Background Note
Regional Consultation on Student Youth Movements
Conducted by the Commonwealth Youth Programme in Collaboration with the
Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, India
14th -17th September 2010
Introduction
The mission of the Commonwealth Youth Programme ( CYP) is to 'engage and empower young people ( aged 15 to 29 ) to enhance their contributions to developmen." Youth empowerment is, therefore, at the core of CYP's strategic plan for 2008-2012.
Student Youth Movements in Commonwealth Asia
Student Youth Movements across the Commonwealth Asia region are many and diverse in structure, support base and possibly, goals and aspirations. While most of the organized student bodies exist within the educational system in the form of student unions in Colleges and Universities, with some of them having clear party-political affiliations, there are other organizations such as student volunteer corps such as National Service Scheme ( NSS) and, the National Cade Corps ( NCC ) in Indiaand Bangladesh, and the Scouts and Guides in most of the countries.Groups such as women's cells in universities represent the best option of active women's student organizations representing women's interests. No specific organizations for students with disability have been identified so far. The CYP Asia Centre is right now in the process of a mapping exercise of existing national and sub-national student youth movements in terms of their structure, affiliation, goals and objectives. It is hoped that this exercise coupled with the outcome of the consultation will enable the CYP in charting out its future strategies towards this segment of the youth