YES Insider #20
August 1, 2004
Inside the Insider
1. YES Ghana inaugurates coordinating committee for YES Mexico 2004
2. UNIDO lauds YES Renewable energy project in Zambia
3. YES India Intensifies grass root operations
4. YES Nepal organizes talk show, conducts workshop
5. YES Canada organizes international conference- launches an enterprise,
publication
6. YES Pakistan sets-up Academy, Skill development center
7. Corporate Social Responsibility top on the agenda of YES Philippines
8. YES Egypt launches Francophone sub-network
9. YES Mexico launches Successful Young Entrepreneurs Award Programme
1. YES-Ghana inaugurates coordinating committee for Mexico Summit
Speaking at a National Consultation in Accra, Honorable Yaw Barima, Ghanaian
Minister for Manpower Development and
Employment, stated that the national consultation and the inauguration of
coordinating committee for YES Mexico 2004 was "a
step in the right direction" in addressing the problem of youth
unemployment. He emphasized his government's commitment to
ensure a decent work placement for young people in the country and cited
examples of successful government programmes.
The consultation was organized by YES Ghana with support from the British
Council- Ghana. Mr. Emmanuel Edudzie, YES Ghana
Coordinator, led this consultation, which is a vivid illustration of growing
partnership of the YES Networks with members of
civil society and private sector across the world. Speaking at the
consultation Emmanuel said, "There has been little
movement beyond rhetoric to concrete and effective action. Efforts need to
be infused with a sense of urgency, vision and
resolve, and guided by practical experience
The coordinating committee, which will oversee Ghana's participation in the
Summit, is diverse with representation from the
government, civil society and YES Ghana.
2. UNIDO lauds YES Renewable energy project in Zambia
Dr. Pradeep Monga, senior technical adviser - UNIDO, praised the efforts of
the YES Campaign (EDC Inc.) for its renewable
energy project in Zambia. Inaugurating a workshop at the Common Market for
Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Centre in
Lusaka, Dr. Monga and renewable energy experts Dr. S. Dasappa and Mr. Binu
Parthan, highlighted the innumerable employment
opportunities this sector provided for youth.
The workshop was attended by over 100 Zambian youth, some of whom have been
trained as "master trainers" in renewable energy
by active member of YES Zambia. The workshop was a part of Dr. Monga and his
colleague's visit to the project site of
YES-UNIDO project.
Francis Chinguta, Entrepreneurship Coordinator - YES Campaign, said, " It
was a very lively and powerful workshop. The young
Zambians were convinced of the vast employment opportunities in the field of
renewable energy".
UNIDO is also partnering with the YES Campaign for a renewable energy
project in India.
3. YES India Networks intensifies grass root operations
YES India has been in thick of activities last month. Now spanning all
regions of the country, YES India has grown
exponentially after the highly successful Hyderabad YES Regional Forum in
December 2003.
The YES Campaign office in New Delhi facilitated a special capacity building
workshop in "Renewable Energy and Employment"
for the state level representatives of the YES India Networks and along side
organized a country strategy meeting and
envisioned to charter a road map of the Network. The meeting chalked out a
strategy to build a strong multi stakeholder
delegation to the YES Mexico 2004 and showcasing some of the success stories
from India.
YES India also launched its new chapter in the Eastern Region of the
country, Kolkatta led by Dr. Gautam Gosh in the presence
of distinguished guests from government, UN bodies, civil society members
and media. To build policy advocacy and commitment
at the district level, to promote employment, the Andhra Pradesh Chapter of
YES India organized workshop in Rangareddy
District on July 20, where eminent subject specialists spoke about the
innumerable employment potential for youth in emerging
sectors. Organized in association with the Directorate of Youth Services,
Government of Andhra Pradesh the workshop was
sponsored by a local NGO.
With the objective of imparting technical skills to the rural youth in the
tribal areas of North East India, the Meghalaya
Chapter of YES India recently conducted a one-day skill-building workshop on
"bee keeping" supported by FAO New Delhi.
4. YES Nepal organizes talk show, conducts workshop
The YES Country Network in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal has been very
active trying to set a platform for peaceful dialogue
and generation of productive employment opportunities for its young people.
"Initiatives like the YES Campaign are extremely
important in helping our youth, when the nation is passing through a very
critical phase and youth are worst affected" said,
Sudyumna Dahal, deputy country coordinator of YES Nepal.
YES Nepal organized a talk program titled, "YES Campaign: Immense
opportunity for the Youth of Nepal" on the 23rd of July
2004 in Kathmandu. The programme was well attended by students, young
professionals, entrepreneurs and representatives of
youth media. The programme was organized to disseminate information
regarding YES Campaign and the forthcoming YES Summit to
diverse stakeholders of Nepalese youth.
Earlier, YES Nepal with the support of World Bank, organized a two week long
National level youth consultation "Youth
Perspective on Development" for Nepal Development Forum (NDF) 2004. More
than 300 youth from all over the country
participated in six different thematic workshops and e-consultations.
5. YES Canada organizes international conference- launches an enterprise,
publication
Earlier this year, a member of YES Canada along with a colleague organized
an international meeting under the "Mobilité
Jeunesse" programme in Edmundston (New Brunswick). The nine-day conference,
funded by Agence Intergouvernementale de la
Francophonie (AIF), was attended by 27 youth from Canada, Madagascar, Togo,
Benin, Congo, Senegal and France.
The main goal of the conference was to bring together young francophones
with diverse backgrounds to discuss ways to motivate
them to become entrepreneurs. In five workshops, the delegates deliberated
on the central themes of entrepreneurship viz.
starting business; challenges facing young entrepreneurs; North-South
partnerships; leadership and motivation and financing.
Intersection Nord-Sud Inc., a non-profit organization, which envisions
supporting youth in entrepreneurship, was established
after this conference. Also, a cross-cultural guide was published to help
youth through the process of setting up an
enterprise.
This publication, in French, is available for download at
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/Intersection
6. YES Pakistan sets-up Academy, Skill development center and more
YES Pakistan has recently set up Pakistan National Youth Service
Academy -aimed to be a hub for promoting the concept of
youth service amongst young volunteers. Ali Raza Khan, YES Pakistan
Coordinator informs, "Our mission is to provide youth
with a solid foundation of much needed skill education instead of
traditional academic education". He adds, "It aims at
providing training in the academically deficient areas, which are greatly
needed by the youth for personal and professional
development as well as community development"
YES Pakistan has also established two skill development centers in Hafizabad
and Rawalpindi districts to provide
opportunities to youth to learn new skills and share experiences with
respect of community based projects. These centers are
providing facilities for computer literacy, stitching training, adult
literacy tuition, typing training, indoor games etc.
YES Pakistan has also been awarded with another project by the Government of
Punjab to set up 100 Adult Functional Literacy
Centers in Kasur District with support from Pakistan National Youth Service
Volunteers.
For more information please email aliaccessed@homail.com
7.YES Philippines works for corporate social responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is top on the agenda of the members of
the YES Philippines. The Network known as the
Philippines Youth Employment Network (PYEN) was a part of the exchange
session on CSR organized by Responsible Citizenship
Youth Movement (RCYM) and the Institute of Solidarity in Asia (ISA) in
Manila.
"This exchange of ideas brought about several issues faced by the youth
which the member institutions may be able to embrace
in their CSR practices" notes Audrey Codera, Executive Director, PYEN
Members of PYEN also attended a CSR Expo 2004 titled, "Bata, May Bukas Ka",
where a member facilitated a session on youth
employment. The session discussed the issues faced by youth concerning
pre-employment, during employment and
entrepreneurship. The session also looked into the various possibilities to
combat these issues.
PYEN members were also a part of their national delegation to the
prestigious ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth (AMMY) last
year where they shared the mission and objectives of YES Campaign (EDC
Inc.).
8. YES Egypt launches Francophone sub network
YES Egypt, also known as Sustainable Development Association (SDA), is
growing up with more and more enthusiastic youth
joining in. It has recently launched a new sub-network, "Youth Francophone
Group of Alexandria" which comprises French
speaking youth.
Abdallah Soheibh, Regional Coordinator informs, "This group is part of the
SDA and has independent internal structure and
special rules of membership". "The supervision, however, is with the
International Committee of YES Egypt".
Group leader Hayman Mohamed Ahmed, says more about group, "Currently, our
group has Francophones from Alexandria and [we]
hope to have many more from across the world. It is an honor to receive
support from Alexandria General Consulate of France,
Alexandria French cultural center, Bibliotheca Alexandria and Alexandria
University besides SDA".
The SDA members have also announced the launch of their new look website.
The website www.sda-web.org, contains information
on SDA projects, members and partners and other useful links.
The YES Country Networks across the world are building strong multi
stakeholder delegation to the YES Mexico 2004. YES
Country Networks members also participated, with great zeal and enthusiasm,
in the International Youth Parliament in Sydney
and are looking forward to celebrating International Youth Day on 12th
August 2004 and participation in the World Urban Youth
Forum in Barcelona, Spain.
9. YES Mexico launches Successful Young Entrepreneurs Award Programme
The YES Mexico Country Network launched the award "Successful Young
Entrepreneurs" with the Economy Ministry and Entrepreneur
Magazine and the winners will be part of the Innovation Market Place
expected to be held during the second Global Youth
Employment Summit in Mexico Additionally, the YES Mexico team is developing
a complimentary pilot program to promote Young
Entrepreneurs with WalMart Foundation.
For More Information please contact: juan@fundacione.org
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