According to global population dynamics, youths constitute more than half the world’s population yet very few international organisations have incorporated their concerns or have facilitated their participation in addressing emerging global challenges. One organisation has embarked on a remarkable initiative to engage youth in sustainable development activities: International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
ICIMOD is an international, independent mountain learning and knowledge centre committed to improving the sustainable livelihoods of mountainous communities in the extended Himalayan region. Established in 1983, it operates in eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Realising the importance of proactive participation from youth in discussions related to sustainable development and the challenges facing the mountain regions, ICIMOD has initiated Asia Pacific Youth Forum (APYF). This year the theme of the APYF was Post-2015 Development Agenda and Mountain Issues.
Through a panel of independent judges, ICIMOD selected forty-five young representatives from 15 countries of Asia and the Pacific including university students and professionals. The selected youths attended the Asia-Pacific Youth Forum-2013 from September 30 to October 4. The participants were selected from over 1,150 applicants who submitted their application through the ICIMOD website highlighting their qualities, work experiences and commitment to the issues of the forum.
The APYF 2013 was inaugurated on October 1 at ICIMOD Headquarters with a welcome speech by ICIMOD Senior Manager Anja Møller Rasmussen. Presentations were delivered by ICIMOD Theme Leader Dr Golam Rasul, Government of Nepal Joint Secretary Purushottam Ghimire and LDC Watch Dr Arjun Karki representing mountain, government and civil society perspective. These presentations unveiled the paradigm shift in development planning from – Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and issues related to the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Technical presentations were delivered by esteemed experts at ICIMOD in two consecutive sessions including one on issues related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and science application in development activities and national-regional-global processes interface in thematic areas.
CEO of Mega Bank Kathmandu Anil Shah delivered a motivational speech, delineating his tenacious career, and discussing the role of human beings in building peace and happiness in the greater society. Miss Global Nepal-2012 Neelum Chand inspired the youth to be confident and motivated under all circumstances.
The third day covered a field visit to ICIMOD Knowledge Park, Godavari, situated at southern slopes of Kathmandu valley. This Knowledge Park covers an area of 30 hectares of land provided by the Government of Nepal in 1992 where more than 5,000 people from all walks of life including students, researchers, farmers, development practitioners, entrepreneurs and many others visit every year to learn about new technologies, approaches and practices for sustainable land use, natural resource management and livelihood enhancement.
At the site, participants learnt about technologies and practices related to renewable energy, water management, sustainable agriculture, soil management, ecotourism, livelihood options etc. The Knowledge Park includes technologies and practices that could contribute to better livelihood opportunities and conservation of natural resources in Hindu Kush-Himalayas (HKH).
Following the visit to the technology and activities demonstration stalls, all the participants were divided into a team of two to learn knowledge-sharing through an activity named “1-1 Interview Your Friend.” Each participant was asked to interview the other teammate about the MDG’s achievement status of their native country, success stories and pitfalls from multidisciplinary context and prepare a video of the interview. In accordance with the interview of the partner, each participant had to present each partner’s position.
One of the most amazing sessions was World Cafe for prioritising issues in the context of Post-2015 Development Agenda. Participants split into five groups to discuss five thematic areas. Based on the discussions the declaration of APYF 2013 was drafted in order to convey the expectations of the youth from Post-2015 Development Agenda.
On the fourth day the group visited innovative projects sites focusing on sustainable development. The first project site was the office and workshop of Foundation for Sustainable Technologies (FoST), a non-profit organisation that endeavours to create awareness to counter wide-spread deforestation, harmful pollution, heavy dependence on fossil fuels by providing low-cost, sustainable technologies, that is easily adaptable and locally-built. It also focuses on better education and capacity building to improve the quality of life of the rural people.
FoST is the brainchild of Sanu Kaji Shrestha, a retired World Bank official and solar energy hobbyist. He has promoted several biomasses to energy, waste to energy and solar energy technologies through FoST.
Following the visit to FoST, the participants visited the project site and office of Women Environment Preservation Committee (WEPCO). WEPCO is the first Nepali community based organisation to deal with Solid Waste Management (SWM), initiated by a group of housewives. Since its establishment in 1992, it has gained popularity for their innovation and initiatives in SWM. WEPCO activities include community composting, home composting, vermi-composting, paper collection for recycling and bio-gas production from organic waste.
The final day was devoted to developing the final declaration of the forum. At the knowledge session Founder of Youth for Environmental Stewardship Ms Judy Fainstein shared her experiences of engaging youth in North America for sustainable policy formulation and promotion of sustainable technologies. The final Outcome Document of APYF took three hours of debate amongst 45 participants through editing each sentence by simple majority vote. Ultimately participants developed the Declaration of Asia-Pacific Youth Forum on Mountain Issues and Post-2015 Development Agenda through a participatory process incorporating concerns of all members present.
ICIMOD Director General Dr David Molden said: “Many people address the youth as the future leaders. Why the future? No, you are not the future leaders. Tomorrow never comes. You are the leaders of today.”
ICIMOD Youth Initiative Coordinator Tek Jung Mahat concluded the forum by saying: “Working with the youth always gives us happiness. Carry the knowledge, share your experiences, talk to policy makers, talk about the future you want.”
The APYF-2013 was funded and supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).