AYON for making youths agents of development

March 6, 2006
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The Association of Youth Organisations Nepal (AYON) has with support from Poverty Reduction Strategy Resource Centre of the World Bank launched Youth in Development Partnership (YDP) programme aimed at making the young population as active agents of development process.

Addressing a ceremony organised to unveil the programme in the capital on Monday, secretary of the Ministry of General Administration, Madhav Ghimire, said the government’s National Youth Policy, which is under discussion, is also targeted at increasing the involvement of young people in the socio-economic activities. Innovative potentialities of Nepali youths have not been ably trapped by the nation due to financial constraints, he said.

“Youths should no more be the target of development but agents of the development,” Ghimire added.

Rajib Upadhya, World Bank’s focal person for Youth in South Asia, said that the young generation has not been able to participate in the development process because of lack of workable youth policies and programmes of the government.

President of Youth Initiative Rajendra Mulmi addressing the function in Kathmandu on Monday (Photo courtesy: AYON)
President of AYON Rajendra Mulmi informed that the project aims at institutionalising the youth participation in development activities. He said youths have an important role to play in sustainable development and at the same time they could be effective advocates of change, both to decision-makers and to the general public, if the nation consolidated their involvement in development process.

Director of the YDP 2006 project, Sudhyumna Dahal, said that the Millennium Development Goals would not be met by countries like Nepal without activating the potentialities of youths. The young population must have access to policy making level so that traditional policies get reformed.

The project will fund seven youth-led organisations that have been working on programme on education, health, employment, youth participation, agriculture, conflict resolution, infrastructure development and environment –with each getting maximum of Rs 300,000.

The government is mulling over the formulation National Youth Policy with the aim of involving youths in national development mainstream by enhancing their knowledge, skills and capabilities. Critics, however, say the new policy aims at mobilising youths in support of the present government, in the name of nationalism, as was the case during the autocratic Panchayat rule.