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By actively engaging youth and Indigenous communities in all programme planning and implementation, UNESCO will pursue a strategic intervention in all  areas of its mandate and at all levels of action that will not only address young people as beneficiaries but will also engage with them as change-makers, knowledge-holders, and partners. 

Aimed at empowering Nepali youth to navigate the complexities of the digital revolution, UNESCO identified nine youth champions from seven provinces of Nepal. With the goal of improving youths' digital citizenship skills, UNESCO and the International Youth Media Summit, under the theme "Combating Infodemic," successfully brought together a group of Youth Media Champions (YMCs) who conducted community-level interventions and sensitization initiatives on Media and Information Literacy. 

The YMCs launched a Change Initiative programme in their communities, specifically targeting other young people and indigenous people in their communities, Dalits, and persons living with disabilities. This initiative empowered them with critical thinking and analysis skills, developed their capacity to remain safe online, helped them identify accurate information, encouraged the exercise of freedom of expression, and fostered online content creation. The YMCs' change initiative reached around 200 community members in the year of its inception in 2023, and continues to expand. 

Youth from Indigenous communities play a crucial role in protecting and promoting Indigenous languages within their communities. There is a strong need to raise awareness and enhance the involvement of Indigenous youth in policy dialogues and language preservation and use efforts. Empowering Indigenous youth to initiate grassroots activities in rural areas is essential for the promotion and revitalization of Indigenous languages.  

As part of this initiative, UNESCO identified three Indigenous Youth Champions. These champions were empowered and provided with a platform to engage with other young people, helping communities understand the value of Indigenous languages. They implemented their ideas related to Indigenous languages, traditional knowledge, and community engagement. 

• Indigenous Language-Driven Customary Adaptation Strategies in the Everest Region of Nepal: The Nawa Custom 
  by Pasang Ngima Sherpa 

• Whispers of Heritage: An Exploration of Nepali Youths’ Disengagement from Indigenous Languages 
  by Sacistha Shrestha 

• Bantawa Voices: Intergenerational Conversation Workshop on Traditional Bantawa Knowledge Transmission and the Importance of Language 
  by Ladip Ma Kirati  

Through these initiatives, Indigenous youth played an active role in promoting cultural preservation, digital empowerment, access to information, biodiversity conservation, climate action, and artistic expression in Indigenous languages.