Our core work is around ‘identities’ - exploring how they get constructed and exposing the dynamics of that construction so that it allows for identity to become a unifying rather than a divisive factor.
Yakjah is a network of youth for peace building; a non partisan platform for young people to discover their own excellence, attributes and talent for personal transformation and social change. Through experiential workshops, youth across different communities, faith traditions and regions learn how to create a unifying perspective and generative leadership for peaceful co-existence, advancement of knowledge and craft a progressive vision for their regions.
Since 2002, Yakjah has been working with the youth of Jammu & Kashmir for peace building in the state. Our work aims to open spaces for critical enquiry, cooperative enquiry, self enquiry and collective enquiry. Yakjah’s thought leaders are trained as facilitators, healers, counsellors, planners, storytellers, campaigners, peace advocates, mentors, community workers and social change agents.
At the core of our idea lies the vision to bring local and global perspectives into a common space to create unifying and just notions of peace.
Yakjah has been working in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh since 2002. It formerly registered as a non –profit organization in 2010. In the last eight years, Yakjah has touched around 1200 young people, girls and boys in the age group of 17 -29 years, across all the three regions. Yakjah promotes and encourages gender parity, the participation of women in political, developmental and social processes.
Yakjah workshops help young people to discover their potential and imagination for transforming conflictual relationships to harmonious ones, responding to conflicts, external stimuli, crisis and challenging situations in a creative way. They learn skills to negotiate, mediate, active listening and dialogue. The workshops help them to understand different concepts like interconnectedness, inclusiveness, gender, self-transcendence, leadership, power, peace, security, justice and reconciliation. Workshops also open a space for self-inquiry and reflect on emotions like fear, aggression, hate, desolation etc.
Yakjah also provides mentoring to help young people transit to become peace practitioners and changemakers. Yakjah workshops not only prepare the young people to become global thought leaders but also active members of their society for social change and progress.
