4Youth Organisational Development and Change Workshop: Press Release

4Youth Gather in Bali, Indonesia for the Organisational Development and Change Workshop

On 16 - 18 August 2019, Youth LEAD¹, Y-PEER APC², Youth RISE³ and Y+⁴ gathered in Bali, Indonesia for the Organisational Development and Change Workshop. Also formally known as 4Youth, the consortium came together to work towards improving organizational problem solving and renewal processes, particularly through a more effective and collaborative management culture. The workshop was joined by 20 participants from 15 different nationalities, youth networks and organisations working in four different continents. Six participants from Youth LEAD, three from Y-PEER APC, three from Youth RISE, three from Y+ and two from Inti Muda (National network of young-key populations) participated at the workshop.

Gaj Gurung, Regional Coordinator at Youth LEAD facilitated most of the sessions during the workshop, starting with the objectives of the workshop and giving an introduction and background to organisational development and network structures. The networks were first tasked to complete a self-assessment form that was developed by RCF. The self-assessment form allowed networks to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to map out existing mitigation measures that are available within the consortium members. This activity promoted knowledge transfer and sharing of best practice between 4Youth members, to address gaps within the self-assessment form that focuses on indicators for organizational development.

In the various sessions throughout the three-day workshop, participants were split up into their respective networks to focus on their strengths and weaknesses. The session helped foster dialogue between network partners to hone in on key existing challenges and to find proactive mitigation strategies. Other sessions encouraged participants to consider networks/organisations as a system, rather than fragmented parts and to find solutions to problems through cross-organisational learning approaches. Eddy Rudram, Communications Officer at Youth LEAD gave a presentation on the different organisational learning theories to encourage participants to think about cross-organisational learning and communications strengthening.

Jawying Lyster (Honey), Programme Management and M&E Consultant at Being LGBTI in the Asia Pacific (UNDP) and Michela Polesana, Advocacy Adviser at UNAIDS RST were invited as guest speakers to provide useful information for participants to help with network strengthening. Honey gave an interesting presentation on the theory of change, challenging youth networks to develop M&E frameworks to improve organisational capacity and also gave useful tips on data collection. Michela presented useful tools from the Uproot Youth Engagement Toolkit and the Youth Activist Toolkit, sharing tips and guidance on effective communications and for developing advocacy strategies. Michela also led a team-building exercise to get participants to collaborate, share ideas, learn from each others’ experiences and to promote teamwork. 

The meeting concluded on the 18th of August after the consortium worked collectively to develop a group work-plan for 2020, producing timelines and targets for each consortium members that specifically addresses the organizational development and change outcomes.

So, what’s next?

A Youth Consultant was hired to develop the 4Youth organisational development and change manual with the expected completion date set for November 2019. Youth LEAD hopes the manual would also serve the wider community to support youth networks and organisations looking to improve their organisational development. In the next steps, 4Youth will work internally to strengthen their organisations’ needs and to maintain a good balance of cross-organisational learning between partners. The work-plan for 2020 will be finalised by each consortium member before the end of the year and will highlight areas to strengthen the organisational system that also fosters cross-learning. Additionally, all 4Youth members will complete a risk register that identifies, monitors and manages potential risks in order to minimize the negative impact that might occur within the consortium and the grant. 4Youth will also be applying for the new Robert Carr Strategic Opportunity Grant as a consortium, focusing on movement leadership and innovation, learning and partnerships.

Edited by: Eddy Rudram, Communication Officer at Youth LEAD