Empowering youth takes time, care and energy provided over a period of years, not weeks. This means that a youth development approach must be built into any initiative that involves young people, whether this be schools, religious organisations, training institutions, sports clubs or clinics. The only way such work can become sustainable is if it becomes an integral component of society's response to youth. While consultations prior to the establishment of the programme urged an integrated approach, the programme itself consisted of a short assessment interview, two-three months of technical training and an exit interview. Participants in the programme failed to find employment and became angry and disillusioned.
Life skills are essential to every youth programme.
There are many definitions of a life skills programme. Youth programmes cannot be run effectively unless they are firmly placed and linked to the communities from which young people come. Local communities have the ultimate responsibility for nurturing, supporting, disciplining and working with young people. Communities must be able to affirm and support the programme's goals. Throughout the programme they contended with gossip and sniping from community members, who doubted their ability.