“Any country’s greatest asset is the energy, ideas and vision of its young people. As young people build their own futures, they’ll build India’s future. Investing in them is the best investment India can make.” ...UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore
In 2018, NITI Aayog organised National Youth Consultations in India, hearing from more than 250 young people from six states, about their dreams and aspirations, concerns and worries for the future – as well as the solutions they would like to see. These consultations informed the strategy that has led to the launch of YuWaah! in India on Nov 1 in New Delhi by the union minister for Women and Children’s Development, Smriti Irani along with an alliance of national and international partners. The new multi-stakeholder national initiative aims to transform education, skilling and employment in the youth age group of 10-24, which are estimated be 300 million strong people.
Under this initiative supported by UNICEF, by 2030 India expects to work with private sector to build pathways to aspirational economic opportunities for 50 million young women and 50 million young men through a focus on job matching and mass entrepreneurship as also facilitate 200 million young women and men to gain relevant skills for productive lives and the future of work, through a focus on career counselling, 21st Century skills, quality internships and apprenticeships.
A strategic partnership with over 30 partners was established at the launch, to shape the next steps for YuWaah! in India. Ms. Fore also announced that UNICEF will support the start-up of the YuWaah! Secretariat, supporting partners to work together to scale up engagement with young people for solutions.
Sending his strong support to the YuWaah! partners for the launch, Prime Minister Modi said in a letter, “YuWaah’ – the Generation Unlimited partnership, will go a long way in empowering our youth to acquire skills to enhance their creativity and potential to build the new India of the 21st Century. I am sure that this partnership will make our youth the harbingers of social change.”
Speaking at the launch Irani said the Government is determined to lead in making YuWaah! a transformational alliance that brings a national step change in preparing young people for the transition from education to 21st century work.
Participants visited the interactive “Solutions Café”, an exhibition by young people sharing their innovative ideas for developing skills, accessing employment and being engaged citizens and active change-makers in society.
Minister Irani and Executive Director Fore also launched a special “U-Report” digital survey, aimed at listening to and engaging youth throughout the country to ensure that their voices and solutions shape the actions of YuWaah! partners.
The National Youth Challenge was also launched – kicking of the YuWaah! alliance’s activities. Mr. Pravin Dhanawade, a youth leader, and Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog) jointly launched the Youth Challenge to engage young women and men across the country to share solutions which will:
- Promote formal or informal education experiences that build skills young people need for productive lives and the future of work.
- Improve connections between young people and existing work opportunities.
- Promote equitable access to quality education, training, employment, entrepreneurship and civic participation.
Partners in the YuWaah! alliance will support the best ideas to scale up
solutions. Over 250 existing solutions for expanding young people’s
opportunities in skill development, learning, employment, entrepreneurship and
civic engagement have already been mapped. Further to this, a ‘call for
solutions’ was launched to fill gaps and strengthen collaboration among
organizations and young people.
“YuWaah! belongs to you – just as the future of India belongs to you. So help us think big. Be bold. Your generation can be the one that changes the course of the country. That sparks innovation and economic growth, creating the jobs of tomorrow. And the prosperity that India needs to support its growing population. Today your country needs you. The partners here today are standing with you, to invest in ideas and solutions that support you.”
