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Indian President Launches Free Education Portal A pilot scheme to boost education through a 'one stop education portal' Sakshat, was launched by President APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, in New Delhi. Observing that nearly 10 million youth were injected into the employment market every year, Kalam said the country also needed a large number of talented youth with education for the task of knowledge acquisition, knowledge imparting, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing in the 21st century. "A National Policy for creating a Global Human Development Cadre for India has to emerge," he said at a function to launch the HRD ministry's initiative. Sakshat programme should think of extending the system for providing world class vocational skills to youth for making them internationally competitive, Kalam told the gathering of academics and students. "We have to start right now to realise this goal since the overall time available for such an educational growth is short," he added. Terming Sakshat an impressive engine, the President said, this was of a scale not witnessed so far in India's internet evolution and for this to succeed, the people should get free bandwidth. "What we are starting today by the HRD Ministry is an impressive engine with great potential to change the country and change the way education is imparted," he said, adding it was a mission worthy of India and Indian capabilities and prowess in information and communication technology. Kalam said the university education system in the country produces three million graduates and post graduates every year and the students seeking employment after completion of tenth class and 10 plus two were around seven million a year. Keeping this demand in mind, he said the education system should create two cadres of skills-a global cadre of skilled youth with specific knowledge of special skills and another global cadre of youth with higher education. To a question on poor, rural and intelligent wanting to become President, Kalam said "fix an aim and work hard...do not allow the problem to become your master. You become the master of the problem and succeed." Singh said the portal would be one of the important pillars of the National Mission on Education during the 11th Five Year plan. Lauding the project, Singh reiterated UPA government's commitment to ensure that no person was deprived of education on economic or social reasons. (Source: Nilay Ranjan/The Hindustan Times) Development for Next Generation: WDR 07 launch in India The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt of India and World Bank, India office jointly organized the Seminar on World Development Report 2007 Development for Next Generation. The purpose of the event was to disseminate the finding of the report and discuss the importance of the messages of the Report for the youth development in India. Hon. Minister for Youth Affairs and Sport, Govt of India Mr Mani Shanker Aiyar was critical on the WDR and refused to accept as it is. He expressed his concern about the report finding and recommendations in detail while addressing the seminar. Speaking about the Youth in India - he called upon making youth as a center of development and involving youth at the grass root level. He said that 'choice is either you take advantage or suffer its consequences'. Minister further comment, reforms should be with human face and labour get getting maximum wages and labour intensive technology should be promoted. The investments should lead to more employment. About the HIV/AIDS, Mr Aiyar said it is important health concern but in India 'drug abuse' is the major burning issue and youth should be provided with the more opportunities to use their energy creatively. In this context he said that sports and games play an important role. Earlier, Mr Francois J. Bourguignon, Sr Vice President and Chief Economist, World Bank was made a presentation on Report, it finding and recommendations. Mr Madhukar Gupta, Secretary, and Ministry of Youth delivered the welcome address. The event was held on 13 November 2006 in New Delhi to launch the WDR 2007 but in reality the report launch never took off, the presentation made during the seminar was also in bits and pieces. The World Bank in the past few years took initiative in involving youth. But halfhearted involvement of Youth Organizations in the preparation of the report leaves a big question mark on implementation of the recommendations of the report. The current world development report widely used the network but it has failed to recognize the role of youth organization and their contribution. Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Young Disabled Voices in the UN Convention The eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee finalized the first-ever treaty on the 'Rights of Persons with Disabilities' on 25 August 2006. Young people participated in the process and also conducted a side-event at the session. The event helped bring to the session the concerns and voices of disabled youth who had met earlier in 12 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. They discussed their national challenges as disabled youth and the impact that the Convention could have on their lives. National representatives presented reports from the focus group discussions in their countries and highlighted issues they expect their Governments and the Convention will address. For more information log on http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable Young Decision Makers Conference held The Young Decision Makers Conference was organized as a side event of Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) in Helsinki, Finland from September 7-8, 2006. The Family Federation of Finland, in cooperation with the IEPFPD, organized the Conference. Around 40 young ((below the age of 35) parliamentarians and decision-makers from Asia and Europe attended the conference. UNODC Monitoring and Evaluating A handbook from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, on preventing substance abuse among youth with the participation of youth has been developed on the basis of discussions of academic research and the experience of practitioners and youth. It is intended for those youth groups and community-based organizations who want to improve the monitoring and evaluation of their drug and substance abuse prevention programmes. Why are monitoring and evaluation important? How can we monitor and evaluate our programmes in feasible and effective way? For more information log on http://www.unodc.org/youthnet Vikram & Gautam Honoured with Youth Action Net Award Twenty three year old Vikram Laishram from Uripok is among 20 "dynamic leaders" from 16 countries awarded with this year's Youth Action Net Award conferred by International Youth Foundation and Nokia. Gautam Gupta of Delhi is the second Indian honoured with the prestigious award. In addition to the 20 youths getting cash award of 500 US dollars each, they also took part in a week-long special skill-building workshop held at Washington DC under the sponsorship of the two groups. During the workshop that concluded on November 18 the awardees shared their experiences on different issues relevant to youth and drug abuse. Vikram, who founded a project christened "Better treatment equals better life" to improve health of the Manipuri people where cases of drug addiction is among the highest in the country, is currently working here as a regional focal point for south Asia under a New York based group - Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS. "The Washington meet was awe-inspiring and from it I've learnt lots of innovative ideas to fight drug abuse amongst the youth and HIV/AIDS infection," Vikram who arrived here yesterday said. (Source: Joya Banerjee/GYCA) Preparation of World Youth Report 2007 Underway The World Youth Report 2007 (WYR07) will examine the challenges and opportunities existing for the roughly 1.2 billion youth between the ages of 15 and 24 in the world. Distinct from the 2003 and 2005 editions, it will provide a regional overview summarizing the major youth development issues in the fifteen priority areas of the World Programme of Action for Youth, including employment, education, health, poverty and violence. Simultaneously, it will highlight youth as a positive force for development and provide recommendations for supporting their essential contributions to national and global development. The WYR07 is expected to launched next year. For updates on the launch, please see: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/wyr07.htm Report on Youth Employment and the Sports Sector In many parts of the world, sport has proven to be a powerful tool to promote education, health, development and peace. "Beyond the Scoreboard: Youth employment opportunities and skills development in the sports sector" focuses on sports' vital role in the social development and employability of young people. Offering insightful research from leading experts in the international, governmental and academic communities, it presents a comprehensive collection that examines how youth leadership and skills development can be fostered through sports today. It considers what sport means for social and economic development and how it can be an innovative method of drawing attention to issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention and the reduction of violence and poverty. Case studies and examples from Europe, the United States, East Africa, Latin America and Asia are presented, revealing how the sports sector often acts as a vehicle between local and global markets. For more information log on http://www.ilo.org/publns More Opportunities for Young European People with the New Youth in Action Programme The European Parliament adopted the new "Youth in Action" programme on October 25, 2006. The European Commissioner Ján Figel' said that "this new programme aims at encouraging young people to work together to acquire new skills through non-formal education activities, for a common project, for the defence of cultures, for a future of prosperity, understanding and peace. It fosters the idea of belonging to the European Union, and promotes social cohesion and intercultural dialogue, both inside and outside Europe." Under the new programme during the year 2007 - 2013, funding support will be given various projects and participation is open to a wide range of young people, (between 15 and 28 years and, in some cases, between 13 and 30), from European Union and beyond. Sexual, Reproductive Health Declining The World Health Organization (WHO) says inadequate attention to sexual and reproductive health has caused an increase in disabilities and death. The report to appear in the British medical journal Lancet shows there has been declining financial support, increased political interference and an overall reluctance to tackle threats to sexual and reproductive health. The study says the findings reveal a picture of growing unmet needs and neglect and a decline in money spent on education, family planning and preventive measures. 59th Annual DPI/NGO Conference concludes More than 2,000 representatives from non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other civil society partners from more than 90 countries gathered at the United Nations in USA from September 6 - 8, 2006, to discuss ways and means for strengthening collaboration between local communities and global institutions. They met during the 59th Annual DPI/NGO Conference, entitled Unfinished Business: Effective Partnerships for Human Security and Sustainable Development. To ensure the widest possible exchange of views and experiences, all NGO delegations included one representative under the age of 30. As an annual three-day meeting-taking place on the eve of the opening of the General Assembly, the Conference has become an established forum for networking and exchange of views, opinions, expertise and best-practices on relevant issues. Tribal Demanding Land Rights Put-in-Jail in False Case The Tribal activists of Ekta Parishad (eight including three young women) arrested by Madhya Pradesh (MP) Police while they attending the annual warship of 'Tree god'. During the festival they discussed their social problems, the basic rights including the 'Land'. The local Forest Department arrested him handed over to Sagar District of MP on 14th November 2006 with the charges of anti-national activities. These were amongs the 1000 tribal from Yamanpur and surrounding dozen villages had gathered for annual worship. According to National Convener of Ekta Parishad (organization working for livelihood rights of tribal people), Dr Ran Singh Parmar, Forest Department singled out the workers of 'Ekta Parishad' intentionally and preplanned manner from the crowd and charged them of holding secrete meetings, distributing anti-national pamphlets, cutting trees and instigating the tribal against the state (locally termed as Raj droha). More interesting, the department and the district administration have branded the Gandhian movement of Ekta Parishad as Naxal movement as reported in some of the local news- papers. The arrested tribal activists who placed in Sagar jail were sit on Satyagraha (a non-violent protest) against false case and the injustice meted out to them by various authorities. In first hearing in court granted the bail to these activists. Youth Camp: Right to Information for Transparency for Rural Employment Guarantee for Poverty Alleviation A National Rural Employment Guarantee Awareness Camp was conducted in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, a NREGA District in India, on Nov. 11, 2006, to review the status of implementation of various schemes to sensitise the citizens' on the use of Right to Information Act, for poverty alleviation. The camp was conducted under the banner of Right to Food Campaign, an association of over 200 activists, including Self Help Group Members and Civil Society Organizations, led by Human Rights Law Network, to empower the rural citizens. 60 activists, consisting of equal number of deprived men and women attended. Many suggestions were made towards introducing transparency and accountability in the working of the various schemes. The camp helped the participants to understand and appreciate the various dimensions of implementation of such welfare schemes in their true perspective. Indian President Advises Parliamentarians on HIV/AIDS Discrimination Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, while addressing both houses of Parliament of India on World AIDS Day on December 1, narrated two heart-touching stories about his experiences with AIDS-affected children and other people. He advised parliamentarians to take up the issue of discrimination seriously. He also urged them to consider taking up control and prevention of HIV/AIDS from their constituency within the next five years as an important mission. The occurrence of HIV is found to be 32 percent among youth in the age group of 15-29 years and 40 percent of them are women. Considering this situation, the parliamentarians could create an organized awareness campaign among all rural youth and women in their constituency for enabling prevention of infection among this population through a well-organized prevention programme, he said. He added that creating a mechanism in partnership with societal organizations, medical institutions and Government for testing blood for any contamination and ensuring that contaminated blood is not stored in any blood banks in their constituency. Kabul Declaration: New Commitments Made to Reduce Infant Mortality in South Asia Over 3.7 million children die every year in South Asia before they reach five years of age. Of these, 2.2 million children die before they reach their first birthday. Such an enormous number of children dying annually, demands that strategies be devised to rapidly reduce these numbers, not just to meet the millennium development goals, but also to ensure the basic human right of children to survival. The State of the World's Breastfeeding - South Asia Report Card, released in Kabul on 20th November at the inauguration of the South Asia Breastfeeding Forum-3. The Report Card assesses and rates the practices, policy and programmes related to Infant and Young Child Feeding in eight countries of the region, and rank them on their performance in promoting IYCF. The Report Card reveals that the region has barely reached the halfway mark in creating the enabling environment for optimal infant and young child nutrition. Sri Lanka is closest to the half way mark, followed by Bangladesh. Evidence has shown that under nutrition among infants underlies the majority of deaths, making optimal infant and young child feeding crucial to any strategy to reduce child mortality. As most of the deaths occur in the first year of life, optimal IYCF in this period rests on early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for two years and beyond with introduction of adequate and appropriate complementary foods from six months onward. New research has shown for the first time that starting to breastfeed immediately after birth significantly increases the chances of survival of babies. If mothers start breastfeeding within one hour of birth, 22% of babies who die in the first 28 days, the equivalent to almost one million newborn children each year, could be saved. If breastfeeding starts on the first day then 16% of lives could be saved. For more information log on www.ibfan-asiapacific.org Incoming Events: UNEP Global Youth Retreat at Governing Council The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Youth Retreat will be held from February 1-4, 2007 in conjunction with the UNEP Governing Council session. The Retreat brings together approximately 50 youth leaders including the Tunza Youth Advisory Councilto review UNEP Governing Council documents and prepare youth inputs to the Governing Council. In addition, the Retreat provides an opportunity for participants to review UNEP's activities with young people and makes suggestions on how to better engage youth in environmental issues. For more information, contact children.youth@unep,org UNEP International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment is an annual competition for children from ages 6 to 14 years by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment, Bayer and Nikon Corporation. It aims to give children an opportunity to express their concerns and dreams for the environment. The theme of this year's competition is "Climate Change" and the deadline for submission of paintings is 31 December 2006. Winners of the competition will be invited to the World Environment Day Celebrations in Tromso, Norway on 5 June 2007 and will receive cash prizes of $2,000 for the top global winner and $1,000 for each of the 6 regional winners. More information on this Competition can be found on: http://www.unep.org/Tunza/paintcomp/ 7th MIYD 7th Melaka International Youth Dialogue (MIYD) will be held form June 25-27, 2007, in Melaka, Malaysia. World Assembly of Youth will organize the event. The theme for this MIYD will be "Youth Business and International Trade". Oxfam International Youth Partnerships 2007-2010 Oxfam International Youth Partnerships is a global network of young people working with their communities to create positive, equitable and sustainable change. If you are aged 18-25 and working with your community to create a positive future then you can apply to be a part of the Oxfam International Youth Partnerships. Between 2007 and 2010 you will have opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and understanding and to talk and share with other young people. Applications Deadline: 31 January 2007. For more information, log on 18th Annual National Service-Learning Conference The National Service-Learning Conference is the largest gathering of young people and adults involved in the service-learning movement. This year's conference focuses on service-learning as a way of teaching and learning that builds academic skills and citizenship while addressing community needs in a genuine way. It convenes teachers, administrators, researchers, policy-makers, youth leaders and other service-learning practitioners. The conference will held in New Maxico from March 28-31, 2007. For more information log on https://programs.regweb.com/metro/NYLC2007/registration/ Next World Social Forum will be held in Kenya The World Social Forum International Council in its meeting held in Parma, Italy, from 10-12 October 2006 have advanced in the preparation for the next edition of World Social Forum, be held in Nairobi, 20-25 January 2007. Acknowledgement The ICYO secretariat has received following publications which is very useful for our documentation, research work and planning of activities. We extended thanks ICYO network to all the organizations those provide us these valuable publications/reports etc. 1. AHRNews - Published by: Asian Harm Reduction Network, Thailand; No41 June- September 2006. 2. Advocacy Internet- Published by National Centre for Advocacy Studies, Pune; Vol 8: Issue No. 03. 3. Asian Forum Newsletters - Published by: AFPPD, Bangkok, Thailand 4. Behond Borders Newsletter- Published by Beyond Borders Inc, Canada; Fall 2006. 5. CASA Programme Report 2005-2006 -Published by: Church's Auxiliary for Social Action, New Delhi, India. 6. CRIN Membership Directory 2006 - Published by: Child Rights Information Network, UK 7. Defenders-Published by the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODW), Iran, Winter-Spring 2005/2006. 8. Go Between and NGLs Roundup - Published by: NGLS, Geneva, Switzerland; April - July 2006 9. IAPPD Newsletter - Published by: IAPPD, New Delhi. 10. Info Report- Published by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA 11. Neeti Marg - Published by: Samvad, Bhopal; every fortnight. 12. One Country, Newsletter, Published by: Baha'i International Community, New York, USA: April -June 2006 13. Partners: Annual Report 2005- Published by Partners in Population and Development (PPD), Dhaka, Bangladesh 14. Perspectives: Children and drugs - Published by UN office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria; No. 1, 2006. 15. Population Reports - Published by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA; Nov.-Dec. 2006. 16. Sankalp Newsletter -Published by: International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in India, New Delhi; Sept - Oct 2006. 17. The HVP Herald - Published by Hindu Vidyapeeth, Nepal; Sept. 2006. 18. The Population Challenges in Asia By Jyoti Shanker Singh. 19. The World of Parliaments- Published by: Inter-Parliamentary Union, Geneva, Switzerland; Oct. 2006. 20. UNews - Published by: UN Information Centre, New Delhi, India; October 2006; Nov. 2006. 21. V.Y.K Newsletter - Published by: V.Y.K International Youth Centre, New Delhi; July 2006. 22. Voice of the Voiceless - Published by Natsap, AP; September 2006 and October 2006. 23. World Bank In India - Magazine Published by: WORLD BANK, New Delhi, India; Nov. 2006. 24. Youth of India (Newsletter) - Published by: National Council of YMCAs of India, New Delhi; Sept. 2006. 25. Youth Culture - Published by National Youth Project, New Delhi. 26. Yuvahit - Published by: Print Impression, Pune, India; October 2006. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Youth Information is published by Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO) 194-A, Arjun Nagar, Safdarjang Enclave New Delhi 110029, India Phone: 91 9811729093 / 91 11 26183978 Fax 91 11 26198423 Email: icyoindia@gmail.com / icyo@icyo-india.org Web: www.icyo.in =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO) is a registered non-profit, non-governmental network organization, committed in developing areas of mutual cooperation and understanding among different youth voluntary agencies, youth groups, clubs and individuals working in the field of youth welfare in India. ICYO functions as an umbrella organization of youth NGOs in India. It's family consists of Our goal: Affiliation: Consultative (Roster) Status with ECOSOC, United Nations;
Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Programmes
over 356 organizations spread in 122 districts of 22 states from different corners of India.
To improve and extend the youth work and services through Youth Organizations;
To enhance and demonstrate youth work in the society;
To promote effective youth programmmes;
To organize network of civil society organizations working towards the development of youth work;
To organize seminars, conferences, workshops, trainings;
To maintain international relation with organizations promoting young people in their programmes and activities
Consultative Status with Commission on Sustainable Development;
Full Member of World Assembly of Youth (WAY); Asian Youth Council (AYC);
Youth for Habitat International Network (YFHIN); CRIN, South Asia Youth
Environment Network (SAYEN), Affiliate group of ECPAT International, Thailand;
ATSECE-DELHI, Indian Partner of AIDS Care Watch Campaign;
Steering Committee member of World Bank's YDP Network;
Working relation with Indian Association of Parliamentarians (IAPPD);
International Medical Parliamentarians Organizations (IMPO);
Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD);
World Youth Foundation, Malaysia.