The survey was conducted for a year, starting in 2010 in four different districts – Kathmandu, Siraha, Rolpa, and Bajhang. The survey was part of the Active Citizens Project, a program of British Council.[break]
On June 2, Dr Robert Monro, Country Director of British Council, officially handed over the youth survey report to Minister of Youth and Sports Hit Bahadur Tamang.
“The survey report gives a valuable insight into how our youth see the future. It also gives a clear indication to the government on what needs to be done to avoid future conflicts and build a more prosperous society,” said Dr Monro.
He further added that the future of any country depends upon its young people. In Nepal, most of the people are young, and if those young population are unemployed and don’t find a platform to show their energy, they get discouraged and frustrated.
Therefore, the Active Citizens Project is conducted to empower young people and develop leadership skills and engage them in community development.
Smreety Dewan, Programs Manager of British Council, mentioned that since 2009 British Council is engaged with the youth through Active Citizens Project and helping them realize their potentials. It has helped young people who are involved in the program in bringing a positive social change.
“So with so many young people going abroad, we needed to find what the youth want and also their involvement in peace building,” she added.
Yogesh Gyawali, member of the key research team, presented the findings of the youth survey at the program.
The methodology used for the survey was questionnaire, focused group discussions, input workshops with stakeholders, interviews with experts and youth, SMS polling, and literature review.
Gyawali mentioned that in general, the survey showed that 60% of the youth are involved in income generating activities, but are earning less than Rs 2,000 a month. 50% of the youth are involved in the non-government sectors, 10% are involved in labor work, 6% in agriculture, 9% in business, and 15% in others.
It was also found that 40.4 % have taken vocational trainings and 52.6% have not taken it. 91% of the respondents said that they were involved in conflict during the Tarai Madhesh Andolan, Maoist conflict and Jan Andolan.
The common feedback, however, was that most of them were manipulated and most of them are passive in the peace building process. 60% of them were also involved in violent armed conflict but have renounced violence ever since. 70% of the youth are literate but the unrealistic social setup was what led them to violence.
The recommendations made by the youth were that they want vocational trainings, counseling services, peace education, proper laws, constitution, trainings in technical subjects and practical education.
“I would like to thank British Council for making the comparative study which will help us know about the problems that the youth are facing. Also on that basis, we can make them aware and conduct peace process and address the issues of employment,” said Minister Hit Bahadur Tamang at the event.
Pradip Pariyar, President of AYON, said that the main intention of conducting this survey was to bring to light the different issues that the young people have. Also, it was to find out the impact of youth unemployment and what we can do together for peace building.
“What we’ve done is a small effort from our side, and there were some limitations, but we also plan to do it on a larger scale in the future,” he said.
Facilitator of the survey, Bidhya Sagar reflected on the activities of the project. He mentioned that most activities are limited to Kathmandu only but this project helped in knowing the issues outside of Kathmandu as well.
He also felt that the most of the youth, though they have skills, lack self-confidence. “I think that by interacting and sharing our ideas, and spreading our network, we can do something for the society,” he added.
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