OIYP Oxfam International Youth Program 2007 – 2010.
OIYP is the Oxfam International Youth Partnership program. It is made up of 300 young people (called as action partners) aged 18-25 from around the world. The aim of the program is to build the capacity of the Action Partners as facilitators of change. I am currently part of the OIYP 2007 – 2010. This means that through the OIYP Program from 2007 to the year 2010, Oxfam creates opportunities for dialogue, learning and challenging for its partners around the world. Over time, personal change in Action Partners will translate into social, economic and political change within individual communities, in regions and across the globe.
Many Action Partners are working in partnership with their own communities. Many are agitating for change institutionally. All are likely to be challenging existing structures that create inequality in their communities, countries and regions. The majority of young people in the network are working in their own communities in the Global South. OIYP has a focus on young people from marginalized communities but includes diverse young people working in different ways to achieve change.
I made many efforts for getting selected in this wonderful program. I knew OIYP is a wonderful opportunity for me to work with the marginalized communities for integrated sustainable development. As a professional social worker and a grass-root volunteer I had adequate knowledge in understanding the rural communities and I expected OIYP could teach me further the various successful approaches / strategies being implemented across the globe. I believe that this opportunity shall help me work better at the grass-root community level. With this background I applied for OIYP, and from day 1 of the application process I somehow felt that would be part of the new Action Partners team. Later this dream of mine has come true with the official Invitation from Oxfam to attend Kaleidoscope event, to be held at Sydney, Australia.
KALEIODOSCOPE:
Kaleidoscope is a wonderful event brining 300 Action partners together. This event is organized for 8 days at Kings School, Paramatta, Sydney, AUSTRALIA. The event focused on addressing issues of social injustice and upgrading skills and knowledge to all action partners in the areas of self interest. An event with 300 Action Partners involved in various stages of skill sharing and adopting successful approaches / strategies for the development of communities is highly appreciated. And all through my active participation at kaleidoscope, I learnt several topics / issues of interest.
