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On the occasion of International Youth Day 2021 yesterday, the Ministry of Youth Affairs (MoYAS), UN offices (UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UNV, UN Women, UN AIDS, UNHCR, WHO, and ILO) and YuWaah (Generation Unlimited in India) introduced the second phase of the#YoungWarrior movement called #YoungWarriorNXT. This was in the presence of Ms. Usha Sharma, Secretary Youth Affairs, MoYAS, Dr. BVR Mohan Reddy, Founder-Chairman and Board Member, Cyient and Advisory Board member, YuWaah and Ms. Deirdre Boyd, UN Resident Coordinator of India a.i. under the theme of the event titled “Celebrating Youth Innovation & Resilience”.

The #YoungWarrior movement was launched in May 2021 amidst the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of young people between 10-30 years from urban and rural India led commendable efforts such as conducting vaccination drives, linking marginalized communities to essential commodities, providing peer counselling, clarifying myths around COVID-19 and vaccines, etc. The movement achieved significant scale, with 6.6+ million actions taken, over 7,600+ workshops conducted, engaging 140,000+teachers and other stakeholders, and reaching 500+ million people through mass media campaigns. The movement was supported nationwide by 1,350+ partners across public and private sectors, UN bodies, academic institutions and civil society organizations in India, which enabled the movement to become a nationwide success.

To be a part of #YoungWarriorNXT, participants can register by sending YWNXT to +91 9650414141 On WhatsApp or sending YWNXT on the U-Report India Facebook Page. For more details: www.yuwaah.org/youngwarrior.

The #YoungWarrior movement owes its success to the leadership and inter-ministerial convergence of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MoYAS) together with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of Education (MoE), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and ownership demonstrated by various coalition partners including Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), along with youth networks such as National Social Service (NSS), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), National Cadet Corp (NCC), Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG), UN agencies and Civil Society Organizations.

Building on this initiative, #YoungWarriorNXT has been envisioned to serve as an emergency response to the learning and skilling crisis compounded by COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns. Through this year-long initiative, #YoungWarriorNXT aims to equip the young people of India between the ages of 14 and 24 with key life and employability skills to enable them to pursue successful lives and careers. This will include five anchor life skills of Self-Awareness, Collaboration, Problem-Solving, Communication, and Decision-Making, and Employability Skills that cover vocational training and job-readiness skills. Recognizing the psycho-social impact of COVID-19 on the learner community, the program will also include initiatives that address mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Motivating young people during the event, Smt. Usha Sharma, Secretary (Youth Affairs), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, said, “The youth of our country are drivers of change. It is important to provide them with the tools and skills needed to embrace the rapidly-changing needs of the 21st Century workplace and society, key to which is life and employability skills. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is committed to supporting our young people to be skilled and socially responsible leaders.”

“The #YoungWarrior Movement has shown us that young people want to lead and are capable of great leadership. #YoungWarriorNXT further provides an opportunity to young people to hone their life and employability skills and grow into leaders in their future career choices and adult life.” further elaborated Ms. Deirdre Boyd, UN Resident Coordinator in India a.i.

UNICEF Representative in India, Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque and Co-Chair, YuWaahfurther added, “India is the youngest country in the world and will continue to be so for the next 20 years. #YoungWarriorNXT provides an avenue for young people to learn essential life skills that supplement their academic knowledge. Young people can learn these skills through a simple feature phone, smartphone or DIY home kits. Through such interventions, YuWaah, UNICEF and our partners aim to reach the largest population of young people nationwide, including the most marginalised.”

Dr. BVR Mohan Reddy, Founder-Chairman and Board Member, Cyient and Advisory Board Member, YuWaah said, “The pandemic has affected young people, but their contribution towards rebuilding India is awe-inspiring. However, we need to focus on the learning and skilling gap of young people and prepare them with key essential and employability skills for their future. After seeing the impact of #YoungWarrior, I urge my peers and stakeholders in the Private as well as other sectors to come together for #YoungWarriorNXT, so that our Young Warriors can strengthen their role as Young Leaders too.”

15-year old Gauri Nimbalkar, Director, The Association for Youth Wellbeing, one of the young speakers at the event said“With the pandemic disrupting the entire learning and skilling that we have been used to for decades, it worried us as future job-seekers as to how we would be able to navigate our lives going forward. Through #YoungWarriorNXT, I hope to hone my communication and problem-solving skills that will help me not just in my studies and future career but in my personal life as well.”

Sandeep Singh, 22, Champion YuWaah Ninja, Pride of Punjab said, “The pandemic has made us realize the need to take care of our mental and physical health and to upskill ourselves with new skills. I look forward to joining #YoungWarriorNXT to bridge the knowledge and skills gap that will help me advance not just professionally but as an all-rounded individual too!”