Dr. Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA delivered a Key note address in the National Conference on Adult Education held from 24-25 September 2014 at Tashkent. He spoke on Youth and Inclusive Citizenship: Challenges and Opportunities

1. Participatory Research in Asia
Youth and
Inclusive
Citizenship:
Challenges and
Opportunities
Dr. Rajesh Tandon
M A K I N G D E M O C R A C Y W O R K F O R A L L
Presentation made at
National Conference on Adult Education in
Uzbekistan: Reforms and Perspectives
24-25 September 2014, Tashkent

2. Youth in Asia Pacific
• Asia Pacific witnessing an
important demographic shift
• Youngest region in the world
• 60% of the world’s youth (15-14
years) reside here
• 1 in 4 lives in South Asia
• 1 in 5 is an adolescent living in SE
Asia
• In India, the median age today is
24 years
• Will this demographic dividend
be a harvest or is it a ticking time
bomb?

3. Challenges for Youth Inclusion
• How to ensure the demographic dividend will yield a
rich harvest?
• Common identity of citizenship is relationship between
individual and the state; conferred by the state: Vertical
citizenship
• Citizens equally have rights and obligations to
kinship/families/communities: Horizontal citizenship
• Role of youth needs to be actively shaped to meet both
forms of citizenship
• Shape the future of society keeping in mind youth
dreams and aspirations
• The fundamental issue is of learning and education

4. Opportunities for Youth Inclusion
• Build capacity of youth:
– youth volunteerism
– youth leadership
– youth as change agents
– youth as global citizens
• Youth learning skills for life and work
• Opportunities for peer learning crucial
• Review national policies (youth policies, youth
education policy) in the above light

5. Ideas for Adult Educators
• Explicit focus on youth learning with special
emphasis on girls/women
• Focus on combination of skills for work and life
• Youth led educational programs
– Pedagogy from the perspective of the youth
• Connect with the WhatsApp generation
– Promote alternative expressions of the youth
(especially through new media)

6. PRIA’s Focus on Youth
Recent focus
on youth as
change leaders
Programs in
rural and
urban areas to
address
challenges and
aspirations
traditional institutions of authority are
not designed to accommodate their
aspirations
sense of
restlessness lack a sense of inclusivity

7. Aspirations of Youth
• Break barriers and practices
imposed by patriarchal structures
• Freedom to speak up
• Girls want mobility/freedom from
restrictions.
• Create a just and peaceful society
• Take on leadership roles and work
together to change power
structures
• Value education and want to get
more skilled

8. Collective Footsteps of Youth
Campaign
Making pledges to end violence against women
1 YOUTH AS CHANGE
AGENTS
Attitudinal and
personal change:
Raise awareness on
the issue of violence
against women
3 MULTI-STAKEHOLDER
INVOLVEMENT
Promote institutional
accountability
(colleges, schools,
municipality,
panchayat) for safety
of women
Build support for the
campaign
2 YOUTH AS LEADERS
Peer learning:
Support youth
leadership to take
initiative to design
and implement the
campaign

9. Empowering Urban Youth
1Community, who
know their
locality best, were
organised to map
their own
settlement
2 Urban slum
youth
motivated to
learn and use
technology to
map their
settlements
3
Trained in the
use of GPS as a
mapping tool
and how to
upload the data
on to Google
Earth
Guidebook (in
English and
Hindi) prepared
Participatory activity that encourages and strengthens community
participation and relationships amongst each other

10. PRIA’s Capacity Building Efforts
Support to:
• civil society
organisations
• government
agencies
• educational
institutions
• local governance
institutions
• CSR foundations
Support through:
• Short term trainings
• Facilitated
workshops
• Distance education
• Mentoring and
coaching
• Technical support
• Study
tours/exposure visits
Customised
trainings
&
workshops
Opportunities
to learn
for life &
work

11. Capacity Building Tools
• Participatory learning training
methods
• Learning needs assessment
• Online interactive training
Access to knowledge resources:
•PRIA LIBRARY
•PRIA’S KNOWLEDGE PORTAL
Practice in Participation
(www.practiceinparticipation.org)

12. Recent Capacity Building Programs
• Deepening Local Governance
in Asia
– Improve democratic practices in local
governance institutions in Cambodia
and Bangladesh
• Strategic Planning Workshop
for Kyrgystan Adult Education
Association (KAEA)
• Program for Accountability in
Nepal (PRAN)
– ToT based on Participatory Learning
Training Methods for CSOs
• Staff Capacity Building and
Institutional Development of
AfghanAid