National Youth Parliament (NYP)
The National Youth Parliament is the democratically elected voice of Afghan’s young people and NYP is a young people’s parliament mechanism which is designed by young people and led by young people for the benefit of young people. NYP is committed to ensuring young people are heard by the decision makers of Afghanistan and NYP is determined to campaign on the issues which matter most to the Afghan’s youth.
The National Youth Parliament represents Afghan’s young people inside Afghanistan and is dedicated to the delivery of positive outcomes for Afghanistan’s young people to build next generation parliament members. For the last decade the NYP has been at the forefront of youth engagement in civic democracy, working directly with young people of Afghanistan by the Deputy Ministry of Youth Affairs of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and support of the United Nations, but because of the budget issue the program has been stopped by the government ministry and made them unable to run the program for the youth parliament in their next year session. NYP connects young people with local, national and international decision-making structures to allow them to influence and make the link to democracy and politics. We support leadership and active citizenship by helping young people make an impact on the issues they are passionate about. The National Youth Parliament is committed to supporting young people to raise their voice, understand the democratic process and understand their rights as a young person. We use our experience of participatory methods to ensure the sessions are engaging and where possible, allowing for young people to engage within democracy or enabling them to have their voice heard through community mapping exercises, consultations, etc. Each session is tailored to the specific requirements of the Universities Students and/or Organization.
Program Concept:
This is followed by four to five days’ workshop for committee work at the end of each year. During this time the delegates discuss a problematic topic on current national and international political matters and write a resolution on how to deal with the issue. A member of the Afghan Parliament or some alternative expert will generally visit once to answer questions and quickly discuss the topic with the Committee. The session’s ends with a General Assembly, in which the committee resolutions are looked through, altered and approved (or if the resolution is found unacceptable, not approved). The National Youth Parliament will be not performing only inside Afghanistan but the AIYA will connect the youth members to participate in International youth parliaments for best practice in overseas, For the duration of the Session, the participants are divided into national and international working groups (committees) that draft resolutions on their respective topics.
In these groups, the task of the young people is to come up with their own suggestions and ideas for Afghan’s most pressing challenges. The results are then presented and debated in a parliamentary assembly at the end of the Session. Through its sessions the NYP aims at promoting active Afghan citizenship, intercultural dialogue and Afghan values. Sessions increase the participants’ knowledge about Afghan’s cultural diversity, prepare them for active participation in society, contribute to the development of their personal skills and provide a forum for debate and reflection on current topics of Afghanistan politics and it will also bring in the result the solidarity and unity among the youth.
Aims and Objectives:
- To raise awareness of Afghanistan issues, encourage active Afghan citizenship and motivate young people to get involved in the world politics issues.
- To promote international understanding, intercultural dialogue and diversity of ideas and practices and contribute to the personal skills development of Afghan youth.
- To provide a forum in which young people can express their own opinions, without reverting to role play.