Youth Festival

During the reporting period  Young Voicess  and Maharastra Yuva Parishad jointly organized a youth festival 1-2 February 09 at Sevagram. The main objective of the program was Peace and Youth. In this event 350 youth participated from 7 states. In this event youth learned through  different types of seminars, group discussions , film shows, street play and versus games. All the participants took the decision to start the special campaign about the Livelihood of the Youth. 25 youth of Akola region participated.

Youth Identity and Livelihood Campaign

After the training program youth completed awareness programs. The slogan was “We are not unemployed”. They motivated youths to start work which is available in their village and serve your livelihood. This event was done in 23  villages of Akola region. After that we observed youths were working in villages and earned money.

Workshop on Panchayati Raj System for MYP

Yuva Anubhav Nagpur & Akola organized two days workshop on Panchayati Raj System for MYP Gram Panchayat Elected Members. The objectives of the program were to develop leadership quality among rural youth & build their capacity to play vital roles in local government. Through this program, participants learned about the present system of Panchayati Raj, the roles of Gram Sabha,  local leaders and about the various government schemes for development. The program was attended by 23 representatives, 9 were women and 14 men. They felt more confident to handle their responsibilities more effectively.

Climate Satyagrah Camp

Climate change is the biggest issue in the world.  The first affected group will be poor. If the issue is not settled now the future of youth are in danger.  for this 20 MYP members participated in Climate satyagrah camp which was organized by the versus national and international organizations on 5 to 18 Dec. 2009 at New Delhi. In this satyagrah. Rally, Green booth campaign, Signature campaign, hunger strike, candle lightening etc. activities has done for the make pressure for Copenhagen summit.  Prime Minister of India, Obama President United Nations and representatives who was attending the Copenhagen conference.

Cycle Rally

Cycle rally was planned to display the message board stating identified problem at the village, raise people and local authority consciousness towards village problem and find solutions for the same. As per project aim to en-path youths identity and youth involvement in village politics and social business with a systematic approach on 26/01/09 Nandu More Project Coordinator and MYP council Member Mr. Umesh Oval and Shankar alder, Social Activist organized cycle rally with the participation of youth from 9 villages.

Issue Based Campaign through Wall Paper

Abhivyakti Anubhav organized seventeen wall paper campaigns in their region. To strengthen the wall paper campaign they have creatively designed and published a special MYP wall paper. Motivated MYP youths regularly used the wall papers in their villages and colleges. They expressed their experiences and published their future activities of MYP through wall paper. These campaigns created the identity of MYP youths as a critical thinker among the society.

CSW-NN Theme Day

Anubhav Mumbai celebrated The Theme day of “BE THE CHANGE”. Various youth motivation programmes and competitions such as Poster Making, Essay, Rangoli, Street play and Quiz competition were conducted. The Chief Guest gave the message, "We must be the change we want to see in the world”. The ASK Core group members were actively involved in planning, preparation and implementation.

Social Awareness

Yuva Anubhav Nagpur & Akola organized one-day training on violence against women & HIV/AIDS Awareness for the youth in the Vidharbha region. Apna Anubhav organized a two-day workshop on Win Lido for youth to understand gender and sexuality. The workshop helped youth understand the gender and patriarchy system of society. Anubhav Mumbai and AMCG members organized training on the symptoms, causes, and prevention of Hepatitis B & C with the collaboration of Yuvroshni. More than 100 times more people are infected with Hepatitis than HIV/AIDS. Thus, the United Way Mumbai Helpline, in partnership with Anubhav Mumbai, launched an Extensive Awareness Generation Campaign on the prevention of Hepatitis B & C infections.

Maharashtra State Youth Policy

YUVA, along with Nav Maharashtra Yuva Abhiyan, CORO, and Navnirman, jointly worked to draft Maharashtra State Youth Policy. The ASK regional centres were actively involved in organizing regional & state level workshops. The draft youth policy has been submitted to the state, and the state government has set up a committee to finalize the youth policy. Serious concerns on the government process have prompted Shiksha Kendra & MYP to put pressure on the government. We organized strategic meeting of civil society organizations and CBOs to give input on youth policy. ASK & MYP are watching the state government committee and engaged in lobbying so the state government will announce a comprehensive youth policy.

Mumbai, Akola, and Budhana district youth organized rallies and submitted the memoranda to the State Government. In December 2010, MYP organized state level rally (Morcha) where 800 youths from all over the state participated.  A delegation of MYP leaders presented an eight point memorandum to the Sports & Youth Welfare Minister, Mr. Padmakar Walwi. The Minister accepted seven points and assured MYP leaders for implementation of youth policy from the beginning of 2011. As a result of this major success, the youth developed confidence and learned how and whom to approach for securing their rights.

The draft of the state youth policy can be found here.

Communication Material

Beyond meetings & exposure youth also exchanged their thoughts with other youth and larger society through newsletters. Till today, Abhivyakti Anubhav has printed 152 editions of their monthly newsletters with youth participation.

YUVA Anubhav- Nagpur has published two ‘Yuva Spandan’ (Bi-monthly newsletter). One issue of Yuva Spandan has highlighted the ASK Youth Fellows' contribution in the social change & transformation process.

The youth expressed their views, feelings and opinions on the issues in diverse forms. These issues are distributed in the region & also to all other centres. The copy of these newsletters was widely circulated among youth, social activists, media persons and experts in other fields.

Youth Manifesto & Advocacy Interventions

In the context of State Assembly Election in October 2009, we prepared a Youth Manifesto 2009 in Marathi (later translated in to English). The Youth Manifesto consists of unified voice of youth from all over the state in the form of a declaration. The declaration focused on prime issues of education, employment, shelter, livelihood & separate allocation for youths in the state budget. MYP youths & ASK partners were fully involved in preparation & finalization of youth manifesto with the objective to provide a roadmap for elected representative & government officials to address the youth issues.

Once the Youth Manifesto were prepared, MYP youths & ASK partners (YUVA- Urban, YUVA Rural, CSW, DASVVSS) were fully involved in meeting political parties & candidates. We met various political parties such as Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena and MNS. Shivsena has incorporated most of the points from our youth manifesto into their election manifesto.

Vibgyor International Film Festival

The Vibgyor International Film Festival was organised by Collective Forum of the Organisations and Movements at Thrissur, Kerala state. Five sathi youth of the Abhivyakti Anubhav Shiksha programme participated in this Festival. During this festival, they attended six days Film Appreciation Workshop facilitated by Chetana Media, Thrissur and Abhivyakti Media for Development, Nashik. They also attended various film screenings, discussion forums with film makers and film making workshop. In this festival, they facilitated Media Stalls and poster exhibition on the issue of 'Domination of Media'.

Campaign Against Alcohol from Food Grain

State government  passed regulation to produce alcohol from food grain and give the subsidy to industries. This affected the health of young people, increased inflation and affected poor people. All ASK centres & MYP campaigned against it, and wrote to the Government Authorities and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Abhivyakti Anubhav published one separate Maitree edition. The mainstream media covered our campaign positively.

Additionally, MYP- Mumbai region organized a one-day dharna against alcohol from food grains at Azad Maidan. The purpose of dharna was to strengthen the protest against state government’s decision about making alcohol from food grains. Because of the pressure across the state, the Bombay High Court has ordered the government to withdraw the subsidy on alcohol from food grains.

Anti Genetic Modified Food Campaign

Yuva Anubhav- Nagpur & Akola organized state, regional & district level programs, including the participation of ASK and Maharashtra Yuva Parishad (MYP) youth for advocating & lobbying the Anti GM Food Campaign. Because of continuous pressure, the Honorable Environment Minister of the Government of India has taken the decision to ban BT Brinjal in India. Youth were able to directly influence policies and demonstrate their importance to social change.

Social Awareness on Energy Injustice

Vidharbha region is one of the largest energy producing areas in Maharashtra. However, youths discovered that load shedding and low quality of the energy is a significant issue after carrying out village-level energy surveys. Therefore, the youth conducted awareness programs on energy injustice in 80 villages. Further, YUVA Anubhav – Nagpur and MYP organized an energy rally at Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi. During the rally, the delegation met with Shri. Mukul Wasnik, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri. C. P. Joshi, Minister of Panchayati Raj, and Minister of Rural Development and delivered the memorandum. In total 102 MYP members from 11 districts actively participated in this campaign. 

Training and Workshops

All the centres conducted extensive training programs and workshops for learning. The learning activity was focused on understanding social issues and leadership development. Anubhav Mumbai covered wide range of issues during the training programs which included Sexuality, Environmental issues, Violence Against Women and Career Guidance. Vikas Anubhav & Anubhav Bharti focused on livelihood issues like Natural Farming & Employment Opportunities. Apna Anubhav organised workshops on faith & superstition. Abhivyakti Anubhav focused on film making editing, poster making & writing - documentation skill workshops. Anubhav Mumbai conducted a series of 5 module awareness training on youth & sexuality. YUVA Anubhav focused on secularism & governance in Panchayati Raj.  YUVA Anubhav & Vikas Anubhav organised a special training for involving more female Mitra in ASK process. 

Youth Sexuality & Gender Perspective Building

All centres' activities focused on Youth Sexuality & Gender & HIV-AIDs related issues. Abhivyakti Anubhav, Anubhav Mumbai, Apna Anubhav, YUVA Anubhav- Nagpur & Samarthan Anubhav conducted special programs with girls to address the issues related to gender. This resulted in an increase in the participation of young girls in the ASK process. Youths had been sensitized about sexuality & gender issues through different workshops in colleges and villages. While addressing gender issues, one focus was on violence against women. Apart from participating in the programs, the youth played active roles in their respective communities to intervene in the cases of violence against women.

ASK Process for Social Change

ASK works to capacitate youth and motivate them through social change. Youth motivation starts with sensitizing youth to the issues that face society and the obstacles that are in the way of a social transformation. Through orientation programs and training and workshops, the youth learn the attitude and values that are needed for social development. These orientation and training sessions also equip youth with the commitment required for lasting change and starts them on the process by becoming members of the ASK program. In tandem with these sessions, the youth study course gives youth the knowledge and skills for youth leaders that are needed to tackle today's issues. The youth exchange also assists youth in facing issues by providing new ideas, common themes, and strategies in helping change. In addition to the exposure visits, youth gain real-life experience in taking part of the social process so they are more engaged and committed to social change. The youth forum allows the youth leaders to know that they are not engaged in social change alone, and they understand they have the support of the larger youth organization, like MYP, the ASK program, and the ASK Centres. This causes youth to take ownership of the social change process and directly leads to more social action and finding a solution to the issues that face youth. By taking charge over social action and targeting issues, the youth leaders inspire motivation among the youth which cycles back to more youth being part of the social transformation. The ASK program works by developing youth with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for social change so that youth become forces and concerned citizens for social change.

ASK Centres

ASK works with the following partner organizations as part of the implementation of the ASK program and objectives. Each partner organization has implemented the program in different settings with varied specialization & dynamics, but with a common goal of building the capacities of young people for the process of social transformation. This unique multiplicity in approach is the strength of this program as it gives wide spectrum of initiative & work with the youth and provides more learning opportunities to youth, coordinators & facilitators.

• Abhivyakti Anubhav: Abhivyakti Media for Development, Nashik

• Anubhav Bharti: Dr. Ambedkar Sheti Vikas Va Sanshodhan Sanstha, Solapur

• Anubhav Mumbai: Nirmala Niketan Institute, College of Social Work, Mumbai

• Apna Anubhav: YUVA (Urban), Mumbai

• Samarthan Anubhav, Samarthan, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 

• Vikas Anubhav, Vikas Sahayog Pratisthan, Ratnagiri

• Yuva Anubhav Akola: YUVA (Rural), Nagpur

• Yuva Anubhav Nagpur: YUVA (Rural), Nagpur