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Education Youth Ambassadors Programme

INTRODUCTION

The Education Youth Ambassador (EYA) programme was set up in September 2014by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi in collaboration with A World at School (AWAS). It has been established to build on and strengthen the emerging youth movement for global education.

Since its launch, the programme now operates independently and forms a growing network of over 300 youth ambassadors in Pakistan campaigning for all children to realise their right to go to school and learn.

Over the last year, EYAs have organised and participated at a number of events, including hosting informative sessions to mark International Women’s Day, planning vigils for the Peshawar school attack, and contributing to the National Education Policy by voicing their recommendations and expressing the changes they want to see in education in Pakistan. They have also written stories for the UNESCO Youth Global Monitoring Report, as well as countless articles and blogs bringing to light some of the issues they have faced in going to school.

The Ambassadors have also helped mobilise more than 2 million petition signatures across Pakistan for A World at School’s #UpForSchool campaign – calling on world leaders to ensure that every child is able to go to school, without danger or discrimination. The campaign has gathered more than 9 million signatures and will be presented to world leaders during the United Nations General Assembly for action on education. With the support of our EYA network, we had also run various remarkable campaigns on girls’ education, with many of them volunteering to host screenings and awareness sessions in various schools across Pakistan.

WHO CAN APPLY TO BECOME AN EYA

To become an EYA, you need to meet certain criteria as listed below:

• Must be 18-29 years old.

• Must be enrolled in college/university or at least have a college degree/higher secondary school certificate.

• Have access to the Internet at least 3-5 hours a week.

• Keen to show leadership within your community or organisation with a particular interest in education.

• Have a demonstrated interest and passion for universal education and learning for all children.

• Confident at writing and presenting.

• Able to connect to a network of individuals – whether it is a school community, youth group, community or other network.

• Understand clearly issues of access, quality and equity in education in the context of Pakistan.

• Always ready to speak up and take action for education in your community.

• Have no political interests or agendas for the EYA programme. This campaign supports no particular political party and is designed ONLY to promote quality education and learning for ALL, equally.

• Prepared not to use your role as an EYA or the Logo to promote your own political views or for any commercial gain or in connection with any activity that might be encouraging violence, hatred, or is discriminatory on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

• It is essential that all EYAs adhere to all applicable laws and not to do, write or say anything that could compromise safety or create a risk to people (including yourself) or property.

WHAT AN EYA IS EXPECTED TO DO

• EYAs will commit to get engaged in various volunteer activities at Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ASER/Right to Education/Children Literature Festival/ITA partners).

• Mobilise and motivate other young people to stand up for education.

• Make their voices heard in their communities by organizing events, participating in campaigns, writing letters to the editor, running petition drives and taking part in other campaign activities.

• Make their voices heard globally by writing blogs and news stories and sharing photographs and videos from events and projects for the ITA website and social media channels as well as for their partners.

• Organise and get involved with events and campaigns with their organization and schools and/or in partnership with other EYAs. Engage with their local stakeholders to achieve better results for education in Pakistan.

WHAT AN EYA RECEIVES

The Youth Ambassadors receive the support needed from ITA to mobilise others for action. This includes:

• Opportunity to be considered for participation at international conferences, courses, seminars and other events.

• Opportunity to attend training workshops and youth gatherings (quarterly).

• Access to campaigning tool kits with information and assets needed to run events and mobilisation campaigns in your community and online.

• Access to private social networking groups to speak with like-minded young people from all over the globe to share best practices, challenges and ideas.

• Invitations to participate in online forums and discussions with young people.

• Opportunity to be featured on the Right to Education website and other partners’ platforms including AWAS.

• Opportunity to be featured on our social media pages.

• Access to ITA’s campaign email list that will keep you updated with the latest information and news, resources, research and policies in Pakistan.

• Mentoring and other support from ITA and its partners.

• The opportunity to work alongside the ASER team, and be a part of the nationwide survey, to gather primary data relating to education of children aged 3-16 years.

• Access to and information about upcoming conferences and seminars that they may attend to provide their inputs and learn about issues pertaining to access, quality and equity in education.

• A special EYA T Shirt, Cap & ID Card with a unique ID number.

• Opportunity to participate and present at end-of-year conference.

• Opportunity to get an internship opportunity at Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (after one year of active engagement as an EYA).

• Supervisory roles in various village level (rural areas) initiatives by ITA.

• Opportunity to earn credits through engagement (participation in activities) which will lead to selection among top ten EYAs for the end of year conference. (Top 10 EYAs will be the ones who have scored maximum credits)