Introduction
The Planning Commission of Pakistan is entrusted with the task of overall development, planning and policy-making of the country. We at Planning Commission believe that by establishing a link between Planning Commission, academia and youth of Pakistan, innovative ideas regarding policy formulation and implementation can be harnessed.
In this regard, Planning Commission is pleased to initiate a new initiative called “Young Development Corps (YDC)”.
YDC seeks to create a link of Planning Commission with the universities of Pakistan, where the intellectual/social capital of this country resides, but will also ensure that the youth be actively engaged in setting a positive development based narrative of the country. This will help the Planning Commission to revitalize itself as a premier development think tank with input from young and ambitious minds, and will also enable students from the selected universities to make contribution towards national development by applying their skills to solve development problems through an established university platform. The key objective of the Project is to directly involve youth in the socio-economic development of Pakistan and generate a citizen feedback system that prioritizes issues and shapes the paradigm in which all actors can act together in a cohesively productive manner.
YDC would be established as a decentralized body consisting of several tiers i.e. the Planning Commission, assigned Young Development Fellows, industrial linkages’/liaison offices of selected universities, selected Campus Ambassadors and selected YDC members. The first step in effective implementation of the project is to set up YDC chapter at university campuses to raise awareness about the program, followed by appointment of Campus Ambassadors (CA) and other positions to create YDC bodies at campuses.
Scope
Young Development Corps in its inception stage will be launched in universities all over Pakistan. Initially the number of universities targeted will not be many; rationale behind selecting a few universities initially is to ensure that early efforts are easily manageable. The program would be institutionalized upon proper evaluation of the results and successful completion of the first year. Planning and Commission aims to make Young Development Corp sustainable and an independent body which can function on its own.
Objectives
The objectives of this program are following;
- To create linkages of the Planning Commission with universities where intellectual capital of the country lies.
- Young Development Corps acknowledges the fact that a large chunk of our population constitutes of youth and it will be a shame if no efforts are made to steer them into a positive and productive direction.
- YDC aims to engage youth in a way where energy of the youth is harnessed in a positive manner for a better Pakistan
- To disseminate new policies of the Planning Commission and create awareness regarding pressing national development issues among university students.
- To take the Vision 2025 goals and pillars down to university level in order to generate input from the youth
- To launch various campaigns, events and competitions regarding development plans and policies in selected universities.
- To execute a two-way feedback model, to communicate program updates as well as to get feedback on current and future policies of the government.
- To create a talent pool from which students can be recruited and selected for Summer Internship program as well as Young Development Fellowship.
- To engage students in development discourse to transform the national narrative into a positive one.
- To generate innovative and implementable ideas regarding development sector.
- To actively mobilize youth to participate in the socio-economic development of Pakistan.
- To create positivity and optimism in the youth.
- Steering the youth into productive development activities.
- To create inclusive policies by taking on board the youth through such forums.