LAUNCHING OF FIRST YOUTH SERVICE PROGRAM IN KASHMIR

YES Network Pakistan/Pakistan National Youth Service (PNYS) has launched first youth service program in Kashmir to engage local young people in community building process and relief activities in earthquake affected communities as well as to promote social entrepreneurship among young people. This project has been started in collaboration with AJWS to provide services to hard-to-reach and ignored segments of population living in earthquake affected communities.

We started the project activities by identifying disadvantaged and deprived communities. It was observed that many communities located at a very high altitude in Kashmir have been very badly affected by the earthquake. There is hardly any service delivery mechanism left for meeting the needs of the local communities. In view of this, we have launched first youth service project in these communities. The crux of the project is to primarily focus on training and engaging indigenous youth (especially female youth who are socially excluded) to take a lead role in re-building lives and livelihood. It is observed that local youth especially female youth is currently socially excluded in the reconstruction activities. They provide a huge untapped resource. They will be involved in multifarious activities such as providing counseling services, first aid, skill building opportunities, setting up non-formal schools and after school programs for a wide range of audiences including children, girls, senior citizens and women. They will offer these services through community-based service centers.

We have started the activities by sensitizing local communities in three major areas of Kashmir (Bagh, Dheerkot and Muzaffrabad) about the significance of involving and enabling young people in meeting high service needs of the society and promoting social entrepreneurial spirit among young people for re-construction of their communities. Several open sessions were held with community members to seek their approval and clarify doubts about the program. Our past and current activities helped us to build confidence and environment of trust in earthquake affected communities for the involvement of local youth especially female youth in relief activities. We are in the process of establishing eight functional committees of youth service volunteers in the identified areas. Functional committee is a basic unit of YES Network Pakistan/PNYS at grassroots level and it is a body of not less than 15 and more than 25 young members. The Functional committee members participate in all areas of youth service programming. Recently, we organized an oath taking ceremony at one of its locations for its two functional committees of youth service volunteers. During the oath taking ceremony young boys and girls pledged to dedicate one year for community service (minimum 24 hours per week) without any discrimination on the basis of religion, color, creed and sex.