National Youth Conference

National Youth Conference Ministry of Youth Affairs (MOYA), in collaboration with International Labour Organization (ILO) organized a National Youth Conference on June 23rd, 2010 at Margalla hotel, Islamabad to provide a platform for young women and men representing urban and rural areas across the country – to articulate their views on policies and programmes that affect their productivity. This forum provided an opportunity to foster a sense of national integration and harmony among the youth and a direction to the policy-makers on designing policies/programs focusing on entrepreneurship development while fostering gender-equality for young women and men. The Conference aimed at achieving the fol-lowing major objectives: • Providing a forum to young women and men to learn about gender gaps and available opportunities of en-trepreneurship in the country; • Highlighting the on-going programs of the government and other agencies focusing on entrepreneurship de-velopment of Pakistani youth; • Recognizing the achievements of young women and men who have excelled in various fields while setting example for their young counterparts; A few Role Models representing various fields were invited to share their experiences and provide direction towards gainful opportunities; • Paving way for mentoring of youth: providing an opportunity to young women and men to hold constructive and interactive dialogue with the senior policy- makers from the concerned Ministries of the Federal Governments, the UN Agencies and the Donor Community in Islamabad. More than 300 young women and men between the ages of 15-29 years from rural and urban areas, across Pakistan participated in the Conference. MOYA has collaborated with various organizations working with youth to select and invite young women and men on the event. Besides this 10 presenters were there who has shared their success stories with participants which was really beneficial and interesting. All the participants displayed their creative work on the stalls provided to them. Chief Guest was Mr. Shahid Hussain Bhutto, Minister for Youth Affairs and panel of res-pected guests included Mian Muhammad Ayub, Advisor to Prime Minister for Youth Affairs, Mr. Ali Mardan, Advisor to Minister for Youth Affairs, Mr. Pir Bux Jandaan, DS. for Youth Affairs and Margaret Reade Rounds Oficer Incharge International Labour Organization. The Conference seeks to inform young women and men about gainful opportunities of entre-preneurship in the country. The conference facilitated the youth to enhance their employability through benefiting from existing opportunities thus leading to decent employment.

Curtain Raiser  There has been a pressing requirement for the promotion of the involvement of volunteers in social development, taking into account the views of all stakeholders, to develop comprehensive strategies and programs by raising public awareness about the value and opportunities of volunteerism and by facilitating an enabling environment for individuals and other actors of civil society to engage in voluntary activities, and the private sector to support such activities. The Government of Pakistan through its apex voluntary body, National volunteer Movement (NVM) shall organize a series of 5-day regional level activities at Four provincial Capitals and AJK for raising awareness about volunteering, showcasing the potential of volunteering potential for community development and sharing volunteering practices and experiences of volunteers and volunteering involving organizations. During the weeklong events, NVM would be holding exclusively focused workshops with Media, Government Departments, Corporate Sector and Civil Society and side by side, NVM would be organizing campaigns through volunteers for road safety, traffic awareness and sustainable development (plantation and cleanliness). Moreover, NVM would also be simultaneously holding speech and essay competitions in major educational institutions culminating in a final contests and awards distribution. On the concluding and final day of activities we plan to hold a National Volunteering Policy Dialogue with regional stakeholders to obtain valuable input and viewpoint of stakeholders for developing a National Volunteering Policy. These events would be inaugurated on 24th May 2010 at Lahore. Another important part of these activities is a unique awareness raising initiative about Millennium Development Goals through Millennium Candlelight Campaign in collaboration with Civil Society Organization. This would serve as an opportunity to remind all the stakeholders about the need and urge for concerned efforts to achieve the MDGs targets. An effort is also being made to reward and recognize the services of outstanding volunteers and voluntary service providing organization during the concluding ceremony of this workshop. One of the most important components of these activities is holding of a policy dialogues with stakeholders. Government of Pakistan in order to develop a comprehensive national volunteering policy is starting a collaborative multilevel process. In this process, the NVM will involve representation from all provinces, areas of interest and concerns and from different walks of life. First such workshop will be held on 28th May at Lahore. Similar weekly activities would be undertaken in four other provincial capitals and they would culminate in a National Volunteer Convention around the 14th August wherein National Volunteering Policy would be launched. This is also precursor to the year long activities culminating on December 2011 which is being marked by United Nations as a International Year of Volunteer 2001+10 (IVY+10) recognizing ever growing realization at the level of Governments world over about role of volunteers and voluntary efforts towards communities, peace building and sustainable development especially achievement of MDGs.

First NVM trainer of Trainers (TOT) On volunteer program development Management started today on 5th April, 2010 at NVM office, Islamabad. This training will continue till 10th April, 2010. Main objective is to promote volunteerism in the country. Federal Minister for Youth Affairs and Chairman NVM Mr. Shahid HussainNVM wants to train volunteers in their native areas so that they could prove to be more helpful for their own community.  This training will be held in all provinces.

Training detail.      OBJECTIVES Having a pool of 30 master trainers through out the country; Further training of 3600 staff/volunteers during next 3 years (120 trainees by each Master trainer every year). Retention and Engagement of Master Trainers with NVM for three years:- Signing agreement with NVM to be enrolled and certified NVM Master trainers; Agree to provide 12 such training in next three years free of cost to NVM’s selected staff and volunteers any where in Pakistan; NVM to provide lump sum Training free of Rs. 15,000 for six day training to Master Trainers; 2.       TRAINING MODULE The training should be designed to focus on issues and approaches in Managing Volunteers. This would be a six day training as detailed below:- Day 1:    VMS (Volunteer Management System) Benchmarking Day 2:   Placement development Day 3:   Volunteer Recruitment and selection Day 4:   Support for Volunteer Day 5:   Placement monitoring and evaluation Day 6:    Agreement signing and Certificate Distribution Ceremony 3.       VENUE           Training will be imparted at NVM offices. Accommodation for Master Trainers & outstation trainees (twin sharing basis) at Youth Hostel Islamabad. Re-imbursement of road/rail fare on actual basis. Daily Allowance of Rs. 500 for trainees. 4.       TRAINEES           a.       Composition:-           i.        NVM Staff                6           ii.       Punjab Region           4           iii.      Sind Region               4           iv.      NWFP Region            4           v.      Balochistan Region     4           vi.      AJK                         2           vii.     Northern Areas          2           viii      FATA                      2           ix.      ICT                         2                     b,       Criteria for Master Trainees:- Having a minimum of Graduation level qualifications Preference for NVM registered Volunteers Preference for youth aged upto 35 years Ensuring gender balance from each region as far as possible 5.       SCHEDULE           Starting from Monday 5 April 2010 and ending on Saturday 10 April 2010.

Farewell Ceremony of Secretary Youth Affairs A farewell party was arranged in honor of Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Mr. Nazar Hussain Mahar, who retired today on 31st March, 2010. Beside Officials of the Ministry some guests from partner organizations also attended the ceremony. Participants highly appreciated the efforts of Mr. Nazar Hussain Mahar in boosting the cooperation with Partner Organization and Civil Society Organization to implement National Youth Policy matters. Speaking at the occasion Minister for Youth Affairs, Mr. Shahid Hussain Bhutto appreciated his services for the Ministry. He expressed his sincere desires for his future. He further added that during his stay he not only brought up the moral of the staff but developed an interest for hardship and enthusiasm for serving the nation. Honesty, punctuality and devotion with duty have been his objectives. He appreciated his efforts for upbringing the annoyed and deprived youth specially living in the remote areas. Mr. Nazar Hussain Mahar, started his early education at DG High School, Nawab Shah. In March, 1979 after passing CSS exam he joined civil services of Pakistan and was initiall appointed as Assistant Commissioner, Mehar, Umerkot. During 1985-1989 he served as Deputy Commissioner at Sukkur, Snaghar and Dadu. He also spent some time as Commercial Counsellor at Pakistan Embassy, Moscow, Russia. Before appointment as Secretary Youth Affairs he was serving as Additional Chief Secretary (Development), Government of Sindh, Karachi. He was a committed person with passion to work hard. Review of Media Policy including Radio Program A meeting to review Media Policy and Radio Program “Hum Nojawan” was held in the office to Secretary (MoYA) under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs. Secretary Youth Affairs showed his dissatisfaction on the existing status of Media Policy and Radio Program. He directed the concerned to expedite the launching of TV program of the Ministry and suggested to improve the status of radio program to make it more interesting and useful for the youth.

Annual Work Plan signed with UNFPA Ministry of Youth Affairs and UNFPA signed a Annual Work Plan to cooperate and approve activities on youth related interventions which include Youth Activity center and supporting community in launching youth related activities.

Meeting Regarding Execution Of Computer Awareness Programme A meeting was held in the Secretary office, Ministry of Youth Affairs, on 29th March 2010 to discuss the execution of Mobile Computer Awareness Program through public-private partnership. The Secretary Youth Affairs briefed about the project and raised the matter that how the Computer Training Program should be executed in a smooth and efficient way. The representative from the PPAF proposed that they are ready to operate/execute the training program in collaboration with the M/O Youth Affairs. Secretary, Youth Affairs highly appreciated the proposal and suggested that why not sign MOU between MoYA and PPAF to execute the project at the earliest. The representative of PPAF also briefed that PPAF is starting a Business Development Program. It was decided that PPAF will submit formal proposal to Ministry for further consideration. School of Leadership A delegation under the leadership of Ms. Saima Khan COO, School of Leadership visited Ministry of Youth Affairs on 27th March, 2010, and had a meeting with Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs. Ms. Saima Khan briefed about the achievements and other activities of her organization. She showed her interest and cooperation in youth related interventions being held under Ministry’s programs. Secretary, Youth Affairs  welcomed proposals/ suggestion /specific interventions that SOL could suggest. Meeting with WFP A delegation of WFP under the leadership of Yvonne Bogaarts, Head Advocacy Department, visited the Ministry of Youth Affairs on 25th March 2010, to have discussion on youth related issues. Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs briefed the delegation about the youth related intervention of the Ministry, which include focus on adolescents. He informed that Ministry has already planned to develop more than 100 youth centers at district level. Youth development centers are important source of bringing youth close. He further added that development partners Ministry has already planned to utilize fresh minds through its National Internship Prorgam, under which so far more then 44000 interns have been placed in different governments sectors and intend to expand program in collaboration with private sector. Civil society organizations could be good windows of opportunity for the youth. Delegation appreciated Ministry’s working most specially it website is more interactive and up to date. Yvonne Bogaarts indicated the importance of youth and stressed that it is right time to invest on youth in order to create awareness for making them capable of taking right decisions. Looking at the demographic figure of Pakistan, much of the population is below 25. She appreciated the development of Youth centers for providing support in life skills. It was decided that WFP to propose a design of model program based on successful model in the world.

Visit of Former Ambassador Mr. Iftikhar Arian former ambassador of Pakistan in Kenya visited Ministry of Youth Affairs and discussed the issues of mutual interest. Mr. Arian has remained ambassador of Pakistan in Kenya from 2006 to 2009.

Meeting Regarding Execution Of Computer Awareness Programme A meeting was held in the committee room of the Ministry of Youth Affairs, on 13th March 2010 to discuss the proposals for the Execution of Mobile Computer Awareness Programme through public-private partnership. 1.         The Sr. Joint Secretary chairs the meeting and asked the participants to introduce themselves and present their proposals. The representatives of the organizations brief about their organizations. 2.         The representatives/committee members from UNFPA and PPAF to shortlist the organization also put interesting questions the respective organization members about their proposal and operation of the project. 3.         Sr. Joint Secretary proposed that the teachers should be trained so that they can further train the youth. Ms. Sadia Atta from UNFPA proposed that this project should be integrated with the Youth Activity Centre so that it could be operated on a wider and broader level. All the committee members including SJS appreciated the idea. 4.         It was finally decided that m/o YA will conduct a meeting in which Ms. Sadia from UNFPA will present a comprehensive proposal/presentation to execute this project and integrate it with Youth Activity Centres and other awareness programmes. SJS also suggested that we should collaborate with m/o IT, Social Welfare, Education, NAVTEC and other stake holders to work mutually. 5.         The meeting ended with the vote of thanks to and from the chair.

Meeting of Committee to scrutinize the Proposals from Civil Society on Partnership Basis Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of Pakistan under the National Youth policy and Rule of Business 1973 has mandated to facilitate and support all aspects of youth activities. In this context Proposals from different organizations, institutions and civil society were invited for partnership. In response 82 proposals were received which were shortlisted to 36 after initial assessment by assessment committee. In order to scrutinize and select the best proposals for partnership, Assessment Committee invited 18 participants on 11th March, 2010 in the Ministry to present their proposals. Participants presented their plan of action. Committee analyzed the presentation and expressed their observations. Next session was  held on 12th March 2010 in which remaining participants presented there proposals. The Scrutinizing committee consists of following members. 1 Sardar Najamus Saqib Civil Society Organization Islamabad. Chairman 2 Mian Waqas Masood Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry I & T Center, Islamabad Member 3 Sardar Usman Rasheed Vice President SME Bank, Islamabad Member 4 Tariq Sadiq Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry I & T Center, Islamabad Member 5 Ayesha Amina Askari Program Officer NRSP, Islamabad Member 6 Muhammad Abbas Khan Deputy Secretary (Admn) M/o Youth Affairs, Islamabad. Member View the list of Organizations

Conference on Population Peace & Development 10th Annual Population Research Conference on Population Peace & Development was held at COMSTECH Islamabad. Conference was chaired by Secretary Youth Affairs. Speakers from Civil Society and universities presented their research and welfare activities performed for the empowerment of youth. Main issues under discussion were poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, intolerance, denial of fundamental rights and extremism among youth. Participants emphasized for the need of counseling services at university level as this is already a part of National Youth Policy. Secretary Youth Affairs while addressing the conference expressed his concerns that 50% of our children are not going to school and almost same ratio of our women are not getting jobs and proper education. He welcomed proposals from civil society regarding youth related activities. Talking about counseling services he said that universities can coordinate with donor organizations and Ministry will definitely play its positive role in this regards. He said that let Pakistani students be exposed to the world. Our youth has played very constructive role in strengthening democracy in country. We need to work for peace and gender balance in the country. The seminar was organized by Pakistan Population Council in collaboration with Fatima Jinnah Women University.

7th Meeting of the Board of Directors of NVM The 7th meeting of the Board of Directors of National Volunteer Movement was held at NVM headquarters which was presided by Mr. Shahid Hussain Bhutto, Minister for Youth Affairs and Chairman of NVM. The board discussed national plan of action for volunteerism, extension of Board of Directors of NVM, The Audit Reports and Budget of NVM. The board agreed to expand the activities of Volunteers in the country and decided to prepare the volunteerism policy, action plan and law to regulate & coordinate the activities regarding volunteerism. It was also decided to move a case to government to seek more financial support so that volunteer activities are expanded in partnership with civil society organizations. The board also recommended cutting down the expenses on salary and administration so that more resources be diverted to development related activities.