Much more is expected to be said about this report, the findings of which were able to create major waves across the country’s media and generate interest in the government.

The study behind the report was commissioned specifically to understand aspects of how the youth of Pakistan affect demographics, what their opinions are in these troubling times, and what economic climates they will be facing. This is important because they need to be seen discreetly. Half the citizens of the country are under 20 and two-thirds are below 30.

Not only did the survey garner local and international media attention but the Governments of Pakistan and the UK too responded in kind, using the findings of the ground-breaking report to understand and address a major part of Pakistan’s population.

The report was compiled after an exhaustive process, and lists more than 2,500 people as authors; it is also unique because it was an open source (allowing young people to give policy advice via the web and consultations). Nielson, the research firm, did the polling, while international and national research scholars did the rest.

In the wake of the report, the Ministry of Youth Affairs asked the British Council to facilitate an Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee. The objective of the Committee is to work as a forum to review plans, design youth-related policies and projects, and to create linkages with communities and stakeholders.

A significant output of the report was a seminar with the Planning Commission. The focus of the seminar was on Pakistan’s demographic bulge with respect to the proper development of its youth population. The objective of the seminar was also to raise awareness toward the important youth related issues and to identify critical policy interventions.

The open source methodology created a database of 1200 young people. They will now be encouraged to get involved in the consultative process for the implementation of the country’s youth policy.

To read the report and its findings, please click here

Generating Debate

Leading newspapers in Pakistan as well as in the UK, USA and India, covered the release and findings of The Next Generation Report. These included three of Pakistan’s major English dailies, ‘Dawn’, ‘The News’ and ‘Daily Times’, while in the UK, ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The Telegraph’ discussed the implications of the report.

In the US, ‘The New York Times’ shed light on the Next Generation Report.

Dawn News, a bilingual television channel, aired an exclusive programme on the report where British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and British Council Country Director, David Martin were invited to answer questions by a panel of young Pakistanis.