British Council is working with young people to help them recognize their potential and exercise their responsibility to engage effectively in positive development of their communities at local and international level through its new project Active Citizens. This project will create an opportunity for the young active citizens to engage in their communities on small scale projects of real and lasting value

Engagement with Active Citizens will lead the youth to self awareness and understanding of their local communities. This will provide them with motivation to work and care for their community and will make them aware of their communities’ position in the world and how their local action has global significance.

In the context of this project young people will do things locally, but they will be able to learn about the challenges affecting other young active citizens around the world. The project’s Active Citizens will have the opportunity of a global platform to share their experience of working with their communities in the UK. Through the intercultural sharing of stories, the British Council will promote a discussion of shared behaviours and values across the world community of active citizens

The scope of this project in the first year was a pilot, focused at Bhaktapur.  The subsequent two years of the project aims to reach wider communities in Nepal.

700 young people from four districts, Bhaktapur, Dang, Dhading and Morang became active citizens on 2010

The training in in these 4 areas were held from August to October 2010.

200 young people from Bhaktapur became Active Citizens in 2009-10

British Council and Association of Youth Organisations in Nepal (AYON) launched a new project Active Citizens on 17 December 2009 at the presence of Secretary of Youth Ministry Mr Sushil Jung Bahadur Rana and His Excellency British Ambassador Dr Andrew Hall

200 young people from Bhaktapur were chosen as Active Citizens in December 2009 and those young people received trainings developed by British Council and AYON in January 2010. The training was focused on areas like leadership, communication, advocacy, citizenship; volunteering, social action project delivery, fund-raising, entrepreneurship, partnership and network building. It was delivered in two phases: Develop locally and Share Globally.

Active Citizens provided 41 proposals for doing the Social Action Projects , out of which British Council selected to fund small grants to following 7 different projects.

These youth were engaged in working with the Social Action projects in their communities. The projects ranged from teaching the kids at schools to waste management. Find out their activities from here.