Youth of Asia Commonwealth countries meet on July 23

Chandigarh, July 20 (UNI) Youth Caucus, representatives from the Commonwealth countries in Asia--- Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia, Maldvies, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka will be converging to the city along with senior officials from the National Youth Councils of these countries to learn, share and network, with the ultimate objective of meeting the challenges faced by young people in the region.

A five-day capacity and leadership development workshop for these young men and women would get underway at the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) Asia Centre here from July 23. Mr S K Arora, Secretary in the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will inaugurate the workshop and deliver the inaugural address.

The Commonwealth Youth Caucus comprises of young women and men nominated by their respective countries to work towards fulfilling the CYP mandate of youth empowerment. In keeping with the avowed objective of the CYP to give a voice to young people in its decision-making processes, the members of the Youth Caucus participate in the deliberations of the Regional Advisory Board meeting of the CYP and take decisions, along with senior officials of the Youth Ministries, on matters of concen to young people in the egion. Not only this, they ae also encouraged to participate in decision making fora in their own countries, and also in the process of development.

The objective of the workshop is to develop the capacity of these young women and men and to instill in them qualities of leadership.

The workshop aims at developing a bond between the participants so that both work towards the common objective of youth empowerment, with the official working a mentors to these young people.

'In the Commonwealth Youth Programme, we walk our talk and, therefore, ensure the involvement of young people in the entire goverance structure making them equal partners in decision-making and development" Mr Raj K Mishra, Regional Director, CYP Asia Centre said here today.

The workshop will have participatory presentations by eminent resource persons in the field of management, leadership development and communication. As part of the workshop the participants will be visiting Youth Development Centres and Rural ICT Development Centres of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan to learn about rural youth development projects of India.

They will also be preparing action plans for implementation in their respective countries addessing challenges and emerging concerns of young people such as HIV, drugs/substance abuse, youth in conflict with law, education and employment etc.

UNI