Youth LEAD Strategic Plan and Annual Meeting 2018: Press Release
REFLECTING BACK AS WE MOVE FORWARD
This past week Youth LEAD hosted participants and stakeholders from within the regional network. The week started off with the Asia Pacific Regional Training of Trainers (ToT) on the Legal Advocacy Toolkit, followed by Youth LEADs annual general meeting, strategic plan consultation, and implementation toolkit consultation. Read more about the Annual General Meeting and Strategic Plan consultation below.
Annual General Meeting
On May 30th 2018, Youth LEAD held its first annual general meeting (AGM) in two years. Gaj, the Regional Coordinator for Youth LEAD gave the welcome address and gave an overview of the day's activities. The primary objective of the AGM was to elect new board members, while at the same time orientating and capacitating new focal points on the values of YL. Those in attendance reflected on YL’s foundation and previous work on young key populations and discussed YL’s values and principles, which are to ensure active involvement and meaningful participation of all YKP’s, foster partnerships and collaboration, and ensure rights-based approaches in all decision making processes.
Gaj summarised YL’s efforts through programs such as NewGen, TeenGen, Legal Advocacy Toolkit, as well as other ways YL engages with their partners such as the small grants they distribute, as well as their engagement with the Global Fund. YL’s focal points also took centre stage by sharing the work they have done in recent years. Kim Soo has been a member of YL since 2014 and has made a significant impact on the YKP community in their country, Vietnam while recognizing there is still much progress to be made. They outlined the need to support these youth organizations in order to ensure these communities are experiencing fulfilling lives. They work in the field of advocacy for YKPs and highlighted the importance of communication between members of the network. Lastly, we heard from Thu who has been a member of YL’s board since 2012 and was involved with the initial stages of program development for NewGen. Over the years they have witnessed the evolution of YL as more than just an organization, but also a family. YL helps to form a network of YKPs to ensure people have support from not only others in their community, but within the broader region. Through the training and skills provided by YL, YKPs are able to build their networks and support and be part of a larger family.
Following this – a current member of the YL secretariat, Eddy, led his session on communications in line with his role at YL to demonstrate the importance of communications as a regional network. With the aid of a communications game and PowerPoint slides, Eddy presented ways to reduce miscommunication between YL and its regional partners. This session included a group task which involved participants exploring the advantages and disadvantages of various communication methods before wrapping up the session with key tips and general advice on efficient forms of communication.
The AGM wrapped up with the election of the new board. As per YL’s governance manual, two alumni, Nancy and Guatam remained as members of the YL board, leaving room for five new board members. The new board members of YL are as follows: Misale Hotman Napitupulu from Indonesia, Kim Soo from Vietnam, Mirza Ammad Baig from Pakistan, Zizi from Timor Leste, and Leegee Tamir from Mongolia.
Strategic Plan
On May 31st 2018, YL held its strategic plan consultation in Bangkok, Thailand. The goal of this consultation was to develop a direction for YL’s strategic priorities for the upcoming 2019-2024 strategic plan. The consultation included input from focal points representing numerous countries within the regional network, as well as stakeholder input from partnered-organizations such as the IATT, and more.
Throughout the consultation, the strategic plan team (Gaj, Kim Soo, Sangeet, and Emily) informed participants of YL’s work in the past two years based on their analysis of YL’s current strategic priorities. Participants then used the SWOT analysis method to determine potential priorities for YL in their upcoming strategic plan and also worked to incorporate aspects from YL’s current strategic priorities which have not been achieved thus far. Lastly, the strategic plan team held a plenary discussion including both participants and stakeholders to further narrow their priorities for YL’s upcoming strategic plan.
Overall the consultation was a success and highlighted both the work that YL has done thus far, as well as where they can focus their energy to continue to have a positive impact for young key populations(YKP).