April News /

YES Network in Nagaland, India Launches OVER a 2-Day Workshop

Government and university officials, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and youth leaders met for a workshop in mid-December, 2004 to launch a state-level YES Network in Nagaland, India. The workshop focused on challenges and opportunities facing Nagaland’s 42,000 educated, unemployed youth.

Striking a theme that was heard throughout the two-day conference, opening speaker Mr. Paul Lokho of the Indo-Global Social Service Society, exhorted young people to “start talking about employment rather than unemployment.” He called for a paradigm shift, urging youth to stop looking for jobs only in the government sector and seize the “great opportunities” available in other sectors.

Subsequent speakers spelled out some of those opportunities—including ways youth can create their own employment through entrepreneurial efforts. For example, panelists in a session on Information Communication Technologies (ICT) and Employment spoke of business opportunities created by globalization and the IT revolution, including distance education, training, healthcare, food security, and environment management.

Several speakers also spoke of the local needs in Nagaland and the tremendous potential for agricultural enterprises. Only 17% of cultivatable land is currently in use for agriculture—in part because of a shortage of skilled labor. According to panelists in a session on Nagaland’s economy, most degree holders refuse to look for work in the agricultural sector because they don’t see that work as a white collar job. But speakers pointed out several promising avenues for young entrepreneurs, including:

• Land use planning and management
• Biodiversity (such as research and patenting of flora and fauna unique to the region)
• Medicinal plants
• Eco and cultural tourism
• Bamboo technology

The consistent message of the workshop was that entrepreneurship is the solution to the unemployment problem in Nagaland. Speakers identified the need to provide training and support for young entrepreneurs. At the same time, they called on youth to break with the past and make a shift in mindset: Instead of looking for jobs in the usual places (namely the government sector), think creatively about employment and take some risks.

The Nagaland workshop was hosted by AIDA (Agency For Integral Development Actions), Dimapur and sponsored by the Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS), N.E Region.

For more information contact:
PK Joseph - pk@yesweb.org