Summit

Year 2010-11 is being observed all over the globe as the “Year of Youth”.
One Young Kashmir - Youth Leadership Summit marked the year of the Kashmiri Youth in a first of its kind youth led effort. A week long summit held between 20th – 27th March 2011 at SKICC, Srinagar, focused on Kashmir in context to the roles, responsibilities and rights of the young generation of the valley.

The OYK - Youth Leadership Summit was a youth-led initiative supported and mentored by Mercy Corps and was in recognition to the United Nations International Year of Youth.  The event aimed at providing a physical platform beyond social networking to Kashmiri Youth, to enable them to share thoughts and ideas pertaining to the three themes of Culture, Rights and Economy. The overall aim of the summit was to ignite the idea of individual and collective leadership and responsibility-taking among the youth.

The main feature of the Summit were the three problem solving days on the Culture, Rights and Economy issues with special emphasis on Kashmir. Groups of youth got together to express their opinions on various facets of these issues, attempting to diagnose and problem solve these youth-identified issues through a novel participatory process that harnesses the combined value of Youth Imagination and Expert Knowledge.

The youth suggested solutions in accordance with their common aspirations. Experts from different walks of life were on hand to assist them in expressing their opinions effectively, feeding into the larger idea of a synergy between Youth Imagination and Expert Knowledge, producing better results. The technology-enabled participatory planning problem-solving process ensured that everyone participated; that no idea was lost; that iterative discussions took place; that participant’s anonymity was maintained; that there was a clear articulation of priorities; and that there was timely and transparent reporting.

Participants to the OYK - Youth Leadership Summit were selected from among students, working professionals, young entrepreneurs, etc. in the age-group 17-30 years. Each application was evaluated thoroughly, and participants were short-listed on the basis of their level of understanding of, passion for and potential ability to contribute on issues that concern Kashmiri youth.

Schedule Overview

Youth Leadership Summit 2011

Dream.. Think.. Discuss.. Act

What	Day	Day	Time	Location
Starting Up - Opening Session	Sunday	March 20, 2011	1400 hrs -1730 hrs	SKICC
Problem Solving Day 1 - Culture	Monday	March 21, 2011	1000 hrs -1700 hrs	SKICC
Problem Solving Day 2 - Rights	Tuesday	March 22, 2011	1000 hrs -1700 hrs	SKICC
Problem Solving Day 3 - Economy	Wednesday	March 23, 2011	1000 hrs -1700 hrs	SKICC
Our Voice - Creative Expression Day	Thursday	March 24, 2011	1000 hrs -1700 hrs	SKICC
Day of Actionction	Friday	March 25, 2011
Stepping Forward - Closing Session	Saturday	March 26, 2011	1400 hrs -1730 hrs	SKICC