The National Implementation of Economic Citizenship CYFI National Implementation Workshop, May 22 nd, 2014, UNICEF HQ, NYC Introduction Children represent one third of the world s population. 1 These numbers provide a clear imperative for responsible and forward-thinking governments, financial institutions and supervisory authorities to give due attention to policies involving children as key stakeholders. Societies cannot afford to neglect the potential of young people s skills and knowledge. CYFI therefore proposes that financial education, social and livelihoods education, and financial inclusion are the building blocks of empowerment and financial capability that underpin economic citizenship for children and youth. 2 Financial capability herein occurs when children feel empowered because they have access to financial services and they know how to use them. 3 Inclusive finance is beneficial to disadvantaged youth as it raises their financial independence which research has shown increases their sense of well-being which has a direct result on their health (both mental and physical), and their educational achievements. 4 Concurrently, financial education programs are associated with higher increased positive financial behaviors such as saving for goals such as an education or property ownership, budgeting, and avoiding debt. Moreover, recent studies have indicated a significant impact of the combination of access to finance with access education on financial literacy and savings behavior. Lastly, recent evidence shows that complementing financial education with social education or livelihoods education positively affects a child s feeling of control over their actions and decisions and the likelihood of youth to obtain a job. 5 Towards an Economic Citizenship Strategy for Children and Youth Efforts to increase Economic Citizenship are enhanced when applied systematically and structurally at national level. National stakeholders are best placed to integrate policies and implement initiatives which serve to further economic citizenship in a country s young generation. In doing this, national stakeholders ensure greater outreach and sustained efforts. In pursuit of increasing economic citizenship for children and youth across the world, CYFI is devoted to assist national authorities to develop and implement comprehensive national child and youth finance policies. It is up to national authorities to enable the systematic and structural increase of economic citizenship at the national level. Specifically, policies should have two main areas of focus in order to be effective: (a) Economic Citizenship Education including a Social, Financial and Livelihoods components - and (b) Financial inclusion, as the core pillars of Economic Citizenship. At the core of good policy creation and implementation is a National Implementation Plan (NIP). This is a resource tool developed by the CYFI Secretariat, in collaboration with McKinsey and Partners, which allows national authorities to coordinate various initiatives and foster cooperation among involved stakeholders in the creation and implementation of child and youth finance policies. Please see Figure 1 and 2 for an excerpt of this plan. The value of the Plan lies in its emphasis on initiative actualization at the national level, creating a multiplier which extends the scope of its benefits. Through a 6-step approach objectives are set, concrete building blocks are chosen and a detailed implementation plan is developed to address country-specific needs and circumstances for children and youth. The experiences of those countries that have integrated policies on the pillars of economic citizenship, form the basis of this document, and have helped shape a guiding framework. 1 United Nations Children s Fund (2012) The State of the World s Children 2012: Children in an urban world, Table 6: Demographic Indicators, UNICEF, New York, pp. 108 111; PDF available on www.unicef.org/publications/index_61789.html 2 Sherraden, M. S., & Ansong, D. (2013). Research Evidence on the CYFI Model of Children and Youth as Economic Citizens (CSD Research Report 13-04). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development, p. 4. 3 Sherraden, M. S., & Ansong, D. (2013). Conceptual development of the CYFI Model of Children and Youth as Economic Citizens (CSD Research Report 13-03). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development, p.5. 4 As stated by the Worldbank. 5 Summary of research in Sherraden & Ansong (2013) and CYFI (2013) Children, Youth and Finance, Momentum to Action. CYFI: Amsterdam. CYFI Meeting May 22, 2014: The National Implementation of Economic Citizenship 1
Workshops: Resources and Practices Advancing Economic Citizenship for Children and Youth On May 22 nd, a day prior to the High Level Stakeholders Meeting at The United Nations Headquarters, the CYFI Secretariat, with the support of Deloitte and McKinsey and Partners, organizes a series of workshops intended to deep dive into the national implementation of economic citizenship strategies. These workshops will be held with national authorities and stakeholders from academia and civil society. Participants will be joining workshops dedicated to their particular industry and have the opportunity to interact and discuss with representatives from other sectors. Objectives - To map the specific challenges that governments face in implementing a full economic citizenship strategy, which includes the financial inclusion, financial education, social education and livelihoods education pillar. - To consult governments on how to overcome these challenges. (Examples may be issues in teacher training, lack of impact assessment or availability of child-friendly products). - To provide solutions and practical examples which address some of these issues and may help guide the process of implementation. Government participants will receive the opportunity to - Identify frameworks to implement child and youth finance initiatives based on their individual national context. - Share existing role models and advancements in the field of Economic Citizenship Education for children and youth. - Identify opportunities for interventions in enhancing or promoting access to finance for youth. - Gather insights from academia on the relevance of impact assessment and how to establish baseline assessments in order to measure progress. - Understand key steps in developing curricula in Economic Citizenship Education. - Identify opportunities to benefit from the experience of representatives from civil society. Academic participants will receive the opportunity to - Open the discussion on determining the key indicators to track as a baseline at the country level with national authorities. - Provide national authorities with input on how to establish a strategy to systematically start collecting the data that is essential in supporting the economic citizenship agenda for children and youth, such as baseline assessments. - Create and/or strengthen communication channels between academics, supervisory bodies and the NGO sector on data collection in this field. - Gather insights on strategy implementation and curriculum development from representatives of ministries of education and finance and civil society. Civil society participants will receive the opportunity to: - Review and feedback on the framework of the National Implement manual pertaining to curriculum integration relating to the ECE framework in the formal school system - Review and feedback onto the informal delivery channels for ECE related content. - Review and feedback on role of civil society in carrying our national of teacher training strategies related to ECE. - Create and/or strengthen communication channels between academics, supervisory bodies and the NGO sector on data collection in this field. We welcome the participation of experts in the field of financial inclusion, financial education, data management, and statistics, to join us for the first structured roundtable on the topic of the national implementation of economic citizenship. The collaboration between stakeholders in both the public and private sector can provide the path towards a cost-efficient and integrated approach to economic citizenship and facilitate efforts of various stakeholders towards establishing financial capability among youth. 2 CYFI Meeting May 22, 2014: The National Implementation of Economic Citizenship
Representatives from National Authorities, Civil Institutions, Academia Thursday,22nd May National Implementation Plan workshop Venue UNICEF HQ 09:00-9:30 Inauguration 9:30-10:30 Joint Session - facilitation by Deloitte, CYFI International and Regional Gaps Analysis Main Challenges and Opportunities in the Field of Child and Youth Finance Policymaking worldwide National Authorities only Actors from Civil Institutions and Academia will discuss the challenges and opportunities pertaining to their particular expertise in separate breakout sessions. 10:30 13:45 Parallel Workshops facilitation by McKinsey & Company, CYFI Sub-groups participants will be preselected by CYFI The National Context of Economic Citizenship for Children and Youth Strategic implementing actions and frameworks Drafting a national curriculum on economic citizenship: guidelines and ECE learning framework Children and Youth as financial consumers: develop Child & Youth Friendly Consumer Protection Regulations 10:30-11:15 Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 11:30-12:15 Group 2 Group 3 Group 1 Ensuring Teachers capacity building: models and strategies for an effective curriculum implementation 12:30-13:15 Group 3 Group 1 Group 2 Representatives from National Authorities, Civil Institutions, Academia 13:15-14:15 Lunch Break 14:15-16:30 Joint sessions Development Marketplace Practices to overcome gaps Plenary Session 14:15-14:45 Impact and Research to national strategy development The role of Research in support to national policymaking Plenary Session 14:45-15:15 The Sustainability issue: models supporting funding for national strategies on economic citizenship education Breakout Sessions 15:15-16:30 Breakout 1 Breakout 2 Breakout 3 Drafting a national curriculum on economic citizenship: guidelines and ECE learning framework Children and Youth as financial consumers: development of Child & Youth Friendly Banking Products Ensuring Teachers capacity building: models and strategies for an effective curriculum implementation 16:30-17:00 Concluding Session Workshops Wrap up Highlights & Lessons Learned from the day 17:00 Reception 18:30 Child and Youth Finance Awards Ceremony and Dinner CYFI Meeting May 22, 2014: The National Implementation of Economic Citizenship 3
Preliminary Agenda National Implementation Plan workshop Figure 1 Objectives and Components of Economic Citizenship Source: National Implementation Plan, CYFI, 2013. 4 CYFI Meeting May 22, 2014: The National Implementation of Economic Citizenship
Figure 2 National Implementation Plan Framework Source: National Implementation Plan, CYFI, 2013 CYFI Meeting May 22, 2014: The National Implementation of Economic Citizenship 5