INDIAN SOCIAL WORK AND RESEARCH CENTRE WINS 1995 ESCAP AWARD
Press Release
ESCAP/251
INDIAN SOCIAL WORK AND RESEARCH CENTRE WINS 1995 ESCAP AWARD
19960308 BANGKOK, 8 March (United Nations Information Services) - The Social Work and Research Centre, known as the Barefoot College, located in Rajasthan, India, has been selected as the winner of the 1995 ESCAP Human Resources Development (HRD) Award.The Award will be presented to the Director of the Center, Bunker Roy, on 22 April at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok during the fifty-second session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
An independent international jury selected the Centre as a winner of the Award because of its innovative programmes to promote employment for rural youth in India. The Barefoot College is a non-formal training institute that caters to "unemployable" young men and women who have been rejected by the formal education system.
The Barefoot College was founded in 1972 based on the belief that village youth can be trained by their peers in a variety of higher skills that do not require degrees. The skills taught are intended to enable the graduates to provide basic services at the village level, including health care, education and trades and crafts.
Remarkable achievements have been recorded by the Barefoot College. Two generations of teachers, doctors and engineers have passed through the College and are now providing basic services to support their communities. Once considered "unemployable", these graduates have become productive members of their communities.
Rural youth have been trained and employed to run schools for boys and girls; training camps and workshops have been organized to upgrade the skills of young artisans. Trained as engineers and mechanics, the youth are providing such services as installing and maintaining solar electricity systems to provide basic lighting and hand pumps to provide safe drinking water to over 1.8 million villagers.
The Human Resources Development Award was established in 1990 by ESCAP as a means of encouraging exemplary achievement in human resources development. The special theme topic for the 1995 Award was "Human Resources Development to Promote Productive Employment for Youth". The 1995 Award is being sponsored by the Government of Japan. The winner will receive a cash prize of $20,000.
In addition to the winner, three runners-up were selected. The Viet Nam Youth Federation was selected as first runner-up. The Underprivileged Children's Educational Program, an organization from Bangladesh, was selected as the second runner-up. Phra Payom Palayano, Abbot of the Buddhist temple Wat Suan Kaew, located in Nonthaburi, Thailand, also received an honorable mention.
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