Key Takeaways
- Anshul Tewari founded Youth Ki Awaaz in 2008, empowering young Indians to share underrepresented stories.
- The platform engages over 200,000 youth monthly, driving tangible changes in communities and national policy.
- Youth Ki Awaaz launched the 'Zero Sehero' campaign in 2023 to foster collective youth climate action.
- The initiative prioritizes authentic storytelling and community building for social change over social media's vanity.
Deep Dive
- Social entrepreneur Anshul Tewari started Youth Ki Awaaz in 2008 as a blog when he was 17.
- Tewari felt disconnected from news that did not reflect his experiences or the voices of young people.
- An initial writer training program attracted only two applicants, who were rigorously trained.
- The blog evolved into India's largest citizen media platform, with over 200,000 young people contributing monthly.
- Youth Ki Awaaz stories have driven tangible change, as exemplified by Ashwini from Rajghat village.
- Ashwini's story about the lack of basic amenities attracted NGOs and decision-makers, leading to government action and electricity for the village.
- Other impacts include the reconstruction of accessible toilets for a wheelchair user and the launch of a menstrual hygiene campaign in Kashmir.
- One narrative about a father stranded in Libya during the Arab Spring resulted in the rescue of 18,000 stranded Indians.
- Youth Ki Awaaz launched the 'Zero Sehero' campaign in 2023 to collectivize young voices on climate change.
- The campaign involved polls, surveys, and training citizens to share climate stories, increasing public conversation and dialogues with policymakers.
- In 2023, a partnership with the National Institute of Urban Affairs created a youth engagement framework for climate decision-making in cities.
- This framework is planned for national rollout, evolving the initiative from individual to collective agency for Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
- Youth Ki Awaaz is developing an AI-powered WhatsApp bot to engage young people daily on critical issues.
- The bot aims to gather data on youth perspectives to inform policymakers effectively.
- The speaker argues that investing in storytelling, collectivizing voices, and building community is more effective for social change than social media built for vanity.
- The organization aims to scale its model for empowering young people globally, leveraging the blueprint developed in India.