Shifters are younger than you think

One of the newsletters in 2024 from our colleagues at CUBIC about Belief Perseverance struck a resonant chord with us; we have repeatedly heard that “SHIFT is mostly for youths”. While it is a simple belief, it has potentially major implications - “the tendency to cling tightly to initial conclusions” about SHIFT directly affects how one imagines future possibilities, synergies, collaboration opportunities, potential integration and even its limitations.

However, research suggests that while belief perseverance can be quite stubborn to shed, a combination of critical thinking, diversified evidence and open-mindedness can help overcome it. That’s why we are starting off 2025 by cleansing away assumptions and going back to the very beginning of SHIFT in 2020 to systematically understand who Shifters are globally. Here’s what we found:

1 IN EVERY 5 SHIFTERS IS A CHILD (<18) IN AN EXCLUSIVELY CHILDREN-ONLY GROUP

Out of 63 shifter groups in 17 countries, 8 groups are composed entirely of children¹ totalling 377 Shifters; this makes children the second-largest Shifter demographic. However, if the age cut-off is adjusted to 19, adolescents² comprise 29% of all Shifters globally - the largest demographic in the SHIFT universe.

YOUTH MAKE UP ONLY 10% OF ALL SHIFTERS GLOBALLY

Despite prevailing beliefs that SHIFT is mostly for youths, in reality, youths³ make up only 10% - that is 1 in every 10 Shifters. Even though youth shifter groups outnumber children-only groups i.e. 19 youth groups (versus 8 child groups), the number of Shifters within children-only groups generally remains larger than the youth groups. This could perhaps be one reason for the prevailing belief that SHIFT is mostly for youths. 

FEMALES MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF SHIFTERS!

Within the SHIFT universe, females make up 54% of the Shifters followed by males at 43% and non-binary Shifters at 3%. Females make up the majority in all demographics except Young Adults4 (18-25) and Adults5 (>18) where males outnumber females. 
 

While a majority female has the advantage of numbers and therefore, the opportunity to mainstream gender into Shifters’ campaigns and activities, it needs to be balanced with not perpetuating the broader the broader gender inequalities with females taking on unpaid, voluntary work disproportionately.

SHIFTERS GROUPS THAT FALL INTO MULTIPLE DEMOGRAPHIC CATEGORIES MAKE UP 15%

17 groups out of a total of 63 have members in an age range that cannot be neatly folded into defined demographics such as children (<18), adolescents (10-19), youth (15-25), young adult (18-25) or even adult (>18). See the example below.

This mixed group make up the third-largest group in our dataset comprising a total of 249 Shifters. In our experience, this reflects the on-ground reality where young people primarily mobilise around an issue that inspires their passion and collective action - not rigidly around an age criteria. 

This diversity in their members' age also makes it more likely for movements to be genuinely led by young people, since older adolescents and youths often have the required capacity to lead independent groups. Supporting such a movement also simultaneously invests in a graduation model that younger children can step into as they become youths and young adults. 

1 A child is any person under the age of 18 (UN CRC)
2 Adolescence is the phase of life between childhood and adulthood, from ages 10 to 19 (WHO)
3 The United Nations, for statistical purposes, defines ‘youth’, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years
4 Young adulthood is a unique developmental period that occurs between the ages of 18 and 25 Years (Higley, Elena, "Defining Young Adulthood" (2019))
5 WHO defines “an adult is a person older than 19 years of age unless national law delimits an earlier age”. Since most countries sets the age of majority at 18, this article also adopts this definition

BEYOND DEMOGRAPHICS

While demographics give us a broad overall picture of the Shifter groups, they tell us nothing about their cascading impact on children in their communities. For instance, in 2023, a group of 8 Shifters aged 18-25 (young adults) in the Tsagibji district of Ethiopia led a grand march in their town. Under their campaign motto “All Children to School” they united the entire community and advocated prioritising education for all children.
 

This eventually led to 600 internally displaced children returning back to school. SHIFT in Ethiopia shows us that even in cases where Shifters are not necessarily children (<18), the realisation of children’s rights, i.e. access to education, remains at the heart of SHIFT.

Forget the paperwork — this is what really fuels us!

As we continue to scale up Shift and thereby expand our efforts to put young people at the forefront of change-making, we remain committed to not losing touch with the ground - that space where our incredible Shifters mobilise thousands of community members, impact policies on preventing teenage pregnancies, break gender stereotypes, build continental coalitions and even secure funding in the face of enormously complicated and child un-friendly systems. 

We spoke to Phuntsho Wangchuk, the co-founder of Gola-Gola (trans. 'Clothes-Clothes') over a virtual call to learn more about their social initiative, that simultaneously tackles over consumption, clothing waste, and regional inequality in Bhutan.

SERIOUS ABOUT WORKING IN GENUINE PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUNG PEOPLE BUT DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW?

Here're the 5 most important takeaways:

Could you tell us about Gola-Gola Bhutan?

PHUNTSHO: Gola-Gola, Bhutan is a youth-led social service initiative founded in 2022 that focuses on:

• Collecting clothes from those who have excess clothes.

• Distributing clothes to underprivileged communities in Bhutan.

• Raising environmental awareness about excessive clothing consumption.
   

It was started by four high school students with a small grant. While the grant was intended to help youth start businesses, we chose to focus on social service instead.

What was Gola-Gola Bhutan's early days like? How has it changed over time? 

PHUNTSHO: So we began with only $83 but completed three projects, transporting 1,000 clothes across. However, after receiving funding for the Shift campaign, our budget increased to $6,500 which excited us because it allowed us to dream big and launch a comprehensive project.

What activities did Gola-Gola Bhutan undertake as part of Shift?

PHUNTSHO: We completed five activities:

1. Tree plantation program where we collaborated with the EFN Society Club under WWF to plant 108 trees.

2. Three weekly cloth donation drives where we amassed around 3,000 items of clothing, partnering with an online taxi service, DrukRide.

3. Cloth donation drives at three colleges: Royal Thimphu College, Gyalpozhing College of IT, and the University of Medical Sciences

4. Cloth distribution project in the eastern district of Lhuentse, where we repaired 2,800 clothes and distributed them over 6 days, benefiting approximately 230 people.

5. Upcycle fashion design competition, where we raised awareness about excessive clothing consumption and encouraged recycling and creativity by having high school and college students create new designs from secondhand clothes.

How did Gola-Gola Bhutan raise awareness about your weekly donation drives?

PHUNTSHO: We leveraged social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X to announce our door-to-door collection campaign. We also gained media attention through a national news feature and coverage by a reporter we met during one of our drives.

What are Gola-Gola Bhutan's future plans? 

PHUNTSHO: We are now working on establishing 10 clothing donation drop boxes across Bhutan by December to make donating easier and more accessible.We would also like to scale up the project by acquiring a well-functioning warehouse, better equipment, and machines to improve and streamline the process of repairing and distributing clothes.

What we do is entirely based on collaborations - with the local government, businesses and local communities - who are very supportive of what we do. This gives us a way forward and motivates us to keep going.

What has been the most memorable experience for Gola-Gola Bhutan?

PHUNTSHO: The cloth distribution project in Lhuentse was particularly impactful. We were surprised by the high turnout of about 230 people, highlighting the need for our work in rural communities. We distributed 800 clothes on the first day, exhausting our supply and prompting us to call for additional donations from their volunteers in Thimphu. This experience was the most memorable for us and also helped us realise the importance of adaptability. 

I must also add that the real passion actually lies in us distributing the clothes to the rural communities and not in doing project management which can test us and make our passion waver sometimes.

Tell us more about Gola-Gola Bhutan's core principles. 

PHUNTSHO: One of our guiding principles is to return from distribution projects with either partially full or full boxes of clothes. This would mean that the needs of the community have been met and that our work is done in that location. 

What impact did the Shift program have on Gola-Gola Bhutan?

PHUNTSHO: The great thing about Shift is that they actually understand that they are working with young people and are very patient with us. They provide flexibility in how we do things and as a youth, we need flexibility. Shift also provided significant financial support, enabling the expansion of our activities. Personally, I am thankful for the mentorship and guidance offered through Shift which helped our young team develop essential project management skills, including budget management, project reporting, and navigating complex procedures - skills which are essential but not really taught to us otherwise. I also believe these factors contributed to Gola-Gola’s success.

You can follow Gola-Gola on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X

UNLEARNING

A Psychological Prerequisite to Shifting Power

Yes, shifting power requires us to move the dial on power towards young people and track this movement; but before this can happen, it calls us to undergo a mindset shift first. It calls us to unlearn. 

Our colleagues at CUBIC tell us about confirmation bias - a notorious feature of our psychology that actively seeks evidence confirming our pre-existing beliefs and ignores information that challenges us. Applied to youth and child-led campaigning, people who uphold beliefs about children as human becomings (rather than human beings), often unconsciously seek out all the reasons why youth and child-led campaigners can’t be approached as equal partners in social and environmental change. 

HOWEVER, YOUNG CHANGEMAKERS CONTINUE TO PROVE US WRONG, TIME AND TIME AGAIN.

UNLEARN: “It is always more efficient to solve social and environmental issues using already entrenched powerful institutions.”

There are already existing institutions working in adolescent health space in Bhutan. However, when Y-PEER Bhutan launched their campaign to heighten young people’s awareness of their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, they were able to do it much more effectively. 

The reason: they took an EduTainment approach that spoke to young people in a language they could easily understand and relate to. From the multitude of testimonials that were collected from young participants by Y-PEER Bhutan, most talk about how it was not the usual classroom teaching but rather something exciting and different. 

By complementing the energy and mobilising strength of grassroots, with partnerships and longer-term lifespans of formal institutions, we can most effectively move towards solving persisting social and environmental problems.

UNLEARN: “Children and youth groups do not have the requisite capacity to manage funds, at least not to the level that financial systems require.”

Scrutiny around the child-friendliness and risk appetite of current financial systems to work with young people are gradually coming to the fore. However, despite immense existing challenges, youth and child groups supported by genuine adult partners find innovative workarounds to live up to their commitments. 

For instance, Ethiopia’s two youth-led groups - Lenege and Bekere Lewt - were faced with the challenge of transferring funds to carry out their campaign in 2023. Against this, Ethiopia’s Fun Adults forged a partnership with Kishene, a youth-led theatre company that then helped channel the funds to the two campaigning groups. SHIFT Ethiopia was able to find a creative workaround for the existing barriers. 

UNLEARN: “Youth and child-led groups have weak and often limited human resource capacity, which means that they can only affect small-scale and local impact”

Given the highly mobile nature of young people's lifestyles often having to move around for education, employment (their own or their parents) or in pursuit of other opportunities, it does play an important factor in their group dynamics. However, youth and child-led groups often have extensive networks that can amplify their initiatives beyond their localities. 

Lilongwe Shifters from Malawi are a part of the National Youth Network for Climate Change (NYNCC), which they used as a platform to provide a youth and child-centred perspective to the COP28 national deliberations and dialogue in 2023. 

WHAT WE NEED TO RELEARN

Such evidence encourages us to become more cognisant of our confirmation biases around why young people can’t become true partners in change-making. Instead, it calls us all to unlearn - learn - relearn so that we can prime ourselves to shift power meaningfully.