First Offenders

• Juvenile Justice Experiences
  • The role of the family in respect of responsibility to children needs to be strengthened and emphasized. In many parts of Africa the traditional role of the family is collapsing
  • Moral regeneration in societies needs to be urgently supported and strengthened. Religious institutions must be encouraged to become actively involved in crime prevention
  • Role of education in the development of civic education in programmes in schools must be encouraged in all African education systems
  • A greater use of peer counselors to ensure that children are supported not stigmatized and not isolated, must be encouraged in school system
  • There is a greater need for training and capacity building of all service providers in respect of youth in conflict with the law.
  • Greater advocacy and promotion of restorative justice principles must be included in the training of service providers
  • Adoption of strengths based terminology of youth in conflict with the law and youth offenders for youth convicted must be encouraged by all stakeholders
  • Strengthening of legal aid framework for children to ensure adequate defence in the cjs.
  • Ensure that the rural urban divide in Resourcing and service provision is bridged.
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Youth Gangs

• Putting the youth in the centre of the each action
• Part of policy development
• Involving youth in crime prevention structures – like CPFs
• Promote citizenship – peer responsibility
• Building communities – positive values in society
• Empowerment of youth through capacity building programmes
• Training of trainers and leaders in communities – role models in communities
• Local Authorities: to know problems and needs of youth, mapping based on information in cjs, crime and violence.
• International community: information exchange at all levels to promote good governance.

Youth and governance 

• Promote exchange of experience and information on youth initiatives between cities and across the continent
• Focus on institutionalizing structures for youth governance for sustainability
• Recognition of youth structures by UN and other international bodies
• National youth policy formulation should include local youth structures
• Create network between city youth representatives present here as ambassadors for the concept of safer cities
• Create an African forum to influence youth and governance policies
• Support to local youth units with political authority
• Local youth councils should be recognized as statutory bodies of council who are involved in policy formulation and the development of youth programmes
• Local youth structures should be developmental in nature
• LA facilities and services should be opened up to youth to support the development of citizenship and where possible used as a crime diversion measure
• Support for information and awareness raising among youth as to the contribution they can make in governance processes and to create awareness of these structures
• Good practices in regard to participation of youth in local governance structures should be identified and shared

Substance abuse:

• Participation of youth in all central policy making bodies, eg Central Drug Authority
• Emphasis on prevention with input from youth with regard to content of programmes
• Emphasis on cultural differences both in types of drugs used and related treatment programmes used
• The link between substance abuse and crime cannot be disputed and those of us working in the field of prevention and treatment of chemical dependence see evidence of this on a daily basis: on a micro-level with drug dependent youth becoming involved in crime to support their drug habits and on a macro level the huge drug cartels dealing in vast amounts of illegal drugs. It is critical that all role players involved in rendering services to youth to develop a coordinated, effective strategy aimed at the prevention of addiction and the promotion of a drug and crime free lifestyle. The need for early identification of addition and swift, appropriate intervention is essential in order for us to empower our young people to live their lives positively, to fulfill their potential and to develop the citizenship so crucial to the future not only of South Africa, but to the whole African Continent.
• Strengthening of relations with international law enforcement agencies regarding drug trafficking
• Sharing of best practice prevention and treatment models on an international basis.

Street Children:

• Young people – cooperation and coordination in identifying rights and responsibilities
• Street children to be afforded social status as part of young people’s group
• Partnership between youth and other stakeholders
• Maintenance of kinship ties, promotion of values both personal and communal
• Provision of quality education, formal and informal to young people
• NGOs – cooperation and coordination
• Remuneration of social workers
• Partnerships between NGOs and rest of stakeholders
• Advocacy of rights and responsibilities of young people with young people
• Provision of social services by local authorities
• Good local governance transparent efficient and action oriented
• Local Authority should allocate resources in accordance with the needs of the society
• Coordination of stakeholders having the local authorities as coordinators
• Decentralisation of power to local authorities

Valued Citizenship

• Need to build a sense of valued citizenship based on empowerment, participation, integration, normalization, effective and efficient programmes, respect for the rights of children and restorative justice.
• Need to build resilience so that young people can withstand peer pressure
• Need to present as preventative programmes – must be in schools, preferably at primary level, with moral content
• Important to build links to family, strengthen family to be able to support young people, promotion of family values through parenting skills
• Programmes need to be integrated into prisons  so that preventative work is not lost if a young person is sentenced to a prison term
• Need for alternative institutions, preventative, proactive, problem solving approaches
• Need to build community role models
• Government should set standards
• Leaders should be inspirational and be seen as role models
• Youth needs to be involved in democratic debate and part of civil engagement
• Voice citizenship responsibility and powers
• Maintain power of community by strengthening support system created in and by the community
• Give responsibility to youth in public space
• Poverty, while not an excuse to criminality, must be addressed through entrepreneurship skills
• Family, church, school, community to debate community issues and develop networks as core of values in society.