LEG aims to accelerate Nepal's inclusive economic growth by strengthening the leadership and innovation capacity of municipal governments to play an active role in their communities to promote youth employment and to address the structural barriers.
The program is implemented in four phases:
Phase I : Steering Committee Formation: A Steering Committee, chaired by the Mayor and with pertinent representatives from political committees and administrative divisions, and key societal stakeholders is formed. The Committee is oriented to understand the key aspects of economic growth and governance leadership and apply the understanding to recognize the issue of youth employment. During scoping sessions, the Committee brainstorms and determines a focus area for the municipality to take collective policy action.
Phase II : Leadership Capacity Building: The Committee begins receiving leadership and policy innovation training to strengthen its capacity to promote opportunities for youth employment in the municipality. The course has two components: i) understanding key facets of economic policy reform, and ii) developing a leadership lens to policy actions.
Phase III : Collective Action Initiative: The Committee authorizes a Task Force, of pertinent members of the municipality and community stakeholders, to create an action plan in the determined focus area of youth employment generation and deliver tangible results in 100 days. During the stakeholder orientation, the task force receives feedback from senior government officials. A review workshop kicks off the first day, followed by review sessions at the end of each 25-day quarter of the 100-day initiative. On the hundredth day, the task force presents the final results and program learning and the Committee decides on the best course of action to scale up the learning.
Phase IV : Knowledge Sharing: The learnings from the program is used to inform op-eds and articles for related journals, as well as video stories wherein stakeholders share their insights and observations. Finally, a Governance Symposium is held on the hundredth day to share program findings and development with relevant stakeholders and government officials.