My experiences at the One Asia Youth Council Mongolia

 It was a heart warming experience for me to be there, to be with bright men and women from different parts of Asian continent. The warm reception at the Chingis Khan airport is almost unforgettable for me. Around 60 - 70 young people greeted me with claps and slogans. Mr Ayush, who is the president of Mongolian Youth Federation was present to welcome me to Mongolia. I was sent to my hotel in a car and a young girl accompanied me to the hotel. She remained my guide in Mongolia for the entire event. The entire city of Ulaanbaatar, was decorated with the flags of different Asian countries to welcome the foreign delegates. The landscape captured my eyes, as well as my heart as I was driven to my hotel. From Chingis Khan airport to the Chingis Khan hotel, I had a royal reception followed by a royal lunch, which was again followed by a royal stay.

The council was organised by the Asian Youth Council, the World Association of youth in partnership with Mongolian Youth Federation and the government of Mongolia. There were delegates from different parts of Asia who represented their country at the prestigious forum. The main objectives of the forum was to bring the young people together to exchange ideas for the betterment of youth of Asia. The forum also aimed to help young people build good relationships with each other. Harshit was the only Indian at the prestigious meeting.

Banner of One Asia youth Council near Chingis Square

The aim of the General Assembly was to foster relationships between delegates from member countries, promote inter-country dialogue and provide a platform for delegates to develop a proposal for submission to the SDG Working Commission on Youth’s Role in the future Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals that have been identified by the One Asia Youth Council General Assembly, which are :

1. End poverty in all its forms, everywhere

2. End Hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well being for all at all ages

4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation

10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

11. Make cities and human settlements safe, resilient and sustainable

12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13. Take urgent actions to combat climate change and its impact

14. Conserve and sustainably use the ocean, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainable manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

THEME: Youth’s Role in the future Sustainable Development Goals

Sub-topics

 · Education

· Employment

· Health and Gender

· Youth’s Role in the SDGs

· Youth Policies and Programmes for achieving sustainable development Additional Sessions:

· Youth Entrepreneurship and Business Leaders Conference

· North East Asian Conference for Regional Cooperation As the global community transition from the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), significant consideration needs to be given to youth’s role in shaping and achieving these future targets.

 Despite significant progress in many Asian countries towards achieving the MDGs, significant gaps remain, in particular relating to youth issues. As young people aged between 10-24 years account for 1.8 billion of the world’s population, the input of young people is essential to devising sustainable and targeted measures to foster more inclusive practices of decision-making and deliberation on sustainable development issues. The 2015 Assembly was built upon the 2013 AYC Assembly theme of Youth and Peace: Strengthening Peace, Stability and Development through Education, by addressing the causes and challenges to achieving peace, stability and sustainable development and defining Asian youth priorities for the future SDGs.

OBJECTIVES

 · Development of an Ulaanbaatar Declaration of Asian Youth Priorities in SDGs

· Development of a proposal for submission to the SDG Working Commission on Asian youth priorities to feed into the intergovernmental process the for development of SDGs

· Development of an action-oriented Action Plan for future AYC collaboration and activities

 · Strengthen connections between participants, share knowledge and experiences

 · Improve youth involvement in decision-making processes

Paying homage to the great Chingis Khan at the Chingis Square, Ulanbaatar

My experiences in Mongolia

The event began on  19th May 2015. A cultural program was organised for all the foreign delegates at the Parliament House of Mongolia. The wonderful event was followed by the speech of President of Mongolia. In his speech the President of Mongolia encouraged young people from across the Asian continent to share their ideas freely so that Mongolia could learn from them. He further said that around 40% percent of Mongolian population is young, thus exchanging ideas to form policies for young people is crucial. In his speech the President also told us about what Mongolia can offer to the world in terms of minerals and fresh water. The speeches of dignitaries were followed by a lunch in the parliament house and group discussions.

Many people were curious to know about my life coaching profession. They were curious to know about India as well. While the discussions were going on, I was able to get media attention. I must say that our Prime Minister's visit has made a positive impact on Mongolian people.

Some of the questions that were asked to me were :

a) What does India offer to the world in terms of the potential of youth?

answer. India is the youngest nation of the world. We are 1.2 billion people and 50% of our population is aged between 18 - 25. 65% of our population is between 18 - 35. Our young people are skilled and can speak good English. We have huge work force that is serving the world in so many ways and lot of people from around the world can make use of it.

b) What kind of profession attract Indian people?

answer. Mostly, Indian young people aim to be in good engineering colleges and then they want to top up their engineering qualification with Business administration degree. There is a tough competition to be in good engineering college or a Business school. Engineering and business administration is followed by medical profession, many young people aspire for it. Joining the defence forces is also very popular amongst the Indian youth.

c) Does government of India supports the young people to become self employed or to be business entrepreneur?

answer. Yes, there are effective policies that support young people to start their own ventures however most young people prefer to take job experience before starting their own business and they use their own money as well as bank loans to start their business. Not many people make use of government schemes due to lack of knowledge, trust and also because of the complicated processes of the bureaucratic system

d) Are their people who do not have sex relation with their wives in order to practice Yoga?

answer. Yes, there are some people in India who do not have sex relationship with their wives after few years of marriage. Thereafter, both husband and wife practice some form of Yoga. These days, percentage of such people is not very high.

e) What is Yoga? Why do some people in India stay single and do not marry.

answer. Yoga is a Sanskrit word which means - 'Union'. The purpose of Yoga is to help mankind achieve union with their source. It is a science and it demands discipline. One of the discipline of Yoga is abstinence from sex. Some people in India relate with yoga so profoundly that they choose to follow the discipline of abstinence from sex throughout their life. Yoga is not just about abstinence from sex, it is about making an effort to realize our true potential and be free from the attachments and fears that bind us to this relative existence. There are other disciplines such as truthfulness, non-violence, cleanliness of body, mind and speech which should be practiced to achieve the main goal of Yoga - i.e. 'union with our source or union with God'. However, there are very few people who follow yoga so diligently. Most  people follow the discipline moderately.

f) We are told that condition of women is bad, rapes and domestic violence is very common in India. Can you tell us more about that?

Answer. Yes, we are facing this challenge, but people around the world are also facing this challenge. However, women in India are getting educated, they perform better in academics than boys and many of them are successful entrepreneurs. The CEO of Pepsi, Indira Nooyi is from India. Our ex President was a woman. The head of Congress party, which is one of the main political party of India is a woman. Currently our foreign minister is a woman. The good news is that the young people have started to talk about sensitive topics quite openly in India, and they want to change things. India or any other country cannot prosper until the condition of women improves.

My interview by the Mongolian National TV

Likewise, there were many other questions that were asked by different media houses. One thing is for sure, that all of them wanted to know about India. I remember one episode while I was having coffee with one of my dear friend in a cafeteria some girls came to me and initiated conversation with me. 'Oh! we know about India, we have seen that movie - Slumdog Millionaire', they said. It wasn't really nice to hear that all that these women knew about India is the infamous dharavi slum of Mumbai. Is India a poor country? they asked me. My reply to them was Yes and No. However I told them about the bright side of my country, about the chadrayaan( Satellite that India sent to the moon) and mangalyaan (Satellite that India sent to the Mars) . They heard me with amazement. I also told them about the IT sector and competent doctors. But India is a hot country, isn't it? Many people over there wanted to know this. Fortunately or unfortunately these people do not know that much about India as much they know about New Delhi. I said yes New Delhi is a hot city of India but do you know that the second coldest place on earth is in India, and the temperatures over here can go down till -50 degree? This surprised many people in Mongolia.

My profession helped me to get closer to the people of Mongolia and many of them made a choice to share their heart with me. As in India, so in Mongolia - It is not easy to talk about personal matters. There are so many great things about the people of Mongolia. They can go out of their way to help you. If they like you then they just give their heart away. Most people in Mongolia were cautious of the fact that I was their guest. They would repeatedly say to me - 'you are our guest and it is our duty to take care of you'.

With the foreign delegates outside the Parliament house, Mongolia

In Mongolia, I also got the opportunity to do a life skills workshop with the young members of the Rotract Club. A young lady, Soyombo invited me to the famous Department store of Ulaanbaatar to do the workshop. It was a heartening experience to interact with the young, energetic and motivated people of Mongolia.

Workshop for the members of Rotract Club at the Department Store, Ulanbaatar

The One Asia Youth Council was a platform to meet with so many young people from around the continent. For the first time in my life I met Kazak nationals. They were so sweet and kind towards me and were curious to know about India. They told me that although Kazakhstan was the third nation of the world to have a nuclear bomb, they have opted to discard it. The Russians wanted to know about India and its culture, there were young boys from Afganisthan and they were so fluent in hindi that many Indians would be awed. The most interesting episode was to meet Gilbert from Philippines. After he heard that I am from India, he greeted me with namaste and started talking with me in Hindi. Gilbert is studying doing a masters degree to study about Indian sociology. I was the only delegate from India and it was a humbling experience indeed.

The forum organised a group discussion to form policies to execute the 17 goals as described above. I shared some of my ideas on the challenges faced by the youth. Many young people liked my idea that the youth should not be judged and they should be treated with empathy and respect. Youth does not like advices and lectures and every individual has a unique potential, the elders should be the facilitators and not the advisors for their welfare. On the second day of the meeting we also learnt about what Mongolia can offer to the world in terms of business opportunities. Netherlands in investing the most in this country. I could not see much Indian investment except some bajaj motorcycles and Himalayan products. Nevertheless, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has an art of living centre in Mongolia as well. I also saw, Mandala yoga over there.

Another moving experience was to go to my friend's Suren's house. She is a very bright girl, who is studying clinical psychology in New Delhi. Her father is a monk, but lives with them in their house. I taught some yoga and pranayam to their family members and they loved it, especially Suren's father. He was so thrilled with the breathing exercises. I also explored the country side of the great country and it was a breathtaking experience.

With Suren's family after the yoga session

My journey in Mongolia ended after 10 days but the memories are going to be with me forever.