Regional peace, progress: Ayaz Sadiq stresses youth-driven narrative

Two-day Saarc Young Parliamentarians Conference begins; delegates vow to create linkages to fight common issues

ISLAMABAD: The first South Asian young legislators’ conference kicked off here on Tuesday with a strong call for peace, parliamentary diplomacy, offering alternative solutions to the common issues like climate change effects, poverty, rising tide of extremism and simmering regional conflicts.

“We all have gathered here with a sincere desire to shape up a distinctive youth-oriented narrative for progress as a prologue to the upcoming SAARC Summit,” National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the two-day Saarc Young Parliamentarians’ Conference.

“It’s truly a momentous occasion in the history of democracy in the region,” he said.

South Asia must not remain a “prisoner of the past but should radiate fresh ideas and aspirations of our combined future”, Sadiq suggested.

The two-day conference has been organised by the National Assembly of Pakistan and Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS).

Around 28 delegates from member countries and four international experts are participating in the conference.

He hoped that the conference will serve as an ideal platform to explore and utilise the best of our parliamentary tools to develop linkages.

He urged the delegates to chalk out a roadmap to rationalise the conference into a forum that can meet regularly to streamline youth-related initiatives through legislative, representative and oversight tools for the mutual goal of youth emancipation.

Sadiq said that shared cultures, histories and developing regional economies could provide ample opportunities to address common challenges through dialogue and engagement to ensure peace and prosperity in the region.

He said the conference was arranged with an objective to build bridges between the future leaders of South Asia on a platform that supports continued engagement and cooperation.

He urged the delegates to grasp the opportunity and translate the dream of a peaceful and prosperous South Asia into a reality.

Special attention must be paid to encouraging youth participation in politics and bringing about gender equality in all dimensions of our societies, Sadiq said.

He hoped that the diverse themes discussed in the inaugural session of the conference would augment the joint efforts of all young parliamentarians to provide sustainable solutions to common challenges of human security, abject poverty, malnutrition besides achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Conference Convener Malik Uzair Khan termed the event “a step in the right direction for achieving peace and harmony in the region”. Khan, who is one of the youngest members of the National Assembly, said that the purpose of organising the conference was to strengthen people-to-people contact and parliamentary diplomacy among member countries.

“We are getting a fresh approach to meet new challenges, build trust in youth for brighter future,” said Khan.

He also lauded the European Union’s efforts for strengthening democracy in Pakistan and stressed the need for making it a permanent institution.

Acting Head of the EU Delegation Stefano Gatto said that it was the collective responsibility of the South Asian countries to strengthen the democracy in the region.

He also added that a permanent department of the EU is working in Pakistan for the same purpose.

“We need to replace war with cooperation and dispute with dialogue,” Gatto exhorted.

While addressing the conference, the SAARC Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa stressed the need for regional cooperation and explained how it has grown as an organisation in the last over three decades.

He said the youth of South Asia is growing in number and by using their full potential the goal of poverty eradication from the region can be achieved.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2016.