Social development: Tapping youth creativity for effective solutions

Importance of public service as a means of engaging youth productively emphasised

ISLAMABAD: Creativity and energy of one billion young people around the world can be effectively mobilised to tackle the globe’s development challenges. This was discussed in an international two-day symposium at British Council on Tuesday.

The “Regional Youth Symposium: Youth in Action for Global Change” organised by the British Council emphasised the need to exploit the potential of the youth.

“A profound understanding of youth involvement trends is the first step in policy formulation for the young people of a country,” said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Nadeemul Haque, while inaugurating the symposium.

He added that the youth potential could be used to tackle the world challenges and effective planning is needed to exploit this force for development.

“Youth in this region is involved very actively in the public sphere. All the countries of the region, be it Pakistan, Nepal or Bangladesh, have a huge percentage of young people whose energy, dreams and aspirations need to be channelised in positive ways,” said Supreme Court Bar Council former President Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan.

The symposium intends to understand key questions on youth participation.

President Association of Youth Organization Nepal (PYON) Pradip Pariyar pointed out that resentment and a sense of indirection can cause people to resort to violence anywhere in the world. Senior Education Advisor to the Afghan Government Dr Abdul Mobin Quraishi made a compelling case on how governments, certain groups and organizations and prominent figures may actually increase radicalisation and countering it requires a cohesive approach and integration.

Unlike other conferences, the symposium plans to transform discussions into a workable strategy for youth engagement and counter radicalisation by inculcating a sense of global citizenship.

Prominent Pakistani educationist Dr Bernadette Dean made the case for including basic tenets of global citizenship in the national curriculum.

Shazia Khawar of British Council said that diverging trends in youth involvement are symptoms of polarisation in the society. “Inclusivity, tolerance and affirmation of common values as human beings and citizens is the way forward,” she added.

The regional dialogue has high-level participation from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Afghanistan, Qatar, USA and the UK.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th,  2011.