Active Citizens was a social leadership training programme that promoted intercultural dialogue and community-led social development.Through the programme, British Council brought together people with different beliefs and perspectives to learn from and share with each other. Working with our partners around the globe, British Council trained participants in the skills and knowledge needed to affect social change in the communities. Active Citizens connected hundreds of like-minded people around the world who collectively wanted to make a fairer and more inclusive society.
Active Citizen in association with Youth Organization of Nepal (AYON) was launched in Nepal in December 2009.
The main aim of the project in Nepal was:
- 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.
- To create an opportunity for the young active citizens to engage in their communities on small scale projects of real and lasting value
- Lead the youth to self-awareness and understanding of their local communities.
- Motivation the youth to work and care for their community and make them aware of their communities’ position in the world and how their local action has global significance.
- Create opportunities of global platform to share experience of working with local communities in the UK through intercultural sharing of stories.
The programme was jointly developed and delivered by the British Council and AYON. Four facilitators from AYON were send to Bangladesh and Pakistan to explore the Active citizens programme run by British Council in the respective countries and developed a training manual to be implemented in Nepal.By the end of the project period- 1000 young leaders were trained and 50 social action projects were delivered in four districts of Nepal- Bhaktapur, Dang, Dhading and Morang.
A short video of the project while it was being implemented with counterparts from UK: video link