YES Insider # 17
April 15, 2004
Inside the Insider:
1. YES Country Network launched in Maldives
2. YES India launches state-level Network in Meghalaya, India
3. YES Mexico "legally" born
4. Global Youth Service Day celebrations
5. Bangalore, India plays host to a YES Consultation
6. South Africa's Youth Development Network (YDN) hosts YES training
workshop
7. YES Pakistan organizes oath taking ceremony in Kasur, Pakistan
8. YES Networks in the SAARC region finalize their MoU (available
online)
9. Denmark releases MDG target # 8 Report
10. YES Peru launches website in Spanish
1. YES Country Network launched in Maldives
The YES Country Network was recently launched in Maldives, probably the
smallest country in the ever-growing YES Family. The news of the launch came
within months of the successful conduct of Hyderabad YES Regional Forum
2003, held last year in India.
As a part of country's National Youth Day celebrations, workshops on
employment were conducted in the three regions of Maldives. Organized
jointly by the Ministry of Youth Development & Sports and Ministry of
Employment and Labour and the YES Maldives, the workshops were well attended
by youth.
Hon. Dr. Mohamed Zahir Hussein, Minister of Youth Development and Sports
inaugurated the first workshop held in mid-south of Maldives or "Laamu
Atoll". The workshop concluded in the benign presence of Hon. Mr. Abdulla
Rasheed Hussein, Minister of Employment & Labour.
The second workshop was held in the North of Maldives "Haa Alifu Atoll" with
70 youth from 13 islands participating, while the third was held in
mid-north of Maldives "Shaviyani Atoll" where 37 youth from 14 islands
attended.
YES Maldives has already been invited by the National Association of Youth
NGOs to participate in its various regional meetings conducted across the
country. "It is a wonderful opportunity to reach-out to youth in remote
areas and gather members for the YCN Maldives. After these meetings, I am
sure that YES Maldives will have members in all parts of Maldives, which
will lead to more success and better information sharing." Said a proud
Ahmed Asbaab of YES Maldives
YES Maldives hopes to overcome the numerous barriers and reach out to all
remote areas in the tiny islands nation.
Contact Person: Ahmed Asbaab
Contact details: onehuvanyo@hotmail.com
2. YES India launches state-level Network in Meghalaya, India
The Youth Employment Summit (YES) Campaign launched a local YES Network in
the North Eastern state of Meghalaya in India. The YES Meghalaya was
launched after a two-day preparatory YES Camp and a state level YES
Consultation that was jointly organised by the Meghalaya United Nations
Association, Rilum Foundation for Sustainable Development and 3 E Society in
collaboration with the State Institute for Rural Development (SIRD) of
Meghalaya.
The two-day preparatory YES Camp held on 22nd and 23rd March, at the
Kharsati Nature Park, was inaugurated by Mr. W. L. Lyngdoh, Deputy
Commissioner of Ri Bhoi District. The following day, Hon'ble Mr. Paul
Lyngdoh, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs inaugurated the YES
Consultation which was attended by over 100 multi-stakeholders delegates.
The YES Meghalaya Network is a diverse group representing students, youth
activists, opinion leaders, media persons, corporates, and other members of
the civil society. The YES Country Networks have been created in 60
countries, and in India YES State and Local Networks are been created by the
youth leaders across the nation with support from their state governments.
NGO representatives from the neighbouring states of Assam and Nagaland who
participated in the Consultation returned home with a strong will to start
similar YES Networks in their own states.
Read the Report of the YES Camp and the YES Consultation at the YES Country
Network page at:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/YES-India
Contact person: Ms. Iba Blah, YES Meghalaya Coordinator
Contact details: iba@youthlink.org
3. YES Mexico officially launched
In the last week of February YES Country Network Mexico or the Red Nacional
por el Empleo Juvenil A.C was legally "born".
Ary Kahan, President, KASO Consulting and Marcos Kalach, members of the YES
Global Summit 2004 Organizing Committee, chaired the event. Martha Juy
Dominguez, Advisor of the Mexican Presidency, attended the event as an
honorable witness.
Esteban Gonzalez, youth co-chair of the YES Campaign Committee, introduced
Mr. Francisco Lopez Diaz, as the General Director of the YES Mexico.
The YES Mexico 2004 action plan is focused on developing the National Youth
Employment Council and development of the YES local networks across the
country. The YES Country Network Mexico is also gearing up to be the hosts
of the first milestone event of the YES Campaign-the YES Global Summit in
Veracruz from October 4- 7, 2004.
Have you registered for the Summit yet? Click here
www.yesweb.org/mexico/register.html
Contact Person: Ricardo Perret, YES Country Network Coordinator
Contact Details: ricardopeer@yahoo.com,
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/YES-Mexico
4. Global Youth Service Day celebrations
Preparations for the Global Youth Service Day or GYSD celebrations are in
full swing across the world. GYSD is an annual global event led by Youth
Service America, in cooperation with Global Youth Action Network, Inc., its
key partner, together with a consortium of international organizations and
national committees.
On Global Youth Service Day or GYSD, millions of young people will highlight
and carry out thousands of community improvement projects. This day will be
a way for local, national, and international organizations to: build
capacity of an international network of organizations that promotes youth
participation, service, and learning; educate public, media, and
policy-makers about the year-round contributions of young people as
community leaders around the world; mobilize youth and adults to meet the
needs of their communities through volunteering; and learn and share
effective practices in youth service, youth voice, and civic engagement in
the world today.
Individuals willing to join the GYSD celebrations need to get in touch with
the National Lead Agency (NLA) of their respective countries. These agencies
will provide all assistance in identifying what role individuals you can
play in the celebrations.
Website: http://www.gysd.net/
5. Bangalore, India plays host to a YES Consultation
Bangalore or the Indian Silicon Valley was host a recent YES Consultation
recently. Thanks to efforts of Ms. Kamalamma, Chairperson of Karnataka Women
Development Corporation, Government of Karnataka and Ms. Prabhavathi, CEO of
Gramya TS Pvt. Ltd., the consultation was a great success. Participants
included women self help group (SHG) representatives, NGO workers, business
leaders and state government officials.
Mr. Praveen Kumar Prithvi, Coordinator, YES India introduced the concept of
the YES campaign and urged the participants to become actively involved in
the Campaign in all possible ways to ensure "Employment for all youth in
India" over the next decade.
To give further impetus to the YES Campaign in the Indian state of
Karnataka, Mr. Praveen and YES Network local members met Hon'ble Ms.
Mottamma, Minister for Women Development and Hon'ble D. Shiva Kumar,
Minister for Urban Development, Government of Karnataka and briefed them
about the goals and mission of the YES Campaign and solicited their support.
Website: projects.takingitglobal.org/YES-India
Contact Person: Mr. Praveen Kumar Prithvi, YES India Coordinator
Contact Information: praveenkumar71@hotmail.com
6. South Africa's Youth Development Network (YDN) hosts regional YES
training workshop
YES Networks from eleven countries participated in a regional training
workshop organized by the YDN of South Africa. The six-day regional
workshop held at Mbabane, Swaziland, focused on proposal and report writing,
policy analysis and review and partnership building with the private sector.
The YDN is a national network of seven youth development organisations
operating all around South Africa. The YDN was formed in 1998 especially to
explore ways of scaling up the impact of youth development programmes,
sharing information and best practices amongst the member organisations,
securing resources to support youth development programmes and to advocate
for the interests of young people.
YES Country Coordinator Zambia, Mr. Lubunda Mabwe who attended the workshop
was full of admiration for the event. "Here I should say there is work on
the ground". He said, "We just launched the Zambian chapter and for us it
has been an achievement" he added.
For more information, please get in touch with Clayton Peters, Executive
Director at: cpeters@icon.co.za and Sonkho Phiri, Project officer at
phiri@sn.apc.org
Website: www.ydn.co.za
7. YES Pakistan organizes oath-taking ceremony in Kasur
The YES Pakistan National Youth Service (PNYS) initiative is marching on
from strength to strength in the field of youth empowerment. The latest
event by the PNYS was the successful organization of an Oath-Taking ceremony
of 500 enthusiastic boys and girls in the historic city of Kasur. The young
volunteers pledged to promote education of their future generations under
the aegis of Universal Primary Education Programme, which is an initiative
of UNICEF and the local government.
Mr. Ali Raza Khan, Country Coordinator YES Pakistan credited his team and
thanked the volunteers for their commitment. He said, "It is you, the
assembled youth, and the talented members of my team who have proved to be
beacon light in the successful realization of this ambitious project.
In a very short time, PNYS has managed to produce some outstanding results,
like getting admission of over 3000 under- privileged children in schools
and arranging uniforms, books and stationery for them. Remarkably, this has
been accomplished without any external help or assistance.
The oath-taking ceremony was followed by a blood donation camp where the
PNYS volunteers donated blood for patients suffering from cancer.
Contact Person: Mr. Ali Raza Khan, YES Pakistan Coordinator
Contact Details: aliaccessed@hotmail.com
8. YES Networks in the SAARC region finalize their MoU (available online)
The final version of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between
the YES Country Networks Coordinators of the seven South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation countries (SAARC) is available online. The seven
member countries of this South Asian regional block are India, Pakistan,
Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The agreement on the MoU is seen as a big achievement of the recently
concluded Hyderabad YES Regional Forum 2003 as this was probably the first
instance of a regional youth grouping working towards joint development
initiatives.
Poonam Ahluwalia, Executive Director of the YES Campaign was delighted to
learn about this development." I view the adoption of the SAARC MoU an
outstanding achievement. I am sure this regional grouping will set a
precedent for other YES Networks to align their synergies and work together
for a sustainable livelihood for all."
Read the complete SAARC MoU:
projects.takingitglobal.org/YES-India
9. Denmark releases MDG target # 8 Report
Denmark has become the first Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) nation to release a country report on United Nations'
Millennium Development Goals (MDG). It is interesting to note that this was
the first report ever-released by a developed country as all the previous
reports have been released by developing nations.
The report released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs based in Copenhagen
focuses on Goal 8 which states to "establish a global partnership for
development."
The origin of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is found in the United
Nations' Millennium Declaration that was adopted on 8 September 2000 by all
of the 189 member states (147 of which were represented by their heads of
State or Government). These goals were set for the year 2015 with reference
to the international situation prevalent in 1990.
In the report, Denmark has pledged to cancel all official bilateral debt and
support further debt relief to countries that have been affected by, for
example natural disasters and similar events.
Read the full report at http://www.choike.org/documentos/denmark_report.pdf
10. YES Peru launches website in Spanish
An exciting new resource in Spanish is now available. YES Peru has launched
dedicated youth employment website in Spanish. The website provides
background information about the YES Campaign and Education Development
Center (EDC) Inc. and the YES Global Summit 2004 in Mexico.
YES Peru website in Spanish: http://www.redyesperu.tk
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