AYON

Youth Jatra, Every Year since 2004: Since 2004, AYON has been celebrating International Youth Day on August 12 through different programmes and events. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, AYON organized a huge youth rally and various events like blood donation, art competition, and street drama show. In 2010 AYON in coordination with several youth organizations, organized Youth Jatra. Youth Jatra covered events like art competition, documentary show, exhibition with youth stalls, rally, concerts and other fun activities. Save the Children, Maiti Nepal, CWIN Nepal, UNFPA supported the event in 2010.

AYON Forums and Public Hearings 2005- Ongoing: AYON forum is held every month where member organizations of AYON organize talk programme on youth issues, trainings, capacity building, networking and experience sharing programmes.

Youth Organizations Mapping 2005-Ongoing: AYON has been mapping and creating database of youth organizations from all over Nepal and has partnered with various stakeholders to facilitate this process. AYON hopes to have members from all 75 districts of Nepal in near future.

National Youth Employment Action Plan 2006: AYON organized regional consultations to get feedback on Youth Employment Action Plan in 3 regions (Biratnagar, Nepalgunj and Pokhara) and 6 focuse group discussions (Jumla, Illam, Banke, Dhanusha, Kailali, Dhankuta). Youths from various back ground participated in these activities. These consultations were supported by International Labor Organizations (ILO) and National Planning Commission.

Youth in Development Partnership (YDP) 2006 & Youth in Peace and Development Partnership (YPDP) 2008: Youth in Development Partnership (YDP) was an award programme, that promotes youth involvement in development and supports innovative projects from youth-led organizations and groups. AYON organized this grant programme in 2006 and 2008. For the 2006 programme, the World Bank partnered with AYON in supporting 7 projects and for 2008 project, the then Ministry of Education and Sports (currently Ministry of Youth and Sports) and the World Bank collaborated with AYON to support 15 youth-led projects.

National Youth Assembly 2007 and 2009: National Youth Assembly (NYA) is focused on identifying better position for capable young people to lead ‘New Nepal’ with adequate vision and implementation mechanism. The first NYA, in which more than 250 youths from approximately 50 districts, participated, was organized in 2007. The assembly discussions focused on building a democratic Nepal where youths would be leading all aspects of socio-economic and political life. The second NYA, where participants from 70 districts had participated to discuss on key youth issues like employment, climate change, economic growth, peace process and sustainable development was held in 2009. NYA 2007 was supported by Ministry of Education and Sports, Save the Children Norway, and Naya Nepal Hamrai Jivan Kalma (NGO). In 2009, UNFPA Nepal, Save the Children, Ministry of Youth and Sports and Alliance for Peace were supporting partners for NYA.

Youth Promoting Peace 2007: Youth Promoting Peace in Nepal is a capacity building programme for youth and youth clubs in conflict transformation and peace building. AYON brought together leaders from youth organizations and facilitated their roles in the peace building process. AYON conducted this project with OTI/USAID in 25 districts of Nepal in 2007. In this project 125 youth were trained in peace building, 3000 copies of peace posters were published and disseminated, wall painting was done, 25 youth peace dialogues with youth peace building action plan were prepared in all the 25 project districts.

Youth Organizations Capacity Building Programme 2008: Capacity building of youth organizations is one of the key activities of AYON. In 2008, two capacity building trainings in Nepalgunj and Biratnagar were conducted. Organizations from 50 districts participated in these trainings which was organized in coordination with the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Youth organizations that had participated in the programme, implemented the local action plan in their districts.

National Election Monitoring Alliance (NEMA) 2008: AYON served as a Steering Committee member for National Elections Monitoring Alliance (NEMA). During the CA elections AYON coordinated the monitoring activities of 5 districts Dang, Morang, Dhanusa, Kathmandu, Gorkha and 25 constituencies. The one year project was funded by DFID and the Asia Foundation.

Youth Meet 2008: The Youth Meet- "All different, All equal" was held in Kathmandu from 12-14 December, 2008. The Meet brought together representatives from diverse fields with the objective of reviewing the progress and effectiveness of youth related programmes, projects and policies in the Three Year Interim Plan, UNDAF, National Youth Employment Action Plan and National Youth Policy. The seminar also provided a platform for networking and sharing information among various agencies and individuals working for/with youth. The participants (59 individuals) represented various segments of the society. The seminar was supported by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Pathway to Peace (P2P) 2008-2010: Pathway to Peace was a joint movement of AYON, Youth Initiative, Youth Action Nepal and Search for common Ground which started on 2008 August. AYON played a role in initiating peace dialogue among youth leaders from political, religious, faith based, sports and youth NGOs background to work for national alliance of youth networks in Nepal. Capacity building of youth leaders contributes to problem solving and leads to peace building. The 1^st phase of the programme was concluded in October 2010. This programme was supported by Search for Common Ground and Department of State.

Youth Voices: Grassroots to Constituent Assembly 2009: This campaign aimed to reach more than 10,000 and engage them in constitution building process of Nepal. Launched in March 2009, this campaign covered 11 districts, in partnership with 20 member organizations. The key feature of this campaign was Youth Democracy Dialogues (YDDs) which helped to convene youth together and explore their suggestions and recommendation to constitution drafting committees. The campaign was supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Strengthen of Leadership 2009: It was a regional programme which supports the NGOs to strengthen their leadership capacity. Through a competitive process, AYON was selected for the project in 2009 and participated in "Strengthening of Leadership of CSOs in South Asia: Empowering Key Populations with Higher Risk of HIV Exposure” and organized various programmes on HRP of HIV. This programme was supported by the International Council on Management of Population Programmes (ICOMP) Malaysia/UNAIDS.

National Youth Leaders' Forum 2010: To promote youth leadership in national and local level, AYON, Youth Initiative and Youth Action Nepal in partnership with Search for Common Ground, UNICEF organized National Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF) in March 2010. 310 youth leaders from throughout the country participated in the forum and discussed for the future leadership, current issues and role of youth.

National Youth Policy 2009-2010: AYON organized various talk and interaction programmes to collect feedbacks and challenges in implementation of National Youth Policy 2066 in Dharan, Dang, Chitwan and Kathmandu. The announcement for ‘Call for feedbacks on implementation of NYP’ was announced in Kantipur, Nagarik and Naya Patrika Daily. With Support of UNFPA, AYON organized the 'National Talk Programme on Challenges and Implementation of NYP 2066’ on 27^th Dec 2010. 250 participants including representatives from NGOs, INGOs, UN Agencies, Political parties, youth organizations, schools, colleges, media attended the programme where Minister of Youth and Sports, Honorable Mr. Ganseh Nepali Tiwari was the Chief Guest.

ICPD and WPAY Monitoring 2009-2011: In partnership with UNFPA, AYON has been working on monitoring of implementation of International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and World Programme Action for Youth (WPAY) in Nepal. In 2009, AYON conducted two ‘Training of Trainers’ (ToTs) in Nepalgunj, and also a Master ToT in Kathmandu for the monitors. In 2010, implementation of programmes of Women, Health and Youth in government, non government and private sectors were monitored by AYON’s member organizations in ten districts- Dang, Doti, Dhanusha, Jhapa, Kaski, Kanchanpur, Mahottari, Morang, Sinduli, Udayapur. Stakeholders meeting and Monitoring trainings were also conducted in all ten districts. The Monitoring reports along with recommendations were handed over to UNFPA and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. In 2011, the same project will be executed in 12 new districts.

Youth Responsive Budget 2010: AYON has been collaborating with Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) to advocate and create a framework for Youth Responsive Budget in Nepal. Various consultation meetings with experts, government officials, economists, youth leaders, youths and media were organized in 2010. Suggestions and feedbacks for Youth Responsive Budget were collected to submit to MoYS. UNFPA Nepal supported AYON to conduct the programmes for Youth Responsive Budget.

Youth Leadership Camp 2010: AYON organized two leadership camps in 2010 to promote and foster leadership within youth organizations. Youth leaders from various youth organizations participated in the camp. They learned and shared their leadership, team-building, interpersonal skills and experiences. This programme was supported by UNESCO Korea.

Media Orientation 2010: AYON in association with United Nations Youth Advisory Panel (UNYAP) organized series of meeting with journalists working/writing on youth issues in 2010. AYON organized a two days orientation on youth issues to the media representatives in July 2010. Following the orientation, oriented media representatives has formed Youth Media Group and registered at District Administration Office, Kathmandu. This programme was supported by United Nations Office of Residence Coordination in Nepal.

Policy Advocacy:

AYON has been constantly lobbying, advocating, and campaigning on various youth issues since its inception. It has been closely working with National Planning Commission (NPC), Ministry of Education and Sports (MOEs), other ministries, and bilateral, and multilateral agencies.

International Youth Day:

Every year AYON commemorates the International Youth Day August 12 by bringing together wide spread youth organisations, government agencies and other relevant stakeholders to organise various programs to raise awareness about the day, recognize the contribution of youth in nation building and to create platforms for the youth voices to be heard.

Vision New Nepal:

AYON is part of the Vision New Nepal, which is a citizen led initiative working with a mission "New Nepal in Our Lifetime". It intends to encourage a nation wide dialogue to formulate a broad consensus on the vision on the kind of Nepal do we want to see in next 25-30 year. AYON organise various visioning consultations to bring together the youth visions for a future Nepal.

Youth Participation Guide 2010: In order to increase youth's participation in development, AYON helped its member organizations to conduct pilot projects in Morang, Kaski, Kavre and Lalitpur incorporating Youth Participation Guide. The selected member organizations in these districts completed sample projects in partnership with local government offices. UNFPA Nepal supported AYON for this project in 2010.

Active CitizenS 2009 - 2010: AYON conducted several 'Active Citizen' training programmes in Bhaktapur, Dang, Dhading and Morang in 2009 and 2010. About 700 participants have participated in 'Active Citizen' trainings. The Active Citizens programme of British Council is an experiential learning programme that gives participants the skills and motivation to know themselves, engage in dialogue with others and carry out insightful social action locally and globally. AYON is the national implementing partner of British Council.

Workshop Visit of Governmental Officials from Bangladesh 2010: AYON hosted three government officials from Ministry of Education, Government of Bangladesh and a Programme Associate from UNFPA Bangladesh for five days ‘Workshop on Youth Issues for Policy Makers and Planners’ in December 2010. The workshop was organized by AYON and supported by UNFPA Bangladesh.

Assessment of Status of Youth in Nepal 2010: For the 1^st time in Nepal, Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Planning Commission, Save the Children and AYON conducted a comprehensive assessment on status of Youth in Nepal. 5000 youth surveys were collected in 15 districts including Tarai, Hill, Mountain stretching from East to West through key informant interview and focus group discussion.

Youth Survey 2011: In January 201, youth survey in four districts Rolpa, Kathmandu, Siraha, Bajhang was conducted by AYON in partnership with British Council, Save the Children, and Ministry of Youth and Sports.