Friday, May 30, 2008

Calling Participant to the 7th National Youth Parliament (NYP). Apply Now

The National Youth Commission (NYC) announces its search for delegates to the 7th National Youth Parliament (NYP), a gathering of youth leaders aged 15-30 years old representing youth organizations from around the country to discuss issues affecting them.

Anchored on the theme, Unity in Diversity: An Intercultural and Interfaith Parliament, the 7th NYP will be staged in Davao City on October 19 to 22, 2008. Elected officers during the Parliament will be trained on Leadership and Advocacy on October 23-25, 2008 in the same venue.

According to NYC Commissioner Benjie Oliva, the NYP aims to empower the youth in effectively advocating, lobbying and influencing the policy makers in creating a policy environment supportive of the total development of the young people.

Republic Act 8044 mandates the NYC to convene the NYP every two years to serve as a venue for policy discussions to formulate resolutions that will be presented to the NYC, and later on be advocated to policy makers.

Past NYP delegates have become active partners of NYC not only in promoting and implementing youth programs and projects, but also in advocating for youth issues. The 6th NYP batch has even organized themselves into a confederation of youth advocates. Considerable efforts were made in lobbying for the creation of Local Youth Development Councils (LYDCs) and formulation of Local Youth Development Plans (LYDPs), localization of the Magna Carta for Students' Rights, and promotion of Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH).

Qualifications of applicants for the 7th NYP are as follows: Filipino citizen, between 15 to 30 years old; residing, studying or working at the place/institution for not less than six months; must be a president/officer of a youth organization (school, community, civic, religious, professional, tribal, etc.); must not be a member of any previous National Youth Parliament; must be an SK Provincial/City Federation President, if representing the SK; and must not have been convicted of any crime.

Delegates will be asked to prepare and submit their organization's chosen position paper or study in one of the following topics: Youth Values and Good Citizenship, Youth Community Involvement/Engagement, Youth Participation in Governance, Violence in Youth Organizations, Youth Lifestyles, Peace building, and Specific Youth Groups (Juvenile Justice and substance abuse).

We are expecting some 200 youth leaders to represent their organizations and have their voices heard on vital issues that they face nowadays, says Commissioner Oliva, Chairperson of the 6th National Youth Parliament which was held in Bohol Tropics last October 2006.

NYC will shoulder the food and accommodation of the successful applicants. Application forms are downloadable at the NYC website or visit the NYC office for application forms.

Send applications to the NYP Secretariat, National Youth Commission, 4th Floor Bookman Building, Quezon

Avenue, Banawe, Quezon City on or before June 30, 2008. For queries, call the NYP Secretariat at (02) 749-9404 or 7812373. - Published by the Bohol Standard

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