A programme aimed at creating future leaders in Bahrain and teaching them critical skills will be launched next month.
The 10th edition of the Youth Leadership Programme (YLP) also aims to empower a new generation of young leaders, changemakers and social innovators to grow their capacity in tackling Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their countries and the Arab region.
It’s being organised by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bahrain, in partnership with the Youth Affairs Ministry.
“It will highlight the youth’s role as community builders in driving development and using digital and communication tools as enablers to achieve the SDGs,” UNDP said in a statement.
“In the past nine years, UNDP in partnership with local governments and youth-serving organisations (YSOs), has been working to build the capacity of youth to empower them to be the drivers of development in their communities,” it added.
SDGs are a set of 17 goals with 169 targets and 248 indicators that include eradicating poverty, hunger and gender discrimination, while guaranteeing affordable and clean energy, climate action and quality education.
All UN member-states in 2015 agreed to work towards achieving their goals by 2030.
This year’s theme – Youth as Community Builders: Collaborative Action towards the SDGs through Effective Communication and Digital Innovation – also aims to create the region’s most active network by combining young people, innovation and sustainability.
Today, 75 per cent of people aged between 15 and 24 use the Internet, making them a generation of digital natives. With this, young people across the world are increasingly connected, using the Internet and digital tools to build their communities, claiming space and agency in their societies, and adopting new pathways to drive change.
The programme will consist of a series of intensive in-person weekend workshops and hybrid working sessions for six to eight weeks.
Participants will be taught ways to develop their creativity, expand their understanding of collaborative action, community building, digitisation, information and communication.
Youngsters will also learn how to develop their leadership and social innovation skills, gain a deeper understanding of the SDGs and how to contribute to their achievement, and attain a range of networking opportunities.
Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 35, fluent in both English and Arabic.
The programme will start in the first week of July and run until August.
UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, it plays a critical role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
For more information and to learn more about the programme, contact the YLP’s Instagram @ylp_bahrain.
julia@gdnmedia.bh
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