A review of Tanzania Scouts Association’s Youth Forum Guidelines has shown what can happen when young people are not only invited to participate, but are given a meaningful role in shaping the structures and decisions that affect them.
In Tanzania, young Scouts are helping to strengthen how young people participate in leadership and decision-making across their National Scout Organization. What started as a review of the Association’s Youth Forum guidelines grew into a wider conversation about representation, voting, accountability and leadership. Most importantly, young people were part of that conversation from the beginning.
Putting young people at the centre
From April to September 2026, a team of four young people and two adults worked together to review the Guidelines, which had been in place since 2017.
Young people were not simply asked to comment on a finished document. They identified gaps, consulted their peers, analysed feedback, developed proposals, reviewed drafts and helped present the emerging framework.
A survey gathered responses from current and former Youth Forum participants, providing insights into representation, communication, follow-up and participation in decision-making. The team also considered World Scouting frameworks and experiences from other National Scout Organizations.
For the young people involved, the process was also an opportunity to practise leadership.
I understood that I was not there only to give my own opinion. I had young people behind me whose views I needed to collect and bring into the process - Aron Mlelwa, Scout Youth Forum Guidelines Review Team
His experience highlights an important part of meaningful youth representation: young leaders need opportunities not only to speak, but also to listen to their peers, represent different perspectives and remain accountable to the young people they serve.
Creating pathways for young leaders
The review highlighted that meaningful youth participation cannot depend on a National Youth Forum alone. Young people need opportunities to participate and develop their leadership closer to where they experience Scouting. The revised framework therefore strengthens connections between District, Regional and National Youth Forums, creating clearer pathways for young people to represent their peers and progress into wider decision-making spaces.
The process also showed that strengthening youth participation sometimes requires looking beyond youth structures themselves. Questions around representation, voting and participation led TSA to examine how the Youth Forum Guidelines connect with its Policy, Organisation and Rules and Constitution. This resulted in revised Guidelines, along with proposed amendments and clarifications, to strengthen the institutional foundation for youth participation.
Young people and adults working together
Meaningful youth leadership does not mean young people working alone. Throughout the review, young people were able to express their views, question proposals and develop their own positions, while adult leaders contributed institutional knowledge, experience and guidance.
For Elin Kitaly, National Executive Commissioner of the Tanzania Scouts Association, the experience demonstrated the value of learning across generations.
We have seen how we learn from young people and how young people learn from us.
This partnership created space for young people to exercise agency while benefiting from appropriate adult support , an approach that TSA can continue building on as it strengthens youth leadership in decision-making.