Glossary of Terms
Theory of change: A roadmap that shows the interconnectedness of activities, strategies, resources and outcomes which are linked to the mission and vision.
Most Vulnerable Youth: The Youth Cafe considers the most vulnerable Youth as those whose quality of life and ability to fulfill their potential is most affected by extreme deprivation and violations of their rights.
This definition includes four vulnerability factors that can assist in identifying the most vulnerable youth:
abusive or exploitative relationships: relationships which are characterized by violence or use of youth to benefit others sexually or commercially, or which consistently harm the youth through intentional acts or negligence
extreme deprivation: extreme material poverty or deprivation of caregivers serious discrimination: severe social stigma which prevents youths from accessing services or opportunities essential to their protection or development
vulnerability to negative impact from a catastrophe or disaster: natural or manmade events can seriously threaten the survival or development of youth, and certain youths are more likely to be affected negatively and less likely to be able to recover.
Youth empowerment: Empowerment, in the context of this document, is when young people have the ability and the power to take action. Empowerment happens when all aspects of the ecology (in the community) support young people to grow – focusing on their capacities and
strengths – and provide opportunities for young people to serve and contribute in meaningful ways to their communities.
Resilience: Resilience describes the ability of companies, communities, or individuals to come to terms with changing circumstances and adjust their business, community, or personal behaviors accordingly. Characteristics of a resilient business/community/individual include:
An ability to return to or maintain a previous state of normal functioning or income level after a crisis or to even avoid crises altogether
An essential competitive advantage in unstable times when actors are forced to change more radically and rapidly than ever before.
Hope, motivation, and a strong drive to reach their goals.
Youth/Young People: The Youth Cafe, for statistical purposes, defines ‘youth’, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 35 years, without prejudice to other definitions by other entities. The Youth Cafe uses the terms youth and young people interchangeable to mean age 15-35 with the understanding that other entities use different definitions.
IREX: International Research & Exchanges Board,a nonprofit organization that specializes in global education and development. They are our implementing partner in the Youth Excel Project.
Youth Excel: is a global program that will empower young people and youth organizations to use implementation research to strengthen local, national, and global development solutions.
Programming: The coordination of The Youth Café’s related projects grouped together towards transformation in the thematic areas.
Performance improvement: Measuring the output of our initiatives, then modifying the process or procedure to increase the output, increase efficiency and impact.
Implementation research: It is the study of barriers to and methods of promoting the application of research findings in practice. We use implementation research in the Youth Excel project.
Thematic working groups: It is an approach that involves subgrouping subjects where they exchange information, discuss ideas and experience, and make this information available to the wider group and the community at large. These are also spaces for group teamwork: members communicate, comment, exchange files, plan events and keep track of tasks. They can also work on structured documents and keep track of revisions.
Social equity: The means to fairness, justice and equality when formulating policies.
Youth-led: Youth-led programs are opportunities created by youth or youth-centric organizations where youth lead the planning, decision=making, facilitation, reflection, and evaluation on issues that matter to them and their communities. Sharing power and letting youth lead allows for youth empowerment and increase youth engagement. If it’s for the youth, it should be by youth-empowered by adult allies.
Transformative change: The strategic process to achieving change in the 8 thematic areas of The Youth Café.
Sustainable development: The pursuit of excellence in the moment without affecting the success of future generations.
Social Return on Investment: It is a measuring tool that articulates the power, value and effect that the organization has apart from financial value.
Rights Based Approach: A development approach to qualify young people in transforming their lives and being accountable through respecting rights.