Happy New Year and cheers to youth!

Let’s make 2015 the year that youth are making a truly active contribution to agricultural development!

Thank you for being part of a very successful year and I hope you are ready to take on 2015. At YPARD we have been developing the capacity of young professionals, advocating for their involvement in agricultural development and ensuring that they have a place in deciding their future. We’ve been working hard, with some fantastic activities in 2014.

Highlights for 2014

• New YPARD country representatives for 16 new representatives for: Croatia, Azerbaijan, India, Pakistan, Cameroon, the Netherlands, Hungary, Republic of Kosovo, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Tanzania, Turkey, Brazil, Egypt and Colombia.
• 2300 new YPARD members in 2014 and 200 new blog posts on www.ypard.net
• A successful interactive Youth session at Forests Asia Summit with participants and coached and trained young facilitators
• Development of a 2014-2018 business plan with YPARD members and partners
• New logo for a changing YPARD
• External Review completed and suggestions taken onboard
• Global Landscapes Forum (part of COP20) ambitious Youth Program, including online and onsite masterclasses, networking and mentoring programs, a youth session and core active role of the youth during the GLF
• Very first YPARD European strategic meeting
• New YPARD Steering Committee members (more info to come)
• A new regional coordinator for YPARD LAC : Gipsy Bocanegra
• A new web&comms officer: Amelia Ochoa and three interns during 2014: Madan, Madhu and Gwladys
• Supporting the CRPs in exploring better and stronger youth engagement - the Dryland Systems CRP now has a youth strategy, with input from YPARD.

See YPARD in 2014’s infographic to get a sight of how YPARD Community has evolved in 2014.

Our focus for 2015

• Launching of the YPARD mentoring program
• Stronger regional representation
• Strengthened capacity development of YPARD representatives as national youth leaders
• More opportunities, information, networking and value for members

YPARD is a movement. A movement of people who believe in a sustainable agricultural development that meets the needs of the poor, without depleting the world’s resources. This includes you, as a young professional or as a supporter of young professionals. Let’s make the movement grow. Let’s work together to make 2015 the year that agricultural development becomes more dynamic, representative and truly focused on engaging the youth. Join us, take part, become involved. 2015 is going to be a great year.