Structure

This report has been structured so that it conveys the complexity of the issue - i.e. how it is bound up with larger structural problems and its dynamically changing nature. The first part, What is the issue? brings a description of 'disadvantaged youth' followed by a discussion on global tendencies - unemployment trends, demographic growth, failing links between education and work and, finally, the growth and potential of the informal sector -, which attempts to contextualize the issue of 'disadvantaged youth' in developing countries. The second part, In which ways has the issue evolved? offers a dynamic view of a constantly changing field of practice, action and research. A discussion of the major structural changes undergone by developing economies in the past decade is delineated, their impact on the working opportunities of the disadvantaged youth is analyzed and a sample of non-formal vocational training programmes from developing countries are described in greater detail. Finally, Part III, Developing a framework for the study and evaluation of non-formal vocational training programmes puts forth a debate on programme features that have been identified in the literature as 'successful'; approaches that can be considered 'innovative' and, strategies that seem to lead to programme 'sustainability', with the ultimate aim of discussing possible parameters for the evaluation of non-formal vocational training programmes in developing countries.