What is YES Network Pakistan?
Youth Engagement Services (YES) Network Pakistan is a legally registered non-profit organization.YES Network Pakistan has played a pioneer role in introducing the concepts of youth service and youth social entrepreneurship in the country. It has trained and engaged youth and youth serving institutions in designing and implementation of youth-led service projects. YES Network Pakistan has pioneered the concept of treating disadvantaged youth living in low-income communities “as a solution, not as a problem” in the country. YES Network Pakistan creates opportunities for youth to become self-reliant and contributing members of the society. It provides an effective mechanism to youth especially poor and socially-excluded youth to reintegrate into the society as active citizens and not as citizens in waiting. Our idea is based on the concept that we should stop treating young people as empty vessels into which we pour our wisdom and instead we should treat young people as the most promising resource available to us in developing a new societal structure and meeting the high service needs of our communities. YES Network Pakistan is playing a leadership role in promoting the agenda of youth service and youth social entrepreneurship among public and private organizations as well as educational institutions. We support youth and youth-serving organizations both technically and financially in launching community-based youth-led social enterprises. We create awareness about the concept of youth social entrepreneurship and youth service among the citizen sector, business and academic audiences. We strengthen small-sized and medium-sized youth-led social enterprises for the spread of social innovation locally. Our Youth Service program is recognized as a profound idea with society-changing potential by Ashoka, Innovators for the Public, a global organization that pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship. We are affiliated with International Association for National Youth Service and Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Organizations. We have strong ties with Innovations in Civic Participation, an organization based in Washington, DC and leading service campaign globally.
Salient Features of Our Program
- It assists youth to serve rather than to be served.
- It combats social exclusion by inviting left out youth to show-off their talents and creative abilities.
- It provides society with more workers at less expense.
- It provides an effective mechanism for economic development.
- It views youth as an underutilized resource.
- It transforms youth from citizens-in-waiting to citizens-in-action.
- It contributes to employment policy by providing first ever experience to many hard-to-reach youth full time work experience.
- It helps youth to build social capital while serving others.
- It helps youth to re-brand their image within families and societies.
- It serves as preparation for responsible citizenship as youth gain understanding that comes from serving others.
- It assists in heading-off violence, crime and terrorism from the society by engaging young people in constructive activities.
- It provides the experiential education needed to counter balance the years of largely passive education received by youth in classroom.
- It creates young social entrepreneurs at local level.
