Youth Movements for SDGs

12th January is marked as the National Youth Day in India. While laying the roadmap for 2019 and future, it is inevitable that an important stakeholder to be considered while envisioning is the “YOUTH”. Though it is obvious that the living spaces should have at their center the human beings, many times the brick & mortar issues gain centrality. However, developing countries like India can ill afford neglecting the human factor, especially the youth. One of the most crucial related issues is how the vibrant youth energies are channelized. This really decides whether India will be reaping a demographic dividend or is rolling towards a demographic disaster.

At 150 million, India has the largest number of youth in the world, more than even of China. The youth in India would singly constitute the 12th largest country in the world. The vibrancy of the youth needs no elucidation. What is of interest though is how this vibrancy is channelized constructively. Contrary to the popular perception about next-gen (held especially by some from the past-gen), there are interesting pointers towards the youth depicting high social sensitivity, less discriminatory (on various social fault-lines) provided proper sensitization efforts are undertaken right from the childhood. While the theoretical discourses have their own significance, youth gain learnings of life through actions.
AIILSG’s experience indicates that creating avenues for the youth to undertake actions for the disadvantaged populations has two fold-impacts: fostering a socially- sensitive human resource and while doing so progressing on key developmental parameters- succinctly captured as Sustainable Development Goals. This underlines the importance of the ‘Youth Movement’ mode pioneered by All India Institute of Local Self-Government’s International Center of EQUI-T (ICEQUI-T). These youth movements have crucial significance towards attaining the SDGs whereby it is AIILSG’s action-oriented manifestation of the SDG campaign of “MY WORLD” for the SDG Advocates. Thus the AIILSG-ICEQUIT approach of fostering pro-SDG youth movements will be an important aspect to chart and charter the roadmap for 2019.

The cities and settlements are defined by the human beings who stay in it, their interplay and sensitivity individually & collectively. ‘Inclusive Development’ is the key theme for the last 2 Five Year Plans of India as well as for the global instruments such as SDGs. A vital enabler of inclusive development is the sensitivity depicted by the wider society towards the disadvantaged. An important factor in this regard is the inner connect that the youth feel for the disadvantaged leading to constructive actions by them. AIILSG’s experience is extremely positive in this regard whereby the voluntary zeal of the youth have in turn bolstered their realization of assets of own life, bolstered their self-image which re-fuelled their passion for making their cities, villages and earth a better place to live for all.
Another crucial impact of such movement is, and will be, in ensuring that the development won’t be seen only from a very constrained ‘project’ centric understanding. In many developing countries, the term development has been synonymous to ‘development-projects’ whereby the most essential input is monetary resources. Illustratively- for addressing the softer development initiatives (such as those related to children, gender-inequalities, social-inequalities, differently abled), there can be no-cost or low-cost interventions through volunteerism. However, the obsession with the project-centric approach implies gaining financial-resources becomes an essential precondition for initiating any actions.

Even development of social innovations has fallen victim to this ‘project’ approach. AIILSG is probably a unique organisation in the world which has set up its social-innovations lab at its International Center of Equity & Inclusion for Transformation (ICEQUI-T). Very importantly, while ensuring that the ‘innovations’ won’t fall prey to the very constrained ‘project-centric’ approach, it has committed itself to dedicate own resources (monetary and human resources) as a part of its visionary roadmap- not just for 2019 but till social . One such innovation developed by ICEQUI-T as a part of the AIILSG roadmap is of “constructive Youth Movements”. Objectives of these youth movements are: sensitization among the youth with respective to the respective social issues, build their capacities to undertake transformational actions and establish related sustainability-mechanisms.

Each movement is configured for & pitched at the respective youth populations. E.g. The Movement of Youth for SDGs2 (End Hunger & Malnutrition) is prominently promoted in educational institutes in the areas which have tribal villages in their vicinity. Moreover, some youth movements having universal relevance are promoted in all areas. Illustratively, after the Nirbhaya incidence in New Delhi, AIILSG initiated its movement “Men for Women’s Dignity & Health” with the objective of “Enabling Men to be more accountable & responsible for Women’s Dignity & Health”. An important part of the decadal roadmap for the future by AIILSG is to initiate similar youth movements under the aegis of its ICEQUI-T for each SDG relevant for the disadvantaged populations such as: MY SDG 1: No Poverty, MY SDG 2: Zero Hunger, MY SDG 3: Good Health and Well being, MY SDG 4: Quality Education, MY SDG 5: Gender Equality, MY SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, MY SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, MY SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, MY SDG 13: Climate Action & MY SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

The activities under each of such movements include:

• Designing customized knowledge products including Information-Education-Communication material (such as posters, portable exhibitions, scripts [vetted through a systematic process to ensure scientific rigour is maintained] for street plays & puppet shows
• Establishing linkages with and mobilizing universities, educational institutions, networks & citizen action groups for collective actions and synergy
• Sensitization programs through use of appropriate media as per the respective context: including street plays, puppet shows, social media, mass media
• Grooming a cadre of Master Trainers as ‘Advocates of the cause” (e.g. for “MY SDG 2- Movement of Youth to End Hunger & Malnutrition” movement, developing a cadre of MY SDG 2 advocates)
• Grooming a cadre of social innovators. E.g. ‘SDG Innovators’ who can develop innovations to spur SDG Action
• Effective Dissemination: Documenting human stories (photo essays, audio-visuals, illustrations, case studies) for communicating SDG messages.
• Sustainability enabling actions & sustainability mechanisms. This set of actions also includes engaging multiple stakeholders & building networks/ partnerships to bring transformational change for attainment of the developmental commitments such as the SDGs, Engaging marginalized & excluded populations to become part of SDG dialogue & actio

AIILSG makes efforts to take these movements to other countries in need of such movements. E.g. AIILSG’s MY DRR international movement is as of beginning of 2019 seeded in 25 developing countries.

The sustainability of these movements is ensured through:

• Develop cadre of the cause advocates from the youth
• Involvement of various universities & educational institutions to continue to take further the cause as their own initiative in future,
• Developing visual tools of “self-assessment and planning” which can be used even by the illiterates by demystifying, de-jargonizing the respective cause into easily understandable terms, translating the related parameters into pictograms & images, using universally decipherable rating methods (such as baby faces– smiling, expression neutral and smiling, signal principle- whereby ‘red’ is rated as precarious & ‘green’ as satisfactory)
• Making the customized IEC & knowledge products available to all concerned for use by them
• The MY (Movement of Youth) Social Cause Facilitation mechanism at AIILSG’s ICEQUI-T provides facilitation support to all concerned stakeholders in initiating, undertaking and sustaining youth movements.

The authors have developed as a scientific body of knowledge the ‘development of social Innovations’ and as a part of it: the ‘fostering of youth movements’. Related knowledge and skills are rendered to all interested in the form of capacity building workshops. E.g. Prof. Dr. Mukesh Kanaskar has designed and is undertaking (customized) capacity building workshops for international and national stakeholders on “MY Innovations for Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals”. AIILSG believes that through its youth-movement approach will enable channelizing the vibrant youth energy constructively for the attainment of the SDGs.