Paramita Banerjee, a black coffee-drinking social activist, left academia thirty years ago to work with young people to bring about a world where every young voice counts. Since the late 1980s, she has worked on issues of gender and sexuality, HIV/AIDS, adolescent and youth development, and children's rights. She specializes in research, capacity building, participatory evaluation, strategic planning, leadership development, community mobilization and documentation. Her professional involvement with renowned national and international social development organizations has enabled her to acquire a breadth and depth of expertise and experience. She is co-founder and functional director of DIKSHA (Discovering Inner Knowledge & Sexual Health Awareness).
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What is your vision of youth empowerment? Why is it important to create a youth empowerment circle today?
I'm a social entrepreneur striving to change the ecosystem in which the adult world continually denies young people autonomy and agency, on the assumption that adults know better than young people. Empowering young people is an indispensable process for changing the system. I dream of a world that offers young people safe spaces to share their problems and concerns, their dreams and aspirations, and to make informed decisions about their lives. This is my vision of youth empowerment - an ecosystem that enables children and young people to be the authors of their own life scenarios. System change is impossible for any one individual or organization to achieve alone - no matter how powerful the individual or how large and resourced the organization. It requires partnerships and collaboration. That's why we need a youth empowerment circle NOW. Without powerful new visions from empowered young people, the SDGs will remain a pipe dream until well after the target year of 2030. We cannot delay this process any longer than we already have. What do you think should be the priorities of this circle?
What do you think the priorities of this circle should be?
Each of the SDGs is important, and it's difficult to prioritize some over others. Even so, SDGs 3, 4, 5 and 10 should be the priorities for youth empowerment, as empowerment itself would be truncated without these goals. However, I'd like to make it clear in this context that, in my view, to achieve MDG 3, you need to be free from hunger and poverty.
What are the ideal circle results?
- Strong regional youth empowerment circles, made up of youth-led and youth-focused organizations, to identify obstacles to youth empowerment in different geographical areas, ensuring that the most marginalized voices are heard. These circles should be linked to the global circle, of course.
- Develop regional action plans to overcome these obstacles and implementation processes (roadmaps with clearly defined milestones).
- Ensure that these action plans influence national government youth policies and programs, through advocacy and lobbying.
- Establish systems of government accountability at national, regional and global levels.
