An opportunity to mobilize youth power

There are also plenty of people going to Europe. Doctors, nurses, engineers and those working in the IT sector who have earned a good name and salary have begun to leave in search of a new future with permanent residence visas. It can be called the exodus seen in the intellectual field. According to the Immigration Department, in 2023, 70 thousand 915 people took permanent permits and left for different countries.

has become such a commentary that children have started to get priority over what countries they have gone to. But what they do abroad is not asked. There is no exact data on how many young people have gone abroad. More than 32 Nepalis have died in the war with Ukraine after illegally joining the Russian army. The government of Nepal does not have the data on how many Nepalis are illegally in the army.

15 to 2500 youths are leaving in one way or another every day. A study by the International Labor Organization has shown that more than 500,000 young people go abroad in search of work every year. Among those who have formal education, only 5 percent who have received vocational education have found employment in the country. It seems that only one percent of skilled manpower goes to foreign employment. Semi-skilled 25 and unskilled 74 percent.

According to the national census 2078, the youth population (16-40 (years) according to the national policy) is 42.56 percent (1,24,12,173) of the population in Nepal. In the 2068 census, the youth is 40.35 percent (1,06,89,842 ) compared to the last two years, the number of young people in Nepal has increased by 2.21 percent. The number of young people in Nepal has never been the same for the next decade The number of young people has not only increased, but also the active participation of young people during the 2072 earthquake and the covid-19. He played a role in making the government active through the streets and social media during relief and reconstruction. Remittances sent by young people were the main basis for keeping the economy running during the Covid-19. story- break In Nepal, remittances are coming in on an average of more than eight billion rupees annually. In the financial year 2075/76, when Nepal was completely in crisis due to the corona epidemic, at that time the youth sent 8 trillion 79 billion remittances. According to the data of Nepal Rastra Bank, 7 trillion 33 billion remittances have been received in the first 6 months of 2080/81.

Political representation Although the influence of young people is less at the top level of politics, recently they have started to play an important role inside and outside the parliament. The 275-member House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament has 28 young MPs under the age of 40, including 8 under the age of 30. Even though they are few in number, these young people are trying to strengthen their presence in Parliament and Parliamentary Committees.

21 percent of the youth under 40 years of age have been elected at the provincial level. Youth participation in local government, which is known as the lion's palace closest to the people, is encouraging. The number of winners in the local elections of 2079 has increased compared to the local elections of 2074. According to the Election Commission, about 70.96 votes were cast in the last local elections and 2.4 percent of the total cast votes were invalid.

For a total of 35 thousand 97 posts, 59 thousand 814 young people applied for the local elections. Among them, 14 thousand 442 (41.14 percent) candidates between 21-40 years of age were elected. Out of the elected, 37 as mayors, 106 as rural village presidents, about 19 percent of youth are running the local level. 95 youths have been elected to the position of municipal deputy head and 238 youths have been elected to the post of village head. Thus, 43.69 percent of the deputy chiefs are youth. This shows that youth participation has started to increase from the local level through the state to the federal level.

Lack of youth-oriented programs

Constitution's guiding principles, policies and state responsibilities will also create an environment for full use of political, economic, social and cultural rights by enhancing youth participation in national development. There is a plan to provide suitable opportunities for overall development contribution of the state by providing special opportunities in the fields of youth empowerment, meaningful participation, leadership development, education, health, employment etc. Based on these principles, National Youth Policy-2072 and Youth Vision-2025 have been released. For the implementation of these two important documents, the National Youth Council Act-2072 has been issued and the National Youth Council has been established. With the restructuring of the state, the policies have started to be reviewed to bring the youth policy up to date. National Youth Policy-2072 amendment draft is being discussed with stakeholders in all the seven provinces.

The Nepal Youth Organization Network (ION) together with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) studied the budget allocation made by the three levels of government in the youth sector in 2021. Not only in the ministries established for the development and mobilization of the youth, but the budget allocated by other ministries has not been able to reach the related work and areas. There seems to be a lack of coordination and coordination between the three levels of government in youth-targeted programs and implementation. Currently, the budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is only one percent of the total budget. That too has to be shared among sports and youth. There has been relatively no initiative from the government side to make the youth council under the ministry stronger and more effective.

Article 33 of the constitution states that in clause 1, every citizen has the right to employment and in clause 2, citizens have the right to choose employment. For its implementation, the Right to Employment Act-2075 has been brought. The target group of the program is unemployed persons in the age group of 18 to 59 years and their families. However, it does not appear that the budget has been clearly arranged to address the said provision. Even though the central government has tried to give some priority to the youth, the provinces have yet to pay attention. So far, youth and sports councils have been formed in Karnali province, youth councils and sports councils in Wagmati, and youth councils in Lumbini and Sudurpaschim. Ministry of Youth and Sports has not been formed except in Gandaki Province.

Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Youth Council and Provincial Youth Council have been formed at the central level. There is a District Youth Council in the district, while the local level also has the right to form a City Youth Council. But these bodies have not become effective. It is necessary to transform the youth policy into a federal framework and integrate the programs that are scattered in different ministries and agencies. It seems necessary to develop an inter-ministerial committee at the center of the government agency working in the youth sector and a youth contact center in the district. As a result, the duplication of youth programs will be ended and the effective implementation of youth-oriented programs will help. Coordination with development partners, organizations, foreign missions working in the youth sector and youth-targeted programs should be promoted.

There is a lack of programs to rehabilitate youth who have brought skills and capital from foreign employment. Neither the policy sector has invested in them, nor the state has been able to use them properly. Looking at the data of Central Statistics Department, International Labor Organization, Nepal is very weak in South Asia in terms of youth index. Along with increasing unemployment, drug addiction, deteriorating health, unsafe food problems, misuse of social media, involvement in cyber crime, political instability have gripped the youth.

Conclusion Organizations working at national and local levels need to mobilize all governmental and non-governmental organizations for youth campaigns, youth-targeted programs. According to the data of Samajkalyan Parishad, there are more than 240 international non-governmental organizations and more than 40 thousand non-governmental organizations. Initiatives regarding investment, skill training and mobilization of them in the youth sector

should be done. It is mainly necessary to involve the youth more in the production sector and the technical sector. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 is only possible with the collective commitment, unity, collaboration and contribution of the youth. Pressuring the government to create youth jobs, it is necessary to enhance self-employment and entrepreneurship among the youth in the country. It is appropriate to implement and implement youth related programs under the leadership of the

ministry. As the National Youth Policy defines the age group of 16 to 40 years as youth, it is appropriate to bring the programs at the center when the government brings programs. It seems that if the federal government coordinates with the provincial governments, it will provide more support in the field of youth development and mobilization.

Countries that invest in youth are leading the world today. The face of our country can be changed only if the youth can be made strong and able to engage in the development of the country. And, the nation can be built as we envision.

– Air is a young actor.