1. A policy for youth, with and by youth

An effective youth policy must be co-produced with young people. This means involving them in public decisions, program design, and the management of structures that concern them.

The role of the State is no longer just to “do for” young people, but to create the conditions for them to do it themselves: to innovate, to participate, to express themselves.

Young people must become agents of social transformation, not spectators of a locked system.

2. Coherence between youth policy and family policy

The family remains the primary environment for learning solidarity, responsibility, and citizenship.

Any youth policy that is disconnected from family reality becomes flawed.

An integrated policy must therefore articulate:

• support for vulnerable families (low income, single parenthood, parental unemployment);

• parental training to support teenagers in their choices;

• and spaces for intergenerational dialogue to restore trust between parents and young people.

It is through the family that young people learn to belong to a community and to build their future.

3. Promote active and responsible citizenship

One of the major challenges is to train young people who are aware of their rights and responsibilities, and who are engaged in the life of their neighborhood, their school or their country.

Citizenship cannot be decreed — it is lived through concrete experiences: community projects, civic debates, ecological initiatives, local associations, volunteering, etc.

The state must encourage this participation by putting in place civic action programs that value the contribution of young people to the community.

4. Citizenship education outside the school walls

School should be a starting point, not a limit.

Citizenship education must extend into the street, the neighborhood, clubs and associations.

Providing young people with enriching activities — cultural, sporting, artistic, technological — allows them to develop social skills, self-confidence and a sense of community.

This is how a conscious, united and confident youth is built.

5. Adapt the education system to the aspirations of young people

The Haitian educational model remains too rigid and elitist. It does not respond to the realities or the diverse talents of young people.

It is urgent to establish a differentiated education, which values academic training as much as technical, craft or digital learning.

Academic failure should no longer be considered inevitable.

Each young person must find a path to personal and professional fulfillment, according to their abilities and dreams.

6. Parenthood as a political and social issue

Being a parent means performing a complex educational role, often without support or training.

The State has a duty to support parents, particularly the most vulnerable, through:

• training in positive parenting,

• targeted economic aid,

• and psychological and social support structures.

A society that supports its parents protects its future.

A coherent youth policy cannot therefore ignore parenthood: it is its foundation.

Youth is not a “problem to be managed”, but a force to be channeled.

For Haiti, it represents the key to national reconstruction, provided that the State takes responsibility by developing a comprehensive policy based on:

• the family as a basis for stability,

• Education as a lever for emancipation,

• Citizen participation as a path to personal development.

Thus, a youth policy designed by and for young people will become not only an instrument of governance, but also a societal project, bringing hope and renewal.

Auguste D'Meza

Teacher