Does an organization achieve its goals by acting alone? The answer would be a big 'No'. Over 4 years of experience, LP4Y Nepal has grown a lot, mostly thanks to the collaboration and coordination with external partners.
In 2022, 73 million young people were unemployed globally. A progress compared to 2021, when 75 million Youth were deprived of decent job market accessibility. Seeing the global picture, Youth unemployment is one of the major problems in any developing or underdeveloped country (ILO, 2022).
In the context of Nepal, the statistics show that over the past years, the unemployment rate has been declining (20.6% in 2022). To this date, however, the student population (aged 18–24) has not been counted as unemployed or economically inactive, even though they are actively searching for decent jobs (Neill, 2023).
Now, let's think about inclusion. What image comes to mind when you think of an inclusive and sustainable society? An inclusive and harmonious society is one where there is equal and equitable access to job opportunities, regardless of someone’s background.
Addressing this, LP4Y is taking action each and every day to integrate excluded Youth, and so far it has been successful. Its partners and the overall ecosystem are equally supporting LP4Y: local bodies, companies, institutions, organizations, and individual partners are all in the loop to address exclusion issues.
LP4Y Nepal counts 100+ active partners. On a semester basis, each partner runs about 9 to 10 activities such as mock interviews, company visits, and training to uplift LP4Y Youth. But questions still arise: are two projects (the Green Village and the Training and Development Center) enough to build an inclusive society? Is only LP4Y Team benefiting from LP4Y success?
Of course, the answer is 'No'. While government bodies might agree that Nepalese society would benefit from a better-trained young workforce, the lack of resources, research, planning, and policies makes it challenging to create an environment in favour of the inclusion of marginalized Youth. In this context, LP4Y Nepal firmly believes in a strong Youth Inclusion Coalition to tip the scales and tackle these challenges. This is the reason why LP4Y Nepal started collaborating with local bodies such as Terai region municipalities for mobilization purposes and another on the mobilization pillar to launch a hybrid project in Lalitpur Metropolitan City.
The impact of this coalition has already started to ripple as we can see various entities throughout the entire country coming together to build an inclusive society. LP4Y Nepal is expanding its horizons, changing the scale, challenging the status quo, and impacting the city and rurally excluded Youth. Many thirsty, excluded women from the Eastern, Central, and Western regions with traumatic or difficult backgrounds arrive in LP4Y’s centers. There, they unleash their potential to the utmost level during the training and eventually integrate the decent job market. To enable the sustainable integration of young people living in extreme poverty and victims of exclusion, each stakeholder has a role to play:
Civil Society Organizations can refer Youth to LP4Y training centers, enabling them to receive job market knowledge and skill development training.
Thanks to its professional training, LP4Y supports the Youth to hone their skills, facilitating interactions with corporate and individual professionals who can share their expertise with them.
Companies who believe in the Youth potential can then recruit them for jobs and benefit from a very resilient workforce. And there are many! From the hospitality sector, we can name Hyatt Group (Hyatt regency and place), integrating Youth through its Global Rise-hy Program. From the corporate sector, OSB VEGETABLES & FRUITS SUPPLIERS, Easy FRUITS PVT LTD, and ORCHIDS Group are actively collaborating with LP4Y Nepal as well.
It is only through this collective effort that many more Youth will integrate the job market. Alongside the integration partners, other organizations like PROJECT UDDESHYA, BATAS FOUNDATION, PAHAN CHHEN, VERITACORE NEPAL PVT LTD, CAREER COACH NEPAL, UTPALA CRAFT, BHUVANESHWORI SATYAL FOUNDATION and SRIJANSHIL ORPHANAGE HOME are always keen to organize professional exposure activities and Micro-company trainings. Their involvement is essential to broaden Youth’s exposure to as many professional situations as possible and make them ready to integrate the job market. This coalescent tale depicts how a meaningful coalition can succeed in integrating excluded Youth to the decent job market, but it is just a glimpse of all the activities and practices that can be implemented for a better Youth Inclusion. For instance, hosting Youth Inclusion Network (YIN) and Youth 4 Change Network (Y4CN) events enable the country to address Youth challenges, warn partners about the related issues, and find solutions together. World Clean Up Day, Women’s Day, and Youth International Day are as many opportunities to host awareness events, inviting marginalized young people to sit at the table, and to offer their solutions to national problems. And what about sponsoring a national-level Youth conference? Here is your invitation to collaborate with LP4Y. The Youth and Catalysts are ready to build a more inclusive world. What about you?
Manisha Chapagain - Ecosystem Developer, Training and Development Center Kathmandu, Nepal