ABOUT

What is the 99% campaign?

The 99% campaign is a pan-London, youth-led initiative that aims to make London more inclusive, fair and responsive to young people’s views, contribution and needs.

The project was developed and is run by young Londoners. It is hosted by the youth-led charity, Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS).

To view the minutes from the partners meeting on July 18th 2011 please click here.

What are the aims of the 99% Campaign?

1.  “Disadvantage thinking” about young people is addressed and positive stories are promoted.
2. Discrimination, negative perceptions and stereotypes about young people are tackled within society, political institutions and service providers.
3. New youth opportunities are created while current opportunities are highlighted and enhanced.

Who are the target audiences?

Target Audience 1: All adult Londoners

Objectives: To increase awareness; help reassess their views of young Londoners; tackle perceptions (especially around safety and community cohesion); bridge the generation gap; and dispel stereotypes

How? Through the promotion of positive stories; by working with the media; by holding events, and producing publications/ posters.

Target audience 2: Service Providers & Political instititions

Objectives: To help change organisational culture regarding engagement and inclusion of young people in their internal and external policy and service delivery

How? Through the 99% pledge; youth-led training, rolling out the Youth Advisory Board model; campaigning.

Who is driving the 99% campaign?

Young people including the 1%!

Objective: To give them a chance; inspire them; help them feel they are given more respect; act as “one-stop-shop” for information on civic engagement activities; reward and make them employable

How? Through high quality volunteering opportunities, restorative justice interventions; the creation of role models and 99% Ambassadors; youth-led research & policy; awards, training, accreditation and campaigning; educational/ vocational opportunities.

Background to the 99% initiative

On the 1st April, IARS was entrusted the 99% initiative and has put together a Core Partners Group and a list of Supporters and Sponsors to enable the young people involved to run and manage it. If you would like more information on how to be involved contact the IARS Director, Dr. Theo Gavrielides, T.Gavrielides@iars.org.uk 020 8133 8317

The 99% Campaign was launched in 2009 by the London Serious Youth Violence Board (LSYVB). The LSYVB itself was set up by the London Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) following a serious youth violence summit hosted by London Councils in November 2008. All of this was in the wake of the spate of 27 teenage murders in London in 2007, which led to what some have called “a moral panic” about serious youth violence.

It can be easy to confuse the many different issues that were at play and/or became politically cogent during that time. It is difficult to pick between: party-political rhetoric – which has a tendency to focus on past failures and special ‘new’ ideas and policies; media headlines – which have a tendency to sensationalize and simplify events without providing proper context; government recommendations – which are often vague and jargon-filled; and independent recommendations – which we usually only hear through the mouths of politicians or reporters.

Following a Youth Summit and the Young Londoners’ Manifesto as well as ongoing involvement of young Londoners through IARS Youth Advisory Board for the LSYVB, the Board posited the following two recommendations for action at a pan-London level:

• Recommendation twelve: Involving young people in the decision-making process.Local and regional partners should continue to find ways to promote the voice of young people as sustainable solutions to serious youth violence are unlikely to emerge unless they reflect the priorities, energy and commitment of local communities, and in particular the voice of the young people who live in those communities.Based on the experience of the London Serious Youth Violence Board and its work with young people, it is recommended that statutory and non-statutory organisations and agencies should commit themselves to establishing, and demonstrating, clearly identifiable and accessible means for young people to directly feedback and influence on issues and decision making that impact on them.
• Recommendation thirteen: Public perceptions and young people.All partners need to understand that negative stereotyping; in the media in particular, can have a damaging effect on public perceptions but also on young people themselves, so far as limiting aspirations and life chances are concerned. All partners should ensure they promote a proportionate approach, whilst as the same time acknowledging that the vast majority of young people in London contribute actively and constructively to their schools and local communities.
• There should be further recognition of the importance of role models, especially those young people who have come from the same areas and backgrounds and have faced and overcome similar challenges to other young people at risk of serious youth violence.Recommendations taken from the London Serious Youth Violence Board Final Report (2011)

These recommendations present the case for the 99% campaign quite clearly – It is a campaign through which the voice of young Londoners’ must be made to reach both general public and policymakers, in order to dispel negative stereotypes, as well as to shape the policies that aim to respond to their problems.