child Centers that focus on
youth-led activities in the five areas of Nutrition, ICT, Health, Sports and Arts.

The primary goal of this joint programme is the development and implementation of youth-led services for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and youth living in urban areas in order to promote a healthy start in life and improved living conditions. Youth benefiting from programs at the Centres have become community assets able to extend new services to peers, younger children and their communities at large. The Centres are based on partnerships with municipalities, the private sector, civil society organizations, development agencies and universities, in order to ensure sustainability and scale.

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