Youth Incentives

Vision and mission

Youth Incentives is the international programme on Youth and Sexuality of the Rutgers Nisso Groep. Youth Incentives’ vision is of a world where all young people can enjoy safety, confidence and pleasure in relationships and all aspects of sexuality. Its mission is to support and empower young people, male and female, to make informed choices regarding their reproductive and sexual lives.

To achieve this mission, Youth Incentives promotes, uses, shares and fosters a comprehensive and positive approach towards young people and sexuality. Openness about and respect for all aspects of young people’s sexuality and access for young people to sexual health services are key factors to this approach. Youth Incentives believes that interventions are most effective when a participatory and interactive approach is used based upon the needs of young people. Young people should be actively involved in developing, implementing and evaluating programmes and projects targeting them.

The RAP-rule
Based on this philosophy, Youth Incentives developed a guiding principle for its work, the so-called RAP-rule:

• Rights-based approach
• Acceptance of young people’s sexuality
• Participation of young people

The RAP-rule is a pragmatic approach that is meaningful within a diversity of contexts, national circumstances, religions and cultures. It ensures that all Youth Incentives activities are grounded in a rights-based framework.

Specific objectives

Youth Incentives intends:

1. To increase the number of young people who recognize and realize their sexual and reproductive rights
2. To improve conditions for young people to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights
3. To reduce resistance to addressing sensitive youth sexuality issues
4. To increase youth participation in partner organizations and Rutgers Nisso Group
5. To institutionalize learning from the project

These objectives reflect the three core elements of the RAP-rule: Rights (objective 1 and 2), Acceptance (objective 3) and Participation (objective 4). The fifth objective is added because Youth Incentives is convinced that only by learning and critical self-reflection the results obtained can become sustainable.

Annual Reports Youth Incentives
Download Annual Report 2007 (PDF)
Download Annual Report 2008 (PDF)

Work Plan 2009
Download Work Plan 2009 (PDF)
Download Plan de travail 2009 (PDF) (in French)