Kathmandu, April 13, 2018: Youth, who are a demographic majority in Nepal, can be a critical engine for accelerating positive change by addressing alarming domestic youth employment issues. Yuwa Aaja! is a 3-year
campaign of the Daayitwa Movement, supported by UK Aid and organized in collaboration with ILO, to
promote youth employment by 1) understanding key issues, 2) supporting youth to lead evidence-based
policy and social reforms and 3) promoting multi-stakeholder knowledge-sharing. On April 10th, the
Campaign Launch and Multi-stakeholder Discussion held at Hotel Himalaya, Kupondole from 9:30AM –
1:30PM convened change-agents from public, private, and social sectors as well as international
development community to launch the 3-year campaign, understand key youth employment issues and
explore opportunities for policy and social reforms.
Honorable Gokarna Bista, Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security, Chief Guest at the program
stated that the government will prioritize employment generation in sectors of agriculture, tourism,
science and technology, medicinal plants, minerals, and provision of special facilities and subsidies to
employment generating sectors. He encouraged Yuwa Aaja Campaign by committing to value the
learnings generated during the course of the campaign.
Ms. Yam Kumari Khatiwada, Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies was present in the
event as the distinguished guest. During the event Dr. Rurik Marsden, Head of DFID Nepal added that
“young people can be transformational drivers of change and young people need to be involved in the
policy conversations about nurturing economy in all 3 spheres of Nepal’s federal system of governance.
It’s not just about one big policy conversation, but 761 different policy conversations in the 761 new governments.”
During the launch, Mr. Anand Bagaria, Managing Director of Nimbus Holdings Pvt. Ltd. Ms. Jasmine
Rajbhandari, Senior Social Protection Specialist, World Bank Group, Mr. Sujan Jojiju, Under Secretary at
Ministry of Labour and Employment, and Social Protection and Ms. Rita Thapa, Founder of Tewa shared
their views in a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities for youth employment in Nepal.
Importance of employment related information symmetry, incentivizing job creating enterprises,
ongoing revisions on labour laws and policies, and need to re-invest in private sectors were amongst the
crucial issues raised in the panel.
A Yuwa Bhela in the afternoon included a puppet show followed by panel discussion comprising of young
and aspirational youths, namely Faiza Parween, Meghna Lama, Nishan Shrestha, and Dr. Santosh Poudel.
The panelists shared their entrepreneurial journey and encouraged youth to investigate opportunities in
Nepal.
Daayitwa had conducted similar multi-stakeholder consultations at the local level in Palpa and at the
provincial level in Butwal in March. Based on the findings from initial research and issues identified at the
local, provincial, and federal levels, 30 Innovation Leaders from Palpa, Rupandehi, and Kathmandu will
be selected to lead campaigns to advocate for policies promoting domestic youth employment.
Daayitwa envisions an enterprising Nepal where every citizen has an opportunity for prosperous
future. Through a national enterprise campaign, Daayitwa aims to promote inclusive and
enterprise-driven economic growth. For more information, please visit www.daayitwa.org.
