WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

 

Diaspora - The movement, migration, or scattering of persons away from an established or ancestral homeland

 

Youth-Led Diaspora Research & Voices - Class, Caste, Drugs, & Gangs - GIRLS

 

Direct Link to Full 12-Page 2014 Report:

http://www.international-alert.org/sites/default/files/Voice%20of%20youth_final%20version.pdf

This research is part of the ‘Promoting Positive Diaspora Voices’ project – a three-year project (2011–2014) funded by the European Union. The project aims to support diaspora communities to raise public awareness within UK-based diaspora and wider communities of the structural causes of poverty and conflict in their countries of heritage. It seeks to build public support for peacebuilding and development processes within these regions.

Conclusions, Causes, & Solutions

As a group, we have thought a lot about what the root causes of drug use and gang involvement among diaspora young people might be. Overall, we believe that a significant factor is whether or not people get family support. People may also be stressed (for example, worried about their immigration status) or poor and might turn to drugs as an escape. Generally, we feel that peer pressure and boredom (not having something to do) could make a difference.

We believe that there are a number of things that could help to tackle drug use, including:

  1. Providing more things for young people to do, especially during the summer months, for example summer camps;
  2. Providing ongoing outreach with youth workers so that everyone knows about such services;
  3. Improving drugs education and not only ensuring that it starts at a young age, but that it is relevant to different groups;
  4. Raising awareness of drugs and gangs among parents – for those who live with their parents, this could be an important addition to what they learn in school and from youth workers;
  5. Raising awareness of these issues through religious leaders in mosques, churches, temples, etc.;
  6. Providing more job opportunities for young people, such as apprenticeships and mentoring.

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