|
|
Publications > Ministry of Youth Development communications > Connecting with young New Zealanders (2006)
Connecting with young New Zealanders (2006)
The corporate brochure of the Ministry of Youth Development provides an overview of our work and services.
 Connecting with young New Zealanders replaced Working for young people in New Zealand in June 2006.
Copies of this publication
The contents of this publication is available in three formats:
The Ministry of Youth Development (MYD) promotes the interests of young
people aged 12 to 24 years. We also encourage and assist the
involvement of young people in the social, educational, economic and
cultural development of New Zealand.
By listening and responding to young people, we actively seek ways to
ensure that young people are valued, nurtured and challenged to realise
their full potential.
Background
Our objective is to provide leadership, co-ordination and facilitation for youth development.
The three areas that underpin our work are social inclusion and
citizenship young people’s development and sector development.
MYD sits within the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). We receive
administrative support from MSD and have access to MSD’s policy,
research and evaluation resources as well as its regional networks.
MYD was established in 2003 to continue and enhance the work of the former Ministry of Youth Affairs, which was set up in 1988.
We use a youth development approach … that’s about how government and
society can support young people to develop the skills and attitudes
they need to take a positive part in society both now and in the future.
Our work
Our work programme is structured to:
- provide a regional presence to enable responsiveness to local needs
- build a research base on youth development
- provide policy advice on issues affecting young people
- manage funding and contracts for youth development services
- promote youth engagement.
Regional development
From 2005 we have developed a small regional presence.
This enables us to support and achieve positive outcomes for young
people at a local, regional and national level, and to contribute to
whole of government initiatives in support of young people.
Our regional teams are based in MSD regional offices in:
- Auckland (covering Auckland and Northland)
- Christchurch (covering the South Island)
- Rotorua (covering Bay of Plenty Waikato)
- Wellington (covering the lower North Island including the East Coast).
Research and evaluation
We are committed to
building the knowledge base for youth development in partnership with
MSD’s Centre for Social Research and Evaluation.
Policy advice
Our specialised understanding of the youth sector allows us to provide
advice on ways to accommodate youth interests and improve policies that
impact on young people.
We do this by monitoring and researching issues and trends and using this knowledge to:
-
advise our Minister on policies, services and legislation affecting young people
- work with other government agencies and the youth sector to keep them informed about key issues that affect young people
- provide advice and/or lead initiatives to provide improved outcomes for young people in New Zealand.
We also lead and co-ordinate the Government’s work on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC).
Youth development services
We provide government funding and manage contracts for selected youth
development services that deliver local initiatives for identified
needs.
We specifically seek to fund innovative services that work across
sectors to make a positive difference to the lives of vulnerable young
people. To support our wider work in developing the youth services
sector we seek projects and services that demonstrate young people’s
participation, inclusion and engagement.
We also administer the Youth Development Partnership Fund to enable us
to respond to emerging needs and opportunities for young people through
partnerships with territorial authorities (city and district councils).
The fund aims to attract and encourage young people to get involved in
their communities, through inventive, youth-friendly projects that
teach valuable work, life and learning skills. Each project must
demonstrate clear and measurable outcomes for young people, and be
supported by other agencies in the community.
Youth engagement
We work to ensure that effective youth participation is happening in
schools, communities, local councils and in government around the country.
We believe that by increasing the ways young people are involved in
decision making, they can be a part of making a real difference in New
Zealand today.
Aotearoa Youth Voices is the brand that houses our youth participation
projects, and our website: www.youthvoices.govt.nz provides information
and resources of particular interest to young people, as well as a
discussion forum and opinion polls.
Projects include:
- PROVOKE – supports young people as youth voice advocates to get
their voices heard in different ways in their schools, organisations,
communities and government.
- Activate Youth Advisory Group – gets young people’s input on our
projects and their perspectives on the important issues for different
youth cultures and communities.
- Youth parliament – gives youth representatives an opportunity to
voice youth issues and concerns in a real parliamentary setting.
- Local government – supporting local councils in youth participation in relation to lots of different kinds of council
Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa (YDSA)
This approach:
-
enhances the protective factors in young people’s lives, as well as addressing risk factors
-
supports a sense of belonging to and connecting with key social
environments (families, schools, training, work, communities and peer
groups)
-
ensures young people have safe, caring relationships
- promotes young people’s active participation in all areas of their lives.
The YDSA promotes the application of a youth development approach as a
way of understanding what needs to happen for, around and with young
people in New Zealand.
Launched in 2002 as a long-term direction for supporting and developing
young people, the YDSA aims to shift thinking from a focus on youth
problems to seeing young people as partners and contributors in all
sectors of society.
The Government’s vision for young people is presented in the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa:
a country where young people are vibrant and optimistic through being supported and encouraged to take up challenges
To make this vision a reality, we believe that all individuals, groups
and organisations that work with young people need to be aware of youth
issues and interests and also need to understand and apply a youth
development approach in their work.
More information
We have a wide range of publications on policies and issues that affect young people, the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa and our Aotearoa Youth Voices projects, which are all also available on our website.
We can provide information about our youth development services and put
you in touch with a local organisation providing a programme.
Email mydinfo@myd.govt.nz
Website www.myd.govt.nz and www.youthvoices.govt.nz
Phone 64 4 916 3300
Fax 64 4 918 0091
Post Ministry of Youth Development
PO Box 1556, Wellington, New Zealand
Our four regional offices are located in MSD offices at Auckland,
Christchurch, Rotorua and Wellington. Contact our national office for
local details.
Top of page
|