93 Y-PEER members participated in a 4-day Design Thinking Workshop and 2-day Y-PEER Meet

A total of 93 Y-PEER members from colleges under Royal University of Bhutan and Technical Training Institutes participated in a 4-day Design Thinking Workshop and 2-day Y-PEER Meet held from December 23-26 at Punakha Central School.

The workshop focused on equipping youth with skills to identify issues and prototype innovative solutions through a structured design thinking process. This initiative aimed to nurture creative problem-solving skills among the participants. Since Y-PEER is a network of youth peer educators specialised in the promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) among youth through peer-to-peer approach, these social innovation skills helped them identify emerging SRHR issues in the communities and explore innovative solutions to address them through Y-PEER activities.

Some of the issues challenged during the workshop were family planning, gender-based violence, cyberbullying leading to mental health issues, stigma and discrimination faced by people with disability, child marriage, unintended pregnancy, menstrual health and hygiene and promoting LGBTQ+ Rights. By the end of the workshop, the participants presented their innovative prototype ideas to address these issues highlighting the need for wider advocacy and awareness campaigns about these issues and the solutions.

The objective of the Y-PEER Meet was to provide a platform where the members would share their experiences, engage in meaningful interactions and discuss future plans and strategies to strengthen and expand the network. Seventeen Y-PEER networks participated in the Y-PEER Meet where the network of Jigme Singye Wangchuck School of Law was awarded the best network for 2024 through the conduct of six competitions among the networks.

The Programme and Youth Coordination Division of the Department of Education Programmes, jointly with the Royal Institute of Management conducted the workshop. It was supported by UNFPA in Bhutan.