Rural-Urban youth migration becoming a major problem in the country, the My Gakidh Village initiative in Punakha is playing its own part in tackling this issue.
My Gakidh Village is a joint initiative of the Bhutan Youth Development Fund and Aide et Action International. It has around 24 youth members who actively engage in project activities while staying back in the community.
Started in 2013, the My Gakidh Village project aims to curb rural-urban youth migration by enabling youth to stay in the village. It aims at enhancing rural livelihood opportunities through skill development of the youths, reviving traditional art and culture within the community and also training them to become local guides or manage homestays.
It also empowers youth leaders and fosters community development by providing capacity building training on the promotion of heritage trails, digital literacy skills and engaging youth in tea production.
“My Gakidh Village is a pilot project in our country and so far we are on the right track. Of course, we have some difficulties like youths being not really patient, they often lose their mind to go back to the city and work. But we are holding them and we can say this is one of our successes so far that youth are still staying in the village today,” said Tshering Dem, the Focal Person for the My Gakidh Village project.
With additional funding and technical support from UNDP and WWF Bhutan, My Gakidh village is developing and scaling ecotourism and environmental conservation projects alongside livelihood initiatives for youth.
One of the major initiatives of My Gakidh Village includes the development of the 21 km Divine Madman’s eco-trail that starts from Dochula pass and descends downhill till Chhimi Lhakhang in Punakha. Others include the establishment of a tailoring unit, a processing and packaging unit of Bhutanese tea, and several homestays.
“Our future plan is to bring more activities in our village so that more youth can stay back in our village and to improve our community, to have a good relationship with our community and to be a good example for other countries or other dzongkhags as we are the pilot project,” she added.
Meanwhile the project aims to extend its reach to other dzongkhags while building the current one as a strong example.
Sangay Dorj
