International Youth Day 2020
International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12 in Nepal and around the world. This day is being celebrated in Nepal with the slogan 'Youth Participation for World Campaign, Youth Promotion and Youth Involvement in Environmental Protection'.
This year, due to the coronavirus, the day has been celebrated with a virtual program. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will inaugurate various programs organized by the National Youth Council from 11 am to 3 pm. The National Council has been conducting various programs for a week to develop youth leadership on the occasion of the day.
In order to address the issues of the youth, the United Nations has decided to celebrate August 12 every year since 1999 as the International Youth Day. Since 2000, various programs have been held regularly on the occasion of Youth Day around the world.
In Nepal, the day has been celebrated for the first time since 2004 under the leadership of an organization working with youth. After the celebration of Youth Day in Nepal, the issues of the youth have started to be addressed to some extent, but the government has brought many programs by giving high priority to the youth, but the youth have not been able to benefit due to lack of effective implementation of these programs.
In 2065 BS, the government has included in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Youth Policy, 2072 BS, a wide range of youth development issues to address youth issues. Similarly, the government has been working on youth leadership development by forming the National Youth Council in 2072 BS.
Similarly, the basic charter of the 15th plan brought by the government has linked the youth with the prosperity of the country with the basic slogan of 'Youth is the basis of prosperity'. Programs such as Youth Employment Prime Minister's Program and formation of Youth and Small Investment Self-Employment Secretariat have been introduced to make the youth self-employed.
In order to make Nepal a fast developing country by 2025 BS, a 10-year strategic plan including Youth Vision 2025 has been brought to ensure access to all the youth by making education quality, vocational, and employment-oriented.
Unemployment, policy decisions, semi-skilled manpower, quality education are still the problems as the policy and structural institutions brought to solve the problem of leadership development and employment among the youth have not been able to give results.
The formation of Youth Vision 2025 for the implementation of the National Youth Policy 066, the passage of the bill for the formation of the National Youth Council by the Parliament is certainly a matter of happiness for the youth. However, meaningful participation in state policymaking and decision making is still not ensured. As the country faced natural disasters, ordinary youth participated in liberalism, relief, and reconstruction.
There is the active participation of youth in the economic, social, political, and educational sectors of the country. There is a large presence of youth in the agriculture and the productive sector as well as in the labor sector. The fact that many young people have migrated not only to the city but also abroad in search of study, employment, livelihood, and opportunity is striking to us.
In the past, when the state policies, laws, and programs did not address the issues of youth and their concerns properly, the problem of going abroad and fleeing in search of opportunities has deprived the country of the services and energy of experts. The main reason for not being able to create opportunities for the skilled and deserving youth available in the employment market in the country is the lack of balance between the demand for manpower and education. Many youths have become unemployed and have gone abroad for the solution.
Thoughts on youth rights around the world began in the 1930s with the World Economic Forum. The concept of youth rights and intergenerational co-ordination has taken shape after realizing the need to make full use of the enthusiasm, vigilance, and talent of the youth to save the world from economic recession.
With the establishment of the United Nations after World War II and the development of international human rights law, there has been a growing debate within the nation about youth rights.
A comparative study of the constitutions of some countries:
The United States Constitution, the world's first written constitution, does not provide for collective rights such as youth rights. Even the 14th amendment to the constitution does not deprive the citizens of equal protection of the law, which seems to have adopted the principle of essential equality.
Founded in the United States in the 1930s, the National Youth Rights Organization is the first organization to advocate for the rights of youth around the world, and PeaceFire, an American youth organization, provides technical assistance to youth rights activists.
Article 39 (f) of the Constitution of India states that under the guiding principles and policies of the state, it is the duty of the state to provide opportunities and benefits to the children for their development and to enhance their freedom and dignity and to protect the youth and children from exploitation and immorality. From the 42nd amendment of the constitution, it seems that this kind of arrangement has been made by making some modifications in the previous system.
Article 21 (2) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China provides for the development of general sports programs for the physical development of the people, and Article 46 (2) provides for the physical, mental and moral development of children and youth under the Right to Education.
Similarly, in Article 49 (3), it is seen that the parents have to take care and educate the children and it is their duty to take care and help the parents when the children are young.
Article 41 (1) (f) and (g) of the Constitution of the Swiss Federation provides for youth. Provision has been made for the support and encouragement of the state socially, politically, and culturally for the youth and children and people of working age to get the opportunity to get education according to their ability and to make the youth and children independent and responsible citizens.
Among the recent constitutions, the provisions of the 1992 constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on youth rights seem relevant. Article 66 of the constitution provides for the family, society, and the state to create a conducive environment for the youth to study, work, relax, developmentally and physically, provide moral education, and spread civic awareness to protect national traditions, socialism, and the motherland.
