young asia (december 2011 - march 2012)
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December 2011 - March 2012
CommonwealthYouth Programme
Asia Centre
Contents
From the Director’s Desk................2
Programme Highlights....................2
In Other News................................6
Regional Youth Caucus Voice.........10
Editorial Team: Raj K Mishra, Dharshini Seneviratne, Nithya Devaraj. Design Support: Arunesh Moudgil
The Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) enables young women and men to realize their potential individually and collectively and effectively work with them as agents of change for development and transformation. The CYP Asia Centre was set up in 1975 and is based in Chandigarh, India. It is one of four regional offices of the Youth Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, London.
The CYP Asia Centre works with eight Commonwealth Asia countries; Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka; We work in partnership with young people, youth ministries, the non-governmental sector and other stakeholders.
1
FROM THE REGIONAL
DIRECTOR’S DESK
Sri Lankan Youth Workers
the Youth Work Sector
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS Commit to Professionalize
2
Dear Readers,
A lot has happened since our last e-
newsletter hit your screens!
The disquieting global youth
unemployment scenario
exacerbated by mounting skills
deficit in most countries and the lack
of access to easy and affordable
finances to young people to start up
self-owned enterprises led us to
organise a first-ever regional
consultation on Financial Inclusion
of Youth. It was a success in the
sense that the participants-
representatives of government,
central banks, financial institutions,
young entrepreneurs and NGOs
engaged in youth enterprise
development underscored the need
for greater financial inclusion of
youth and provision of youth-
friendly services as a means to
mitigate the problem of youth
unemployment.
The setting up of the
Commonwealth Asia Alliance of
Young Entrepreneurs (CAAYE) was
another significant initiative during
this period. Launched jointly by the
CYP Asia Centre and the Young
Indians (Yi) of the Confederation of
Indian Industries, the Alliance of
youth entrepreneurs from 8
Commonwealth countries has
pledged itself to work as a rallying
point for advocacy on youth
entrepreneurship issues in their
respective countries.
“We need space and opportunity,
as governmental and non-
governmental youth workers, to
come together and work
together…. so that we can work
with the 5.5 million youth of Sri
Lanka as a specialized group of
professionals”.
This was the call from Sri Lanka's
newly-formed Youth Work Action
Group to leading decision-makers
in youth development in Sri Lanka
at the conclusion of a four-day
Consultation on Professionalizing
the Youth Work Sector. The
Consultation was held from nd th
November 22 – 25 2011 in
Colombo, Sri Lanka by CYP in
collaboration with the Ministry of
Youth Affairs and Skills
Development, Sri Lanka.
This appeal was addressed to the
Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs
and Skills Development, Hon.
Duminda Dissanayake, to the
Director-General of the National
Youth Services Council, Lalith
Piyum Perera and other attending
Heads of Ministries and
Departments on the concluding
day of the Consultation.
The Consultation was led by Dr
Brian Belton, a youth worker and
academic from the YMCA George
Williams College, London, the
largest trainer of youth workers in
Europe.
He was supported by two
national level consultants Dr Shantha
Abeysinghe and Dr Harini
Amarasuriya.
During the consultation, the 50
participating governmental and non-
governmental stakeholders
recognized the critical role of the
youth work profession in enhancing
young people's participation in the
nation building process and in
steering youth energy towards
positive outcomes for themselves
and their communities. Stakeholders
felt an urgent need to professionalize
the sector and agreed on a pathway
beginning with the establishment of
a professional association for youth
workers.
One participant, Aruna Nonis, from
Sri Lanka's Young Men's Christian
Association (YMCA), said, “The
workshop was conducted when we
all were struggling to understand
what youth work is. The organizers
and the facilitators of the workshop
were so keen and mindful to get
views and opinions of all the
participants and created a common
understanding on the theme.”
Stakeholders also set up a Youth
Work Action Group in order to take
forward the initiatives in
collaboration with the Ministry of
Youth Affairs and Skills
Development, the Open University
of Sri Lanka (which runs the CYP's
Diploma in Youth Development),
and the Commonwealth Youth
Programme.
.... and in Bangladesh Too ....
The YWET unit supports member countries to
professionalize the youth work sector in
Commonwealth Asia, including delivering
capacity building such as supporting the
Commonwealth Diploma in Youth
Development.
Youth Work, Education and
Training (YWET)
-
3
In keeping with our commitment to help
member countries to formulate/review
their National Youth Policies, a national
consultation of stakeholders for review
of the national youth policy of
Bangladesh was facilitated by us. The
framework developed earlier in a
regional consultation served as the
corner stone for the review and drafting
of a new National Youth Policy.
The draft training manual on Youth and
Peace Building was reviewed in a
workshop organised in the Rajiv Gandhi
National Institute of Youth Development.
Participants included academicians,
trainers, civil society organisations and
young activists.
A first-ever regional consultation on
mainstreaming sports for development
and peace was another highlight of the
period. This followed a mandate from
the Commonwealth Sports Ministers in
their last meeting in New Delhi in 2010.
Work towards professionalising the
youth work sector continued by holding
national level consultations in Sri Lanka
and Bangladesh. These were intended to
review the country situations and seek
pathways towards professionalization of
the sector.
Meanwhile, let us all welcome Ms
Katherine Ellis who has taken over as
Director of the Youth Affairs Division in
the Commonwealth Secretariat. We wish
her well and hope to see the CYP scaling
new heights under her leadership.
Read on.......
Raj K Mishra
The second youth work country
consultation for this financial
year was held in Dhaka, thBangladesh, from March 20 –
nd22 , 2012 in partnership with the
Ministry of Youth and Sports,
Bangladesh.
The inauguration was attended by
the Hon Minister of State for
Youth and Sports, Ahad Ali Sarkar,
Director General, Ministry of
Youth and Sports, A K M Manzurul
and Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Youth and Sports, Gazi Mizamnur
Rahman. Together, they
committed to go forward in
professionalising youth work in
Bangladesh.
Hon State Minister for Youth and
Sports, Bangladesh, Ahad Ali
Srakar, spoke about critical issues
affecting young people in
Bangladesh and about their active
participation in decisive points of
the country's history of liberation.
He appealed to the participants to
contribute thoughtful comments
and rich recommendations to
make the three-day long
workshop a success.
Forty stakeholders from the State
sector, civil society and academia,
including young people, involved
in service delivery and training in
the youth work sector
participated in the consultation.
Preliminary recommendations
addressing State and other
decision-makers in Bangladesh
were devised on strengthening
state provisions for
professionalizing the youth work
sector, building professional
qualification pathways for youth
work professionals, and building an
association for youth work
professionals to ensure standards
and quality of youth services.
Afeef Ahmed from ActionAid,
Bangladesh said, ''The
Professionalizing Youth Work
Consultation has been a milestone
in bringing the Bangladeshi Civil
Society and the Government of
Bangladesh closer on building the
need and basis for recognizing
youth workers as important and
vital actor in the development
paradigm.''
''The Professionalizing Youth Work
Consultation has been a milestone in
bringing the Bangladeshi Civil Society
and the Government of Bangladesh
closer on building the need and basis
for recognizing youth workers as
important and vital actor in the
development paradigm.''
Katherine Ellis joined the
Commonwealth Secretariat's Youth
Affairs Division, London, as its new
Director in March 2012. She has over
twenty years' experience heading youth
and development organizations and
catalyzing private-public initiatives. She
received her Masters' Degree from
Harvard University's Kennedy School of
Government. The staff at the CYP Asia
Centre welcomes her to CYP and look
forward to working with her.
Young Entrepreneurs Network!
CYP Asia Meet Endorses Financial
Inclusion of Youth
4
The CYP Asia Centre continues its work in supporting young entrepreneurs across the Commonwealth-Asia region. The recent launch of the Commonwealth-Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAAYE), in collaboration with the Indian non-governmental organization Young Indians of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), reflected this commitment.
The launch consisted of a two-day envisioning workshop held in New
thDelhi, India, from November 15 to 16th, 2011. The initiative followed Commonwealth mandates to put in place policies and mechanisms to foster youth enterprise development as a means to mitigate unemployment among young people in the Commonwealth.
Twelve representatives from youth entrepreneurship support organizations from Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia, the Maldives, Singapore and Sri Lanka participated in the workshop and agreed on a Charter, Governance Structure and Rules of Business. Participants committed to a long-term engagement of the Alliance as a catalyst of economic growth, job creation, innovation and societal change in the Commonwealth Asia region through engagement of all stakeholders championing the cause of young entrepreneurs at the local, national, regional and international level.
Regional Director, CYP Asia Centre, Raj K Mishra, said,
“We see the setting up of the Commonwealth Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs as a very positive development towards our goal of economic enfranchisement of youth. We hope, the Alliance would be a rallying force in advocating with the member governments to put in place appropriate policies, programmes and structures to promote youth entrepreneurship in the region.”
Youth Enterprise and Sustainable Livelihoods (YESL)
YESL programmes are committed to empower young people and ensure that they are provided with opportunities to achieve sustainable livelihoods. CYP advocates and creates partnerships for youth enterprise which we see as one of the most viable options for both employment-creation and the stimulation of economic growth in the Commonwealth.
The Youth Enterprise and Sustainable
Livelihoods (YESL) Team, in
collaboration with the Ministry of
Youth Affairs and Sports, Government
of India, organized a two-day Regional
Consultation on Financial Inclusion of th
Youth in New Delhi from February 8 th
to 9 . The objective of the
Consultation was to advocate for a
consensus on a youth focus in national
financial inclusion policies.
The Consultation was inaugurated by
Secretary to the Government of India in
the Department of Economic Affairs,
Ministry of Finance, R. Gopalan.
During the consultation, participants
made recommendations, including on
making financial services and
structures more user-friendly for young
people, minimizing credit risk, greater
information provision and simplified
legal and regulatory frameworks and
provision of incentives to banks to
encourage lending to young
entrepreneurs.
The consultation brought together over 40 representatives that included
experts and practitioners representing Ministries of Youth, Finance and Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); the Central Banks/other financial
institutions; the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAAYE) and
youth entrepreneurship support organizations from the eight Commonwealth
countries in Asia.
Youth Policy Review in Bangladesh
5
A National Consultation to review the
National Youth Policy (NYP) of
Bangladesh was organised by the
Governance, Development and Youth
Networks (GDYN) in February 2012.
The event was inaugurated by the
Secretary, Ministry of Youth and
Sports, Mahbub Ahmed, Director
General, Department of Youth
Development, Bangladesh, A K M
Manzarul Haque, and Regional
Director, CYP Asia Centre, Raj Kishore
Mishra.
The purpose of the two-day
consultation was to gather
recommendations for creating a more
responsive NYP for Bangladesh. The
major outcomes of the consultation
were an agreed framework for the
new NYP, developed Terms of
Reference and selection criteria for the
NYP Drafting Committee, reviewed the
current NYP based on the tool shared
by the CYP, developed an Action Plan
for the NYP Drafting Committee. The
participants have emphasised
meaningful engagement of young
people in the NYP formulation process.
to revisit the composition of the
NYP Drafting Committee to ensure
representation from different
sectors. It also identified areas of
interventions related to youth such
as under-employment, poverty,
drugs, HIV/AIDS, crime and violence,
health related issues, etc. It was
underscored that a comprehensive
and responsive NYP would cater the
needs and aspirations of young
people across the country.
This process was led by CYP Officials
and Youth Work Professionals.
The Ministry has given commitment The participants were Senior Officials
from different Ministries,
representatives of civil society
-
Governance, Development and Youth Networks (GDYN)
GDYN focuses on capacity building of youth ministries and youth networks. The Unit provides support in the formulation and review of National Youth Policies, strategising youth mainstreaming, ensuring meaningful engagement of young people in development, democratic and governance processes. The Youth Caucus, a group of young people representing Commonwealth youth, support this process.
A New Vision for CYP’s Youth and Peace-Building Manual
One primary focus of CYP Asia is to
engage young people from
Commonwealth countries to be
effective in their role as peace-
builders.
In line with this, in February 2012, the
CYP Asia Centre along with the Rajiv
Gandhi Institute for Youth
Development (RGNIYD) brought
together regional stakeholders to
review a training manual on Youth and
Peace-Building drafted by Dr Devendra
Agochiya. During this second phase of
consultation, participants were also
inducted on the use of the peace
building manual.
inputs to the manual to make it a
more effective training tool to
promote peace and harmony in their
respective countries. The
Consultation concluded with a vision
to create a cadre of trainers who can
further train the Youth Ambassadors
of Peace.
In his vote of thanks, Programme
Manager, CYP Asia Centre, Stanzin
Dawa, appealed to the participants to
identify potential Youth Ambassadors
in their respective countries and
expand the network of Ambassadors
of Peace to work towards making the
world a more peaceful place.
IN OTHER NEWS... CYP Advocates for Sport
for Development and Peace
The programme took place in
Sriperunbur (near Chennai), India and
brought together 32 participants from
Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka.
During the course of the programme,
young people, trainers, academics and
peace practitioners provided their
A set of recommendations calling for strengthening Sports for Development and Peace (SDP) was drafted at the recently concluded consultation/capacity building
th thworkshop held from 17 – 20 October 2011.
Youth and Sport Ministry officials from seven Commonwealth countries in the Asia region along with Civil Society Organisations and representatives of youth, including the Commonwealth Regional Youth Caucus members, participated in the sessions and in the formulation of recommendations.
At the workshop, officials and youth representatives were updated on key principles, practices and developments in working with sport as a tool for development and peace. Participants were provided with a platform to discuss how the Commonwealth Secretariat, Governments and other stakeholders can strengthen SDP policy and programming.
The meeting was opened by Beng Choo Low, International Olympic Committee Member and Vice-Chair of the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport.
Ms Beng challenged the participants to intensify their efforts to utilise sport as a vehicle to achieve developmental goals.
She said, “The role of the Commonwealth Secretariat and
Governments in realizing the potential of SDP is crucial, and I urge
that SDP be integrated in to national and international agendas and
become an integral part of development toolkits.”
Recommendations and inputs from the regional meeting will be incorporated into guidelines for strengthening SDP being developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat. These guidelines will then be presented to Commonwealth Sport
thMinisters when they meet in London in July next year for the 6 Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting.
Student Volunteers Train for Youth Credit Initiatives
Diploma Teachers Update Skills in Mumbai
7
Volunteers from India's National
Service Scheme (NSS) from the Punjab
Engineering College, Chandigarh,
India, were trained on the
Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative
(CYCI) under the guidance of the CYP
Asia Centre and the National Institute
for Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Development (NIESBUD).
The CYCI is a holistic development
model that provides enterprise
training, small affordable loans for
small businesses,
life skills development, mentoring
and support to young
entrepreneurs.
The project was initially launched as
a pilot where the volunteers trained
to provide enterprise management
resources for young entrepreneurs in
their network. In response to its
successful implementation, the
second phase of the project was
initiated in March 2012. This
consisted of an introduction to the
principles and practices of youth
the role of credit.
The training also included basic
capacity building in enterprise
development, financial management,
operational strategy, monitoring and
evaluation and so on.
CYP continued its quality assurance
support to partner universities in
implementing the CYP Diploma in
Youth Development in January 2012.
This time, tutor training support was
provided to 11 tutors engaging with
students for the Diploma at the SNDT
Women's University, Mumbai.
The training included updating tutors
on the latest concepts and approaches
in youth work, addressing the
relationship between the Diploma and
professionalizing the youth work
sector, and building an enriching
learning experience between tutor and
student in line with the ethos of the
Diploma based on youth participation
and Commonwealth principles of
human rights, democracy, equity and
good governance. The Chief Facilitator
for the training was Prof Thomas
Abraham of Ripples.
The SNDT Women's University now runs a partially owned Diploma where
CYP provides partial implementation costs. The University hopes to fully own
the Diploma from the next cycle.
Youth Enterprise Manual Revamped
8
The CYP Asia Centre reviewed an
existing CYP training manual for
self-employment and
entrepreneurship titled Youth
Enterprise and Development
(YED). The reassessment was
done in recognition of the
evolving scenario of innovative
and creative approaches in
training in youth enterprise.
CYP's new YED manual was revised
by former-Director, NIESBUD
(National Institute for
Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Development),
Dr MMP Akhouri, the creator of the
original CYP-YED Manual, in
consultation with stakeholders from
across the Commonwealth.
The first draft of the YED training
manual is out in the form of a
contemporary and state-of-the-art
training manual in line with new age
methods that are participatory and
experiential. In order to make the
manual effective, acceptable and
user-friendly, the CYP plans to do a
pilot test of the manual in select
member countries led by the CYP.
Malaysia CYP Diploma
Delegation Visit
A delegation of tutors of the CYP Youth
Development Diploma, and youth
Diploma holders visited the CYP Asia
Centre for the convocation for Diploma thgraduates on January 17 , 2012.
Commonwealth Day Celebrations
To mark the celebration of the
Commonwealth Day, the CYP Asia
Centre organised a seminar on the
theme Connecting Cultures signifying
the diversity of cultures across the
Commonwealth and the importance
of connecting people belonging to
diverse races, religions, ethnicities
and other groups on the basis of a
shared vision and values.
The seminar took place at the CYP
Asia Centre in Chandigarh, India and
included eminent panellists, former
Diplomat, Ambassador P.S Sahai,
Consul General of Canada in
Chandigarh, India, Scot Slessor
and Prof. Akshaya Kumar from the Department of English and Cultural
Studies, Panjab University.
On attending the seminar, a student at Indo-Global College, Shakti Wardhan
said,
''I believe, we should accept and respect other cultures just
as we want ours to be accepted and respected.”
Sonam Angchok, President of the Ladakh Students' Association, further
stressed on this point by adding,
‘'We have to look past the differences and rather look at the
commonalities of our diverse cultures and embrace a sense
of one humanity.''
A youth delegation of 50 from 25
countries visited the Commonwealth
Youth Programme, Asia Centre on thNovember 12 2011 as an exposure
visit organized by the Ministry of Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
Youth Delegation visits
CYP Asia Centre
Diploma Holders’ Review, Sri Lanka
9
Programme Manager of Youth Work
Education and Training (YWET) at the CYP
Asia Centre met with a range of CYP
Diploma holders with governmental and
non-governmental professional affiliations
in Sri Lanka during the months of
November and December 2011. The
purpose of the meetings was to
understand the impact of the Diploma on
personal knowledge, attitudes and
professional practice.
During the interviews, Diploma holders talked
about the impact of the Diploma on their
learning and professional lives, and also spoke
about their challenges.
Inputs from the Diploma holders' review is now
informing measures to enhance the impact of
the Diploma on the youth work sector in Sri
Lanka, and in enhancing the contributions of
the Diploma in initiatives to professionalize Sri
Lanka's youth work sector.
The Diploma is run by the Open University of Sri
Lanka (OUSL) as a fully-owned programme in
English, as well as the two local languages of
Sinhala and Tamil.
The pictures show a field observation during
the review, where Diploma holder Ranjith
Kaluarachchi, a review respondent, is
conducting a session for young people in a
State-run youth club in the suburbs of
Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka
Commonwealth Day Celebration in Sri Lanka
RYCs’ VOICE News from the Regional Youth Caucus
10
The Regional Youth Caucus (RYC) is a dynamic network of
youth from Commonwealth Asia who represent young
people in their countries in national, regional and
international Commonwealth and other forums. RYCs
facilitate meaningful engagement of young people in
various levels of planning and decision-making within
governments, the CYP and other bodies.
Asia's Youth Caucus periodically organize activities and
programmes for young people in their countries. In this
section, we highlight some of these remarkable
initiatives.
To celebrate Commonwealth Day 2012, the
Commonwealth Youth Network of Sri Lanka, in
collaboration the National Youth Service
Council and the Sri Lanka Federation of Youth
Clubs organized an awareness programme to
enhance the knowledge on Commonwealth,
Commonwealth Youth Programme and its
activities. The programme was held at the
auditorium of the National Youth Service th
Council of Sri Lanka on March 12 2012.
Kusala Fernando, the Regional Youth Caucus
Representative of Sri Lanka made a presentation
on the history, membership and the main
activities of the Commonwealth and the
Commonwealth Youth Programme.
He also spoke about the upcoming
Commonwealth Young Leader's exchange
programme between UK and Sri Lanka.
Around 125 young people including youth
leaders from various parts of the country, and
the trainees at National Youth Services Council,
participated in the programme.
Commonwealth
Young Leaders
Exchange
Events to look out for...
11
The Sri Lanka Federation of Youth Clubs
and UK-based youth organization
Dare2lead recently signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
for a youth exchange programme
between UK and Sri Lanka. This
programme was an idea initially
broached between the founder of the
Dare2Lead Youth organization, John
Laughton, and Sri Lanka's RYC, Kusala
Fernando when they met at the
Commonwealth Youth Forum held in
2011 in Perth, Australia.
It was decided that eight young persons
from each country will participate in the
programme.
The programme is meant to raise awareness on commonwealth
values, enhance relations among young people in the two countries
acting on youth rights and encourage reflection on 2013's
Commonwealth Youth Forum to be held in Sri Lanka.
Singapore: Cindy Chng, RYC of Singapore plans to initiate the Commonwealth Climate Change Network in Singapore to
promote the work of Commonwealth's environmental efforts. Hear more about it in our next issue!
Sri Lanka: The Sri Lankan Youth Caucus is organising a local Youth Summit on this year's Commonwealth theme,
Connecting Cultures in April 2012.
Sri Lanka: A Commonwealth Film Festival on the same theme will be held in May/June 2012.
FEEDBACK:
We would love to hear from our readers. Send us your feedback and queries to:
youngasia@cyp.net
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