With six youth fellows selected from communities in Costa Rica, Panama, Kenya, India and Thailand, the Indigenous-Led Education (ILED) Network’s Youth Fellowship is off to a promising start.
Wapor Monthaarri, ILED Youth Fellowship participant from the Mowakhi community in Thailand, with Ellen-Rose Kambel, co-founder of the network.
ILED Youth Fellowship Programme to support the next generation of leaders
The ILED network advocates for Indigenous education initiatives that center around grassroots efforts to uphold, preserve, and pass on ways of life, knowledge, and language to youth. These aim to connect different generations and improve Indigenous resilience.
This is why we are pleased to announce the launch of a new flagship program for the ILED Network: the ILED Youth Fellowship. It supports Indigenous youth who are actively involved in existing Indigenous educational projects within their community or aspire to develop and contribute to new educational initiatives. The program also aims to provide resources and encouragement to youth. This boosts their involvement and empowers them as future leaders, representatives, knowledge keepers, and transmitters within their own communities.
What brought us here?
Over the past year, each of the ILED partners contributed to a collective review and discussion about the future priorities and activities of the network. A program actively engaging the younger generations in ILED activities and investing in future leadership was identified as a priority. In early 2023, we secured funding for an initial pilot phase of six youth fellowships.
What will we be doing?
We strongly believe that the resilience of Indigenous communities depends on the engagement of children and youth. Therefore, the aim of these fellowships is to empower and engage Indigenous youth in grassroots ILED projects, and in shaping the network itself. The ILED youth fellowship will also support youth in gaining skills, confidence, and motivation. Our hope is to ensure their long-term involvement as future ILED leaders. This also means to sow seeds for the development of new ILED initiatives.
We also recognize the unique position that the youth hold as agents within the education system, setting them apart from other members of the community. Young individuals are more attuned to the needs of their peers, thus understanding the best ways for youth to learn in their own community. Furthermore, as members of ILED, they can enrich knowledge transmission channels, involving younger generations and relying less on elders. In turn, this Fellowship sustains and supports the Indigenous youth already involved in these initiatives and values their work by providing material support to encourage its continuation.
Finally, the Fellowship will also create opportunities for the youth fellows to connect with each other. Through online meet-ups, the youth fellows can build their international network, exchange experiences, and learn from one another. In addition, we will invite trainers and other experts to further enhance the fellows’ knowledge and skills in specific areas. Some examples are digital and multimedia storytelling, fundraising and reporting, or the creation of cultural community centers and archives.
The ILED Youth Fellowship is in tune a bigger global movement that promotes the involvement of Indigenous Youth. Happening from the 16th to the 20th of October, check out the UN Global Indigenous Youth Forum.
Stay tuned and follow us on our Instagram @ilednetwork to get to know our ILED Youth Fellowip participants better, and visit our webpage to learn more about ILED.
