We believe!
BCIS-YCL Awards 2008:
A great leader once said, ‘Great powers come with great
responsibilities’. From where does this great power come from? As human
beings we all are born with power but unfortunately only a few of us are
aware of it and make use of this power.
The greatest power we have is the power to serve the world and it
does not need any money or status. People think only super heroes have
great powers and people who serve the world are heroes.
This is true but again we don’t see the super heroes in our
day-to-day life who try to make this world a better place.
We don’t see the people who does community service as heroes.
But from Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) we have
launched a programme to search for these super heroes.
We at Youth Empowerment Division (YED) of BCIS believe that youth is
not a problem to this country but they are the solution to the problems
in our country.
We believe that youth is the strength of the country and we believe
that youth who try to make their community/country a better place are
the heroes who will be the future leaders of our country who will lead
our nation to success.
The BDIS-Young Community Leader (YCL) Awards is the reward we have
for our super heroes.
BCIS-YCL Awards is an annual national awards ceremony organised by
the YED of BCIS to recognise and reward the youth activists/young
community leaders, aged 15-30 years who have rendered commendable
services and vibrant leadership in the community development sphere and
further it will serve as a catalyst to promote volunteerism.
In our communities we find people who have dedicated their lives for
community work and social welfare without any personal gain but just for
the well being of the community and country. Have we ever admired their
service? Have we ever encouraged or appreciated their service? Have we
ever seen them as heroes? Have we ever considered them as our future
leaders? These are few questions we have tried to answer through
BCIS-YCL Awards.
We have identified 15 categories where we can reward our young
community leaders such as; peace building, human rights, women’s rights,
child rights, community health, environmental sustainability,
employment/livelihood development, youth empowerment, disaster
management, education, culture and arts, agriculture and irrigation,
HIV/AIDS, sports and information communication technology.
And we will be awarding gold, silver and bronze medals to the three
best performers from each prescribed category that has done something to
promote the specific category in the community.
From among the above medallists, the best performer will be crowned
as the Most Outstanding Young Community Leader of the Year and he/she
will be given a Rs. 1 million project grant to further their community
work.
As the Head of the Secretariat, I consider this an honour to be given
such an opportunity to recognise the true future leaders of our country
as we are looking at searching for gems that would bring grace and glory
to Mother Lanka.
The BCIS-YCL Awards consist of several panels which represent various
levels, disciplines, backgrounds and age categories which will form a
well balanced structure that will strengthen the whole process.
An honorary Advisory Panel, nominated by the Council of Management
and comprised eminent luminaries representatives from Ministry of Youth
Affairs, Ministry of Mass Media and Information, National Youth Service
Council, Corporate Sector and other various Non-Government Organisations
will be guiding the Steering Committee throughout the whole process and
will give policy guidance pertaining to all aspects of the project.
A panel of judges who are experts and specialists in the prescribed
15 categories will be appointed by the Council of Management of the BCIS
on the recommendations of the Steering Committee to select the
outstanding community leaders in each category as well as the most
outstanding young community leader of the year.
A group of young people between age 15-30, representing various
youth/religious community development organisations and schools are the
Steering Committee of BCIS-YCL Awards which is the heart of the entire
project comprised young volunteers.
They will draft policy, set criteria and draw-out plans in respect of
all aspects of the YCL awards for the ratification by the Council of
Management.
They will nominate the Panel of Judges and will also be the watch-dog
in ensuring the total transparency and impartiality of the selection
process.
This body is also responsible for planning, co-ordination and
implementation of programme, logistics and media aspect of the award
ceremony.
I would like to invite all the young community leaders aged 15-30
years, please let us serve you and honour your yeoman service.
Applications could be downloaded from www.bcis.edu.lk/ycl and for
more details, please contact 011-2698019 or 077—3988093.
Rangamini Werawatta
Head BCIS-YCL Awards Secretariat
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