THE National Youth Development Network (NYDN) is, currently, soliciting sponsorship from corporate Guyana for its youth festival to be staged from October 23 to 26 at the Sophia Exhibition Complex, Greater Georgetown.
But, so far, it has not been able to get any, according to Chairman of the National Implementation Committee, Mr. Zaman Shaw.

However, he told the Guyana Chronicle, yesterday, that the engagements are ongoing, as the NYDN has received a few promises.
The youth festival was launched last month under the theme ‘Fusion of our strengths, celebrating what is right with our destiny.’
Shaw had advised, then, that the organisation is working towards a tentative budget of $4M for the staging which, this year, will be a three-day extravaganza, with an opening ceremony on October 23 and ending with a grand October 26 ‘Guyana Night’.
The series of planned activities include an ongoing media campaign, with daily uploads on social media websites, radio and television programmes and the production of a magazine.
Shaw said the NYDN has already partnered with Youth Media Guyana, which will be executing the public relations tasks for the festival.
Among other parts of the festival are youth and stakeholders dialogue forums, exhibitions and a youth opportunity launch pad to provide a space for showcasing and introducing new campaigns and initiatives, also targeting an innovation hub to facilitate young people.
Success stories
Additionally, there will be an ‘I am a proud Guyanese youth’ segment enabling those from the grassroots to document their success stories through videos, posters, editorials and other media.
The festival will also spawn job fairs, social media training, live streaming of events, an entertainment gala to exhibit local talent, a heritage village and a visual arts exhibition providing open space for youths to use painting to express their vision of Guyana and its development.
The NYDN will also be collaborating with Government ministries, other youth organisations and the private sector on the festival, the objectives of which are to raise awareness, appreciation and understanding of the contributions made by young people towards national development and highlight the multidimensional facets of Guyana’s cultural heritage as well as the efforts made by youths to embrace and participate in its preservation.
Another aim of the festival is to facilitate dialogue between youth and youth focused stakeholders, such as policy makers, academia, Government agencies and the private sector with the primary goal of mapping ideas and stimulating debate on youth development.
In addition, it aims at affording participating youth with opportunities to self-develop, build character and imbue qualities of leadership and mutual tolerance, while also changing the negative public perception of young people.
Shaw said the NYDN plans to, in the coming week, further update the media on the progress and plans for the festival occasion.