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StreetNet International’s Constitution envisions a Youth Committee, however this structure is yet to be implemented: a missed opportunity to secure the movement’s future. As leaders age and organizing landscapes shift, StreetNet’s long-term sustainability depends on cultivating a new generation of confident, empowered leaders ready to carry the movement forward, as outlined in our 2025-2028 Strategic Plan.
Youth In Action: Mobilizing the Next Generation responds directly to this need. Over three years (2024–2027), the project trains and mobilizes young workers from StreetNet’s affiliated organizations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe and Central Asia, equipping them with leadership, advocacy, and organizing skills rooted in the realities of the informal economy.
Through online trainings, regional in-person workshops, and the co-creation of Regional Youth Strategies, participants build lasting solidarity and translate their experience into concrete proposals for StreetNet’s decision-making bodies. So far, 45 young people from Africa and the Americas have already participated in such initiatives, with the support of the Swedish Agency for International Development (SIDA).
By the project’s close, StreetNet aims to identify and prepare candidates to launch and elect its first-ever Youth Committee, finally fulfilling a long-standing constitutional commitment.
I say to my fellow young people in the informal economy that we are a key driver of the economy in our respective countries. We must arm ourselves with courage, organize to defend our interests, and become a true force for change.
Accross our global membership, 33% are identified as young workers (between 18 and 35-years-old), totalling 283,421 in 2025. From our affiliated organizations, more than half (57%) already have established Youth Committees. This shows the commitment of our affiliates in investing in young workers as potential leaders, especially in the region of West and Central Africa.
After in-person youth workshops in Benin and Guatemala, youth from the Americas region and from the two Africa regions discussed their main demands as young workers. Such discussions led to the Africa Youth Manifesto and the Americas Youth Manifesto.
Our reality is born of strength, creativity and the ability to resist and reinvent ourselves in the face of a system that does not provide us with the necessary conditions. We reject imperialism and foreign interference that plunders our nations, destroys our economies and perpetuates inequality. We defend our sovereignty and the self-determination of our peoples. We organize to demand what is rightfully ours: justice, dignity and recognition of our work.
From selling empanadas as a tennager to leading her union in Medellín, Yerlin Narváez exemplifies the power of youth leadership. Through the Youth in Action initiative, she has strengthened her confidence, amplified young workers’ voices, and inspired change across the Americas. She is a street vendor, an activist, a mother. And in 2025, she was also a candidate for municipal elections. Discover Yerlin’s story.
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