August 12 is celebrated as the International Youth day, a day designated for adolescents to celebrate and voice their opinions, actions and initiatives. It was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999, based on the recommendation of the World Conference of Ministers of Youth in the previous year.
Carrying a different theme each year, the theme of the 2020 International Youth Day is “Youth Engagement for Global Action”. It intends to highlight the youth engagement at the local, national and global level that will enrich national and multilateral institutions and processes, in addition to draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.
The International Youth Day 2020 is an important momentum to raise public awareness towards the challenges and strategic role of adolescents, dominated by the Millennials and GenZ, as the main actors of development.
To embrace adolescents, BKKBN always create programs that would be relevant to their needs and lifestyle. At the end of 2019, BKKBN was rebranded and changed their main features and plan of actions to match the needs of Millennials and GenZ through a slogan Berencana Itu Keren (Well-planned is Awe-inspiring). The program primarily targets Millennials ages 10-24 and unmarried, to expose them further about life and family planning.
The Millennials are those who were born between 1980 and 1996 and play a key role in development process in 2020. Surrounded by technology during childhood and exposed to the internet, this generation is known to be savvy users of sophisticated smartphones and social media. They have the potential to become the agent of change and provide education in an attractive way to the public.
The “Banggakencana” program seeks to maximize the opportunity to capture demographic bonus as a result of the efforts to regulate births and to contribute to improving development performance. The program is expected to educate adolescents in preparing themselves as future parents who are well-equipped to raise healthy families of their own, to nurture the next generation, and to partake in development process.
A “GenRe”, short for Generasi Berencana (Well-Planned Generation) is expected to not engage with two key problems that adolescents experience, namely promiscuity and drug abuse. They are to embrace the triple values of adolescent reproductive health or TRIAD KK, namely premarital abstinence, delay of age of first marriage, and no drug abuse. Those preventive values are aimed to inspire adolescents to be the best version of themselves, to be a dignified generation for a better Indonesia.
The series of activities carried on by BKKBN on the 2020 International Youth Day are as follows:
- Broadcasting the theme song “Berencana Itu Keren” on local TV and radio stations
- Disseminating infographics themed “Rencanakan Aksi Kerenmu” (Plan Your Inspiring Actions) on social media channels of GenRe Indonesia
- Disseminating videographics of “Rencanakan Aksi Kerenmu” (Plan Your Inspiring Actions) on the social media channels of GenRe Indonesia
- Interactive talk show on local TV and radio stations
- Webinar “Kiprah Milenial Dalam Gerakan Global Cegah COVID-19 dan Dampaknya” (Millennials in the Global Action to Prevent COVID-19 and its Impacts”
- Webinar “Bersama Remaja Disabilitas Tingkatkan Program GenRe Pada Adaptasi Kebiasaan Baru” (Promoting “GenRe” Program in the New Normal Together with Youth with Disabilities)”
- Promoting International Family Day on the social media channels of GenRe Indonesia and local online media.
In an era affected by Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, social actions that are carried out by adolescents are essential. Their actions can inspire and increase their representation and participation in every aspect of life.