Youth at the Margins: A Comparative Study of the Contribution of Faith-based Organisations to Social Cohesion in South Africa and Nordic Europe (YOMA) is a comparative research project studying the nature and extent to which faith-based organisations are contributing to social cohesion in the way they interact with marginalised youth in South Africa and in three Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway). Focus will be on young people in the age between 16 and 24, who are Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEETs).
About the Project – Objectives
- study the nature and extent to which religion in general and faith-based organisations in particular contribute towards social cohesion in the way they relate to marginalised young people at the local level, in a comparative perspective;
- contribute significantly towards reducing the knowledge gap that exists internationally regarding faith-based organisations relationship with and involvement with marginalised youth in their every-day living environments and the role of religion and world view in their lives;
- offer to public youth policy new knowledge about marginalised young people based on co-operation between the Nordic countries method and theory;
- identify undiscovered resources for young people at the margins and for creating social cohesion in multicultural and social vulnerable localities.
Marginalisation of young people and the related social problems are a phenomenon shared by societies in the global South and the global North. The YOMA project is an ambitious comparative project. Our international research group will study the nature and extent to which religion in general, and faith-based organisations in particular, contribute towards social cohesion in the way they relate to marginalised youth. Possible contributions will be studied at the local level in South Africa and in three Nordic countries (Finland, Norway and Sweden).
Through the project we hope to contribute significantly towards reducing the knowledge gap that exists internationally regarding faith-based organisations and their relationships with marginalised young people in their every-day living environments, and the role of religion and world view in their lives. Through the project we also hope to offer to public youth policy a perspective that will do greater justice to the strategic attributes of faith-based organisations as agencies of social cohesion. The project design represent a unique way for partners in the global North and the global South to do research together, not only sharing common interests but also identifying and solving methodical and theoretical problems together in the course of the research work.
The Norwegian partner is Diakonhjemmet University College: Department of Diaconia and Leadership, Department of Social Work and Family Therapy and Centre of Diakonia and Professional Practice.
