Indonesia year 4 overview
The fourth year of the Empower Youth for Work program in Indonesia made important progress in Community-Based Tourism, which aims to ensure that tourism benefits local communities, the environment and young people. Youth worked closely with local government to set up Youth Hubs, and as a result are enjoying more opportunities to influence local development and play an active role in society.
Key achievements - Year 4
The Community-Based Tourism (CBT) initiative is part of the EYW program in Indonesia. The intervention aims to improve young women and men’s capacity so that they can use their soft and market-led technical skills as demanded by employers in the tourism industry, and to ensure that this sector benefits local people and the environment. The initiative is developed and managed by youth and local communities. It has now reached 672 youth in Pangkep District and Barru District in South Sulawesi.
In year 4, CBT had three main components: establishing Youth Hubs; developing tour products (e.g. hospitality and services or physical tourism infrastructure), from concept to delivery and marketing; and sourcing local souvenirs to sell to tourists.
Various Youth Hubs have been established, focusing on eco-farming, CBT or information and ICT services. Use of the Human-Centered Design approach to develop the Hubs has helped create a strong connection with community members and local government. As such, youth have been provided with buildings, materials, land and access to government funds for the Hubs.
Innovation
Full engagement and influencing between young people and the local government has resulted in a successful agreement, where young people are supported financially and in terms of infrastructure, and are building their capacity on sustainable tourism. Following this successful engagement, youth are now involved in systematically developing tourism plans in their villages and initiating youth-led organizations to manage tourism activities. This will increase their ownership of the Youth Hubs as well as developing their self-confidence and ability to work as a team.
Young people have increased their knowledge of climate change and the environmental impact of tourism, and are integrating this into planning and product development. Youth engagement in public awareness campaigns has increased local efforts on climate change adaptation.
Community-based tourism has long been desired by many communities in Pangkep and Barru, and the EYW program has helped to bring it to fruition. Crucially, EWY has supported youth development through the CBT intervention.
Risks and challenges
It is essential to maintain young people’s motivation, and the EYW team keep communicating with youth to help them achieve their goals, through regular mentoring and peer-to-peer discussions.
Due to Covid-19, local budgets at both village and district government levels have been reallocated to response actions, and potential financial support for project sites has either been postponed or cancelled. The team plans to produce Covid-19 symptom-checking and protection measures in partnership with local and village government. A campaign on Covid-19 preparedness will be organized through print and social media.
In year 5, EYW will continue to empower young people and to enable them to face the challenges of coronavirus; it will also take measures to ensure the program’s sustainability.
Year 4 overview in PDF:
