YES AYV Creative Youth Media Project Wins WSYA 2013

YES AYV Creative Youth Media Project implemented by Shilpa Sayura has won WSYA 2013 Award. YES AYV is a Sri Lankan platform that has trained more than 100 youngsters in digital media creation in order to make an impact in the local community with the help of creative digital art. YES AYV Creative Youth Media Project started in 2011 with UNHABITAT and Adobe Youth Voices support. They have trained more than 100 under-served youngsters in digital media creation, enabled collaboration, expression, dialog and digital journalism to report on issues related to them in pursuit of truth, made success in creation and publishing of digital media on interactive social platforms making them active participants in the public interest of their community, country and world. The think an effective use of media creation tools, Social Networks and Mobiles inspires youth to use digital journalism to inquire MDG related issues.

http://www.youthaward.org/winners/yes-ayv-creative-youth-media-project


The World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) is a unique global contest which brings together young developers and digital entrepreneurs under 30 years of age - who use internet and mobile technology to put the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) into action and make a difference.

The WSYA selects and promotes best practice in e-Content. It demonstrates young people's potential to create outstanding digital contents and serves as a platform for people from all UN member states to work together in the efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

WSYA Award was given away at WSA Global Congress held in Sri Lanka.

YES on Sunday Times (MAY 26 2013)

YES - Youth Empowerment Society Wins the Youth Solutions World Bank-Microsoft award

Four innovative Youth Solutions were selected winners at the Regional Grant Competition, jointly organized by The World Bank, Microsoft Sri Lanka and Sarvodaya Fusion!


The competition titled ‘Youth Solutions! Technology for Skills and Employment’ was held at the Cinnamon Grand, Colombo on Tuesday, with youth-led NGOs from Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka participating.

YES - Youth Empowerment Society from Sri Lanka, YPSA from Bangladesh, YUWA from Nepal, Live & Learn Environmental Education from the Maldives were the winners of the competition that sought ideas from youth on how to use innovative and creative methods to promote Information Technology (IT) skills amongst youth, helping them to secure gainful employment.


Seen here are members of the YES - Youth Empowerment Society Sri Lanka–Mithun Kumarasinghe, Poornima Meegammana, Niranjan Meegammana (extreme right), Wajira Madhushka.

Eight NGOs, two from each country, presented their shortlisted projects with the aim of being selected for the grant programme. A total of 80 project proposals were submitted, all based on using ICT to address present day challenges faced by youth, such as lack of skills development and unemployment, the organizers said in a media release.

Each winning project received a grant of between US$15,000 and $20,000 to carry out a youth-led project for one year in duration, with the possibility of being scaled up via other public or private sector initiatives.

The panel of judges comprised Gabriela Aguilar, Senior Communications Officer for World Bank, South Asia; Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, Country Manager of Microsoft Sri Lanka; Anurag Kak, Managing Director, Lafarge Mahaweli Cement (Pvt) Ltd; Ms Moji Akingbade, General Manager of Avery Dennison Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and Gaurav Mishra, Asia Vice President of Insights, Innovation & Social at MSLGROUP.

The project proposal submitted by YES - Youth Empowerment Society, an organization aimed at empowering youth through ICT skills was to empower youth to produce 10 high impact films on current social issues. The project titled “Digital Rainbow” will train at least 100 youth to become film makers, a still developing industry in the country, which will offer great potential for interested youth.
According to the World Bank, South Asia created nearly 800,000 jobs per month between 2000 and 2010. However, despite growth, the region is still home to the largest number of the world’s poor – half a billion people. Since labour is the primary asset of the poor, having more and better jobs is the key employment challenge facing the region.

Janakie Karunarathne, Manager, Community Affairs of Microsoft Sri Lanka, said that Microsoft is proud to have collaborated with the World Bank in this effort to capture the youthful enthusiasm and innovative aspirations of four countries. “The youth NGOs chosen today from each respective country would work towards alleviating the challenges, such as lack of skills and unemployment in their individual countries through the use of Information and Communication Technology,” she added.