DAY-1 25th July, 2009 – What The YP Stands For

· In Concert: A performance by Swarathma, a leading music band in the country. Swarathma was formed in 2002, as a Bangalore based Indian Folk/fusion band. They released their debut album on Virgin Records and were nominated for the Jack Daniels Indian Rock Awards in 2008. Winners of the Radio City Live 2006 nation wide content for Bangalore’s Best Band in 2006 and were finalists for the Radio City Live content for India’s best Hindi Band. In 2008 Swarathma recorded for a compilation album funded by the British Council. They have performed both in India and internationally.


· In Exhibit: 7 Years of The YP: Artwork, paintings, photography and installation art showcasing young people’s work with the issues we work with.


· In Film: Digital Stories by the YP’s Youth-led Staff: featuring staff members' journeys with The YP Foundation, on what it means to run a youth-led organization and projects that create social change. Supported by the Global Fund for Children and the Centre for Digital Storytelling, USA.


Venue: The Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre

TYPF Birthday Teaser

What happens when you take forty young people, put them in a room, and let them design projects about the issues that matter to them?

What happens when you give young people the skills and the self-belief to actually make a difference to the world around them?

What happens when you try to bottle the madness, the creativity, and the excitement with which the youth works, and use it to inspire others?

What makes so many young people come and work insane hours, day after day, despite how much it annoys their families and friends?

We, The YP Foundation, have been doing it for seven years now, and we discover a new answer for these questions each year, with every new team and with every new project. TYPF is a space where young people are given a chance to design and run projects about the issues that they’re passionate about. These issues range from governance and the law to sexuality, health, rights and HIV/AIDS; from original music in India to adolescent issues in schools; from using film and literature for social change to working with urban slum children.

We first used to be The Youth Parliament, now we’re registered as The YP Foundation, and we’re turning seven this July. And on this occasion, we have taken a stab at defining what The YP means. What it means to our staff, to our volunteers, to our alumni, to our stakeholders and to our audience.

So, come join us in celebrating seven years of our work, seven years of social change, and see the evolving answers to the questions we posed in the beginning of this post.

Venue: India Habitat Centre
Date: 25th and 26th July, 2009

Current Projects

A few of the projects that are currently functioning in the YP are:

1. The Blending Spectrum Project which works with providing healthcare and non-formal education in the form of certain life-skills training (hygiene, memory etc) to urban street children in Delhi. We work with a team of 30 volunteers and reach out to over 110 children over our two locations: the Nizamuddin Basti (South Delhi) and the Sarai Hostel (North Delhi).

2. Project 19 is a 3 year long initiative set up to work with young people on the issues of HIV/AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights. By training young people in Delhi to conduct awareness workshops and discussions around issues of sexuality, gender, identity and sexual reproductive health we are helping to break down the culture of silence and taboo around these issues and provide spaces where accurate information can be disseminated to young people.

3. The Butterfly Project provides young film-makers and writers with the training, resources and platforms to engage with socio-cultural issues through audio-visual and written mediums. Through the publication of our magazine, The Bridge and our annual film festival - The Film Series, we provide young people with alternative mediums to connect with issues they are passionate about and work towards social change and justice.

4. The RTI Programme provides young people with a space to engage with the legislative systems in our country, demystifying the laws, their application and the political process as a whole with the larger aim of encouraging a culture of active citizenship amongst the youth. The project undertaken by this branch is What Does Your Vote Want?, a non-partisan, non-political initiative set up to prepare young people for the upcoming General Elections, be it by providing them with the necessary information required to get registered as a voter, or by creating dialogue for young people to discus issues around politics, governance and voting.

5. VOICES - The School Project looks at taking the education programmes for school students beyond the formal structure of the classroom by conducting specialized awareness workshops on issues of peer-pressure, bullying and mental heath. Through these workshops, conducted by college students who act as peer-educators, VOICES aims at developing an informed decision making capacity and stronger life skills for adolescent students in urban Delhi schools.

6. Silhouette supports young people working in the fields of performing and visual arts by providing them with a platform to showcase their work, and a space to exchange ideas, information and innovation between artists, amateurs, professionals and enthusiasts. This year, Silhouette is focusing on issues of music education and careers in music through conducting workshops and organizing performance platforms.


More information about these projects will be available soon, please subscribe via email for further updates.