The project is implemented in four phases:
Phase I : Steering Committee Formation: A Steering Committee, chaired by the Mayor and with pertinent representatives from political committees and administrative divisions, and key societal stakeholders is formed. The Committee is oriented to understand the key aspects of economic growth and governance leadership and apply the understanding to recognize the issue of youth employment. During scoping sessions, the Committee will brainstorm and determine a focus area for the municipality to take collective policy action.
Phase II : Leadership Capacity Building: The Committee begins receiving leadership and policy innovation training to strengthen its capacity to promote opportunities for youth employment in the municipality. The course will have two components: i) understanding key facets of economic policy reform, and ii) developing a leadership lens to policy actions. The training will be implemented in three sets of 2-day modules across phases II and III.
Phase III : Collective Action Initiative: The Committee authorizes a Task Force, of pertinent members of the municipality and community stakeholders, to create an action plan in the determined focus area of youth employment generation and deliver tangible results in 100 days. During the stakeholder orientation, the task force will receive feedback from senior government officials. A review workshop will kick off the first day, followed by review sessions at the end of each 25-day quarter of the 100-day initiative. On the hundredth day, the task force will present the final results and project learning and the Committee will decide on the best course of action to scale up the learning.
Phase IV : Knowledge Sharing: The knowledge sharing phase deliberately engages the dialogue about the role of innovation in economic governance. The learnings from the project will be used to inform op-eds and articles for related journals, as well as video stories wherein stakeholders will share their insights and observations. Finally, a Governance Symposium will be held on the hundredth day to share project findings and development with relevant stakeholders and government officials.
The activities in each of the four phases contribute to enhancing the leadership and innovation capacity of the local government so it can effectively address the problem of youth unemployment and create innovative strategies to address the challenge. The project aims to accelerate Nepal's inclusive economic growth by strengthening the leadership and innovation capacity of municipal governments to play an active role in their communities to promote youth employment and to address the structural barriers.
Pilot Phase
LEG was piloted in Musikot, Sunwal, and Tilottama municipality in Lumbini province. The LEG project in these three municipalities was the collaborative effort of Daayitwa, Nepal Leadership Academy, and Governance Lab with the support from Lang Center for Civic Responsibility at Swarthmore College and the US Embassy, Nepal.