This project aims to strengthen the Don’t Stop Dream Team (DSDT) in promoting the rights of young women to become leaders in community activities. The concept of the project arises from a group of young women who are passionate about volunteering and helping the community. We have collaborated and conducted activities to build youth leaders for community development and to create a space for sharing and learning about social activities such as volunteering, understanding oneself and others, creative thinking through analytical tools, leadership skills, and more. Started since the end of 2020, we can see that after the implementation of the Youth Leadership for Community Development (YTD) programme, the results have exceeded expectations. For example, we can now meet the needs of young people in the development of Soft Skills and be able to develop young people who are active in the community beyond expectations. However, the Don’t Stop Dream Team (DSDT) group still faces many limitations and challenges: as an unregistered organisation, the office management system is not yet formalised, there are no permanent staff responsible for each job. For this reason, when we go to implement activities, it is still a problem that society lacks faith in DSDT. In addition to the above challenges, DSDT also sees barriers to the development of our young women, whether it is social acceptance or acceptance of the diversity of young women. 

It has two main approaches:

1. Capacity building for Don’t Stop Dream Team: Organise meetings to review programmes and present project plans, strategic planning, organisational structure and staff management, financial management system and registration as a learning center called “DSDT Center”.
2. Build specific skills for the team, such as center management skills, organisational development, staff management, financial management, administration, upgrading youth leadership, designing creative activities, promoting women’s rights and using GALs to develop youth skills and learning. We also want to hone our skills in creating and producing online media, especially podcasts, and on creative writing so that the DSDT can pass on knowledge to other young women. 

Strengthening capacity for the Don’t Stop Dream Team (DSDT) youth group in promoting the rights of young women to become leaders in their community 

Introduction: 

To cultivate a Don’t Stop Dream Team to become a strong organization in promoting the women right by focusing on LBT young women to amplify the voice of those who are passionate about volunteering and helping society and creating space to share and learn about social activities. 

Project: Strengthening capacity for the Don’t Stop Dream Team youth group in promoting the rights of young women to become leaders in their community, supported by the Voice Program in Laos, which was implemented in 2021-2023 (18 months) with the goal of strengthening our organization, enhancing youth development efforts in Laos, and empowering young women to explore and creatively leveraging their potential, and show the power that is in themselves to be used creatively so that women’s voices are heard, accepted and valued in the identity of women of gender diversity. 

Main content: 

To build the confidence in young women to explore their own potential and share experiences about participation in decision-making processes. This includes decisions related to educational pursuits, career choices, and skill development, and it is necessary to foster a safe space within our program. With our efforts aimed at becoming a strong organization, create guidelines, and conditions for registering organizations, through the implementation of the project throughout the 18-month period. We were able to complete the writing of the first strategic plan of the organization, all of our team went through the training process in both theory and practice by specialized trainers in the subject of: management, financial administration, and office administration, upgrading young female leadership by promoting creative ideas through the design of activities using GALs tools in the youth development and learning  skills; ; the topic of media production skills development which has been used in the organizational development and shared with other organizations. During the implementation of the project, we encountered the challenge of supporting the team during the economic crisis, and the Covid crisis. However, we could implement activities such as training to strengthen the organization and organizing seminars with young women, creating networks and alliances with more social organizations, establishing good relationships with Lao Youth Union. In addition, we have also produced experimental media production works in various formats: Capture Moment Writing, WeVoice Podcast, WE-Talk Xuan Lom which has become one of the voices in campaigning for women’s rights and making us more known in society.  To communicate about our identity to the society and to amplify young women’s voice, so, we continue to implement new methods that we have learned and are trying to use, especially podcasts. Echoing the problems of young women in the current era from total 35 people age between 18-35 were listened and shared in a safe space  

which was held in two platforms both online and in-person in May 2023 at our office under the title: ‘’The power of youth voice in community development” via various methods such as: Life experience exchange, Brainstorm, Pair work, drawing, thinking – Analyzing problems and finding solutions through GALs tool by expanding the knowledge and experience of our team of 8 people who lead the activity this time. 

Summary and lesson learned  

Although we can create various management systems within the organization, it’s essential to plan for finding the right people who will use these systems and drive the organization forward. The skills that strengthened our team of eight throughout the implementation of the WEVoice Podcast. We have utilized the skills that we have fully trained starting from the preparation of the speech that uses the content from all 9 texts of young women, we dare to say that the journey throughout the project has made us understand more about the needs of the youth. More than that, all 8 of us have discovered our potential, our abilities, the goal of our journey. Also, we have traveled to send each other to the shore with skills that are ready to move on to the work of their choice and that is the value of the youth that we discovered in this project.