Context and scope
GIVE works with young people who live in Indigenous communities, in displacement, in migration, and at the crossing of several identities and territories. Many of them move between the Sahel region and Northern Europe, or grow up in families that are split across countries.
For GIVE, “Indigenous and displaced youth” includes:
- young people rooted in Indigenous peoples and communities in the Sahel and Latin America
- youth in situations of forced or chosen migration, often between rural areas and cities, between the Sahel and Europe, or within their own countries
- children and young adults whose families are divided between Norway and their home regions
This statement is not a legal definition. It is a practical and ethical frame for how GIVE listens, designs programmes and builds partnerships.
Core principles
GIVE aligns its work with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and human rights frameworks relevant to displaced people. From these, we highlight the following principles.
Dignity and safety first
Youth who live through displacement, racism, poverty or family separation carry experiences that can be heavy. GIVE does not treat them as “cases” or “beneficiaries”, but as rights-holders and agents. Safety – physical, emotional and cultural – is a non-negotiable precondition for any activity we support.
Youth-led and community-based
We prioritise approaches where young people help define priorities, formats and spaces. We work with community organisations, local associations and families, and avoid models that isolate youth from their social and cultural ecosystems.
Cultural roots as a strength
Indigenous languages, crafts, music, oral histories and spiritual practices are not “extras”, but central resources for resilience and identity. GIVE treats living heritage as a strength that can support healing, confidence and intergenerational dialogue.
No extraction of stories or knowledge
GIVE rejects extractive practices where youth or communities are asked to share stories of pain or intimate experiences without clear benefit for them. Documentation, research and storytelling must be conducted with informed consent, clarity of purpose and shared ownership.
Intersectional and realistic
Youth identities are multiple: Indigenous, Afro-descendant, multilingual, queer, disabled, rural, urban, migrant, student, worker. Our programmes recognise these intersections and avoid simplistic categories. We also stay realistic about what one programme can and cannot change.
How this shapes GIVE’s programmes
These principles are visible in how GIVE designs and implements its four programme areas.
- Youth resilience & safe spaces: group activities instead of individual therapy; circles, creative sessions and peer-led practices that respect privacy and cultural norms.
- Living heritage & crafts: work with artisans and elders is done with consent, fair compensation and respect for community control over designs, stories and symbols.
- Research, training & documentation: young people, community organisations and partners are co-researchers, not just respondents.
- Scholarships & mobility: scholarships are designed to be realistic, ethical and safe, avoiding false promises or models that encourage risky migration.
In all programmes, GIVE favours long-term relationships over one-off projects, and small, carefully designed steps over large but fragile schemes.
Our responsibilities as an organisation
Working with Indigenous and displaced youth requires explicit organisational responsibilities.
- Transparency: communicate clearly with youth, families and partners about what GIVE can and cannot provide.
- Ethics and safeguards: integrate social protection, child safeguarding and human rights standards into our activities and partnerships.
- Accountability: listen when youth or partners express concerns, and be ready to adjust, pause or stop an activity if it causes harm.
- Reflexivity: regularly revisit this statement in light of new learning, local feedback and evolving contexts in Norway and the Sahel.
A living document
This foundational statement is a living document. It will be revised together with youth, community partners and advisers from the regions where GIVE works.
If you are an Indigenous youth, a community organisation, a researcher, or an ally and wish to comment on this statement or co-develop guidance with GIVE, you can contact us at: contact@givempowerment.no.