Learning from EU model: Pakistani student wins Nepal award for South Asian peace model

The YFN aims to ensure sustainability, peace by connecting young leaders all around the globe.

KARACHI: A national youth parliamentarian, Qaiser Shahzad, has won the Nepal Friendship Peace Award for his draft for European Union-inspired South Asian Union Model at a ceremony held in Kathmandu last week.

The Youth Foundation Nepal (YFN), which aims to ensure sustainability, peace and development by connecting young leaders from all around the globe, had received Shahzad’s draft last year and chose him as the first Pakistani recipient for their annual award for the year 2012.

“The goal of this award is to accelerate the peace process by increasing awareness of the strengths of the friendship between Nepal and other countries,” said Sunil KC, founder of the YFN. “Together, we have shown that it can be accomplished by gathering individuals, driven by dedication and compassion, who offer recognition to human rights and other values.”



Shahzad’s model advocated for free trade between countries in the region coupled with one currency and one visa policy while tracing the developments in post-war Europe when trade between Germany and France had contributed positively towards the stability of the entire region. “Barriers to trade have proven to be the biggest hurdle in achieving progress. The business community of South Asian countries stands to gain tremendously from improvements in this sector, which would ultimately ensure stability and prosperity in the region, way more than what the European Union achieved,” said Shahzad, while talking to The Express Tribune.

He was of the view that this was the only way to ensure mutual and individual progress. “In a country haunted by chaos and uncertainty, I am trying to be a symbol of hope and aspiration.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th,2013.