Denied educational and employment opportunities, many youth are perceived as a local burden or problem. All youth development work must link fundamentally into communities and work towards changing the environment in which young people live. Youths' involvement in substance abuse, violence and crime, abusive or life-threatening sexual behaviour and depression often obstruct these needs being met adequately. Because these needs are interconnected, a youth's situation must be looked at holistically. Programmes must be integrated and acknowledge and allow for the economic, educational and psycho-social needs of young people.
Young people have a variety of needs.
Programmes must acknowledge a variety of needs and develop methods which anticipate them and provide tangible assistance. This does not mean that every programme must provide, for example, a way of earning money, an educational or training qualification and intense psychological counselling. It does mean that programmes should not ignore what may initially seem like peripheral issues. The programmes assume that the fear of contracting AIDS and dying will be strong enough to change behaviour. This approach ignores the fact that for many young women sex is their only currency.