AYC BACKGROUND

ASIAN YOUTH COUNCIL

 Introduction

Asian Youth Council (AYC) is a non-governmental, youth serving, regional organization formed on the 14^th of August 1972 to promote solidarity and family spirit among young people in Asia as well as to strengthen national youth organizations in the region.

For the past 38 years, AYC has been actively involved front and centre with issues concerning youths. The AYC has made a leap with two effective and productive Asian Youth Forums the past two years under its belt.

The year 2006 in Batam, Indonesia, AYC has successfully organized the Asian Youth Forum with the theme “Millennium Development Goals: Is the Future Within Reach?” National Youth Councils in Asia came together united under the Batam Declaration seeking to Build, Activate, Transfer, Assist and Mobilize the local, regional and national youth councils to engage in effective partnerships with the private and the public sectors in our quest to achieve the MDG’s.

The Batam declaration also emphasizes on the importance and significance of formally involving the youth into government policy making processes in each of the participating countries.

AYC seeks to promote and empower youths to respond on the issues of the Millennium Development Goals. During the 2007 Asian Youth Forum in Beijing, China with the theme “Dynamic Asia: Entrepreneurial Youth”, AYC has encouraged youths to venture into entrepreneurship.

AYC’s President has also called on all National Youth Councils to ensure that youth entrepreneurship is incorporated in their national youth policy and other policy documents. One of the region’s great success stories has been China which between 1990 and 2004 reduced the incidence of extreme poverty from 33 to 10 percent, thus surpassing the 2015 target –and taking a vast number of people out of poverty.

Sharp reductions have also occurred in Indonesia and Thailand. On the other hand, between the early 1990s and early 2000s, it is clear that some countries have slipped backwards. AYC is firm in its commitments to identify priority areas where progress towards the MDG is slow or lacking and to lay out a strategic plan on how to combat the issues.

AYC serves to play its role as a platform for knowledge sharing and information transfer amongst its member countries. Representatives from AYC have countlessly been given the honour to speak and present papers during international forums, conferences and seminars. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between AYC and the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation. The MoU aims to create as well as promote collaboration and cooperation between the two distinguished organization for the benefit and interest of youth in the economic, social, cultural and humanitarian domain respectively.

The Asian nation are mostly plagued with issues concerning on education, employment, drugs and health. Various programs focusing on these issues are being planned. As a youth serving organization, the AYC will remain focused on its objectives to achieve the target of the MDG’s and WPAY and will forge partnerships with various other international youth organizations.