Digital inclusion of young returnees in Guatemala
Guatemala has experienced a surge in voluntary migration over the last decade driven by poverty, unemployment, chronic food insecurity, criminal and gender-based violence, climate change or family reunification. Young men and women from rural areas are particularly vulnerable. According to a 2021 Jobs Diagnostic, rural youth have less job opportunities in their localities and lower education quality to access “good” jobs in urban areas, so they often choose to migrate internationally. However, changes in immigration policies have led to higher rates of returnees, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and conflicts over local resources.
To promote the socio-economic inclusion of youth in migration-prone areas, in 2021 FAO Guatemala co-implemented with OIM and UNESCO the Peace Building Fund (PBF) project “Building social cohesion of the communities that receive young returnees as a bridge towards a peaceful and effective reintegration”. The project sought to foster youth leadership for community development, with a focus on the agrifood sector, in two municipalities of the Western Highlands.
FAO replicated successful models piloted under the ICA project including the VUME rural and developed a digital inclusion strategy that would strengthen young returnees’ capacity to use ICTs and digital platforms, such as Chisparural.gt, to access information, learning and market opportunities.
The digital inclusion strategy entailed 3 phases:
1. Assessment of youth digital access and skills
Building on a participatory assessment conducted by ICA in 2017, a mobile-based survey was designed to collect data on access and use of ICTs by the youth, as well as self-assessed digital competences. Survey participants were 132 youth (average age 21) from Concepción Tutuapa and Tacaná, 1/3 seasonal migrants or returnees and 2/3 residents from local communities, 53% women and 47% men, the majority (61%) self-identified as indigenous.
The assessment showed high digital access among the youth, with 90% using smart phones, 66% connecting to the internet regularly, 93% using WhatsApp and 80% having a social network profile. However, a gender gap persists with 17% less female than male youth online, using less sophisticated devices and with lower monthly expenses for internet data. Despite the widespread adoption of social media (mostly Facebook) and instant messaging apps (mostly WhatsApp), only 22% of the youth use such tools for doing business.
In general, low levels of basic digital skills emerged, especially in the areas of online collaboration (67% have little or no experience receiving training online) and content creation (over 50% valued their abilities to create and edit digital content as null or very low). Remarkably 1 in 2 youth was not aware of how to protect devices, content, personal data and privacy in digital environments.
2. Digital literacy development program
Between July and September 2021, FAO delivered a blended face-to-face and online training program to 103 young rural people and returnees (40% women, 60% men). The youth were supported through mobile phone internet data, so that all could attend the online sessions facilitated through ChispaRural.gt. The training modules started from exposing the youth to basic digital competences needed to safely navigate and express themselves in the digital space, and progressively covered intermediate digital and communication skills, including digital tools for online collaboration, content creation and problem solving. As a result, the youth learned how to improve both their personal and business presence online.
3. Advanced training for digital communication champions
A pool of 20 youth (10 women and 10 men) was selected to continue developing capacities as providers of digital communication services and was equipped with a digital kit (smartphone, SD card, microphone and portable battery). The so called #ComunicadoresConChispa participated in online classes and hands-on sessions where they practiced the fundamentals of photography, graphic design and mobile-based audiovisual production, coming up with their own multimedia products including logos, fan pages, videos and audio interviews. The content produced by the young communicators amplifies the voices of rural and indigenous youth, returnees and entrepreneurs, self-representing their stories in the digital space.
More information and examples of content generated by the youth are available at: www.chisparural.gt