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.

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