The Role of RYCAD YEMEN in the International Youth Day 2025

On August 12, 2025, the world celebrates International Youth Day under the theme "Local Youth Action for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Beyond."

This occasion goes beyond honoring young people as a demographic group; it highlights their immense potential and pivotal role in driving change, especially in communities facing complex challenges such as Yemen.

This year’s celebration takes on an added significance with the United Nations’ declaration of 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives—a golden opportunity to showcase a unique youth-led cooperative experience in Yemen’s rural areas: The Rural Youth Cooperative for Agricultural Development (RYCAD YEMEN).

From Rural Roots… Towards the Sustainable Development Goals

RYCAD YEMEN was founded under challenging circumstances, amid ongoing conflict and economic deterioration that have weighed heavily on Yemeni communities—particularly those in rural areas. Despite these obstacles, the cooperative embraced a bold vision: to make Yemen’s countryside more resilient and more engaged in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly:

– Goal 1: No Poverty

– Goal 2: Zero Hunger

– Goal 5: Gender Equality

– Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

– Goal 13: Climate Action

– Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Through its programs, RYCAD empowers rural youth and women not merely as beneficiaries but as leaders of change, offering agricultural training, supporting income-generating initiatives, and building leadership skills that enable them to manage cooperatives as effective socio-economic institutions.

Bridging Local Youth Action with the Global Cooperative Movement

This year, RYCAD’s celebration of International Youth Day aligns perfectly with the spirit of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025, recognizing that youth are the backbone of any cooperative revival in Yemen.

By linking local action with the global cooperative movement, rural initiatives gain a voice on the international stage and build bridges with regional and global institutions—opening the door to new partnerships that support sustainable agricultural development.

RYCAD envisions youth action in Yemen as part of a worldwide cooperative movement, where knowledge, experiences, and success stories are exchanged and adapted to the local context. In doing so, every small agricultural project in a Yemeni village becomes a building block in the global architecture of sustainable development.

Programs and Initiatives for International Youth Day 2025

To mark the occasion, RYCAD will launch a series of events and activities that embody this year’s theme, including:

– Rural Youth Forum for Cooperative Development – bringing together young people from across Yemen to discuss challenges and innovative solutions in the agricultural sector.

– Youth Agricultural Innovation Fair – showcasing environmentally friendly, locally designed solutions, many of which are low-cost yet high-impact.

– Training Workshops – covering cooperative project management, digital marketing for rural products, and sustainable eco-friendly farming techniques.

– Social Media Campaign – featuring inspiring youth success stories in agriculture and cooperatives, under the hashtag #YouthInCooperatives2025.

Beyond 2025: Long-Term Impact

RYCAD recognizes that International Youth Day is not merely a ceremonial occasion, but an opportunity to renew its commitment to long-term strategies. Through its RYCAD 2026–2030 Strategy, the cooperative aims to:

Ensure youth participation in shaping agricultural policies.

Provide innovative financing platforms for youth cooperative projects.

Foster a culture of teamwork and volunteerism in rural communities.

Integrate climate considerations into all cooperative activities to ensure sustainability.