DEPDC plans to train 100 Myanmar youth on leadership skills, survival techniques, non-profit structure, and safe migration, so that these future leaders can return to their hometowns and initiate their own projects. The goal is to begin a larger grassroots movement that can reach more people and can inspire young, creative leaders to combat the most concerning problems in their own areas, especially with the recent rise in undocumented migration, which has led to an increased trafficking risk.
Undocumented migration is one of the leading causes of trafficking, according to the United Nations Office on drug and crime. Traffickers aim to gain control over their victims by forcing them into labor in exchange for transportation. Because many of these migrants hold no recognition as citizens for any government, they often have no outside support to stop exploitation. Furthermore the intervention from outside organizations, not understanding the system, can be more destructive than helpful.
This project intends to train 100 Shan state youth who live in at-risk areas and are interested in combating what they see is the biggest issue with their villages: at-risk, undocumented migration. These youth will learn non-profit and training skills to begin their own initiatives, which will lead to more local efforts rather than foreign interventions. The hope is that this will also spark a trend as more youth train more people to begin advocating for their own areas.
This project will educate 100 Shan youth who will in turn educate hundreds of local villages in Shan state about safe migration. Even more, these Shan leaders will be put in contact with a previous project, Mekong Youth Union, to connect with organizations across five countries that are working to end at-risk migration. This network will expand to affect at least 10,000 people, a fantastic step in the direction of ending trafficking abuse of undocumented migrants.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
