INGWE Youth Development Programme

In a nutshell

The INGWE Youth Development Programme focuses on youth leadership development in order to empower young people aged 18-25 years in selected communities in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga to be leaders in their communities and thus help young people reduce their engagement in risky behaviour and foster social change. The programme is a public-private-partnership between the GIZ Inclusive Violence and Crime Prevention Programme and the Mondi Group.

What we do

Children and youth up to the age of 25 years account for approximately 50 per cent of South Africa’s population which makes them a key factor for shaping the future of the country. Without the constructive engagement of youth, socio-economic development will be hampered and it is unlikely that South Africa will fulfil its potential.

Many of the young people across the communities of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga in South Africa live in marginalized areas with little or no hope for a meaningful and productive future. Due to these unfavourable life circumstances many young people show "negative" rather than "productive" behaviour, and engage in risky behaviour such as violence and crime.

At the same time, youth by their very nature are driven, eager and committed. They have the potential to effect positive change not only in their own lives, but in the lives of others. It is therefore important to engage with youth to help unlock their potential and provide an environment that enables them to become leaders of today and tomorrow.

To reach this goal Mondi and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) joined forces to launch a development partnership known as the INGWE Youth Development Programme as part of the develoPPP.de programme. Through develoPPP.de, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) supports sustainable initiatives by companies.

How we do it

The programme focusses on the development of a holistic youth leadership development model called INGWE that includes training sessions on team building, youth activation, project management and financial management.

Particularly active and engaged young people from 15 communities on and around the land of Mondi Group in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga are trained in order to prepare them to form youth groups and plan and implement small social or entrepreneurial projects in their respective communities.

These group projects are supported with a small seed-funding while additionally a mentoring system through Mondi’s Community Development Facilitators (CDF) is set up to provide guidance to the youth when needed.

By providing opportunities to engage in productive activities, developing leadership, life & work skills and strengthening young people’s resilience, the INGWE programme contributes towards youth becoming less prone to be involved in negative activities, which leads to safer and more cohesive communities.

What we have achieved

Since the inception event in May 2015, the INGWE Youth Leadership Development Model has been prepared, developed and handbooks were printed. In November 2015, 46 selected young people were trained on the INGWE approach as well as in additional plug-in trainings on community safety, environmental safety and gender sensitivity, which took place in March 2016.

Special emphasis was given to ensure the sufficient representation of young women as beneficiaries in the programme. The South African NGO RAPCAN developed a mentoring programme and trained Mondi’s CDFs on youth mentoring.

Since then the young participants of the INGWE youth leadership trainings went back to their communities, they have formed youth groups and developed small projects ranging from vegetable farming and tourism development to safety awareness campaigning together with SAPS. Some of the youth groups were able to form partnerships with local municipalities, NGOs or other community stakeholders.