Representational image. PHOTO: REUTERS
The summit is being organised by the Global Peace Institute virtually due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
This was stated by the US Global Youth and Peace Ambassador for Sports and Culture Exchange Mian Absar Ali while speaking to The Express Tribune on Wednesday.
Ali said it was an honour for the nation that promising youngsters, 16-year-old Ahmad and 15-year-old Asad, will address the Global Peace Summit-2020.
Apart from the 32 speakers from across the world, another 69 have been selected as attendees. Amongst them are Pakistanis Hiba Iqbal and Alishba Hamim.
Ali said that Haris and Asad will talk about how they can use tourism and sports as a tool to spread peace globally.
He added that apart from speaking at this summit, Ahmad is slated to represent the country as a speaker at a youth gathering scheduled to be held in the Maldives in November.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Ahmad said that the Teen Peace Summit is an opportunity to highlight the real situation and how youngsters have suffered due to the pandemic.
Naturally, he said, they are concerned first and foremost about the health and well-being of fellow youngsters, who are the real force and future builder of any nation, he said.
“We recognize that the Teen Peace Summit is a highly anticipated event for the youth around the world and is particularly a formative event for our youth,” he said, adding that it was his first appearance as a speaker and will try to represent the youth of the country. Ahmad said the Global Teens Peace Summit-2020 is an initiative for peace as and they certainly want peace to prevail in the world in general, and in Pakistan in particular - which has suffered a lot due to militancy.
“In such a scenario, it is a good initiative to involve the youth like me and others from around the world in the peace summit,” he added.
Peace is the ultimate response to the notion that violence provides any viable solution for the conflicts of the world wherein war destroys and tears apart, peace builds, strengthens and restores, he added.
“The countries which have been impacted the most by the Covid-19 pandemic have spent more on weapons than on healthcare of their people,” he said.
Ahmad said these peace education activities would surely promote knowledge, skills and attitudes that will help him and others youngsters from around the world to prevent the occurrence of conflict, resolve conflicts peacefully, or create social conditions conducive to peace as social justice is realised by principles of equality, responsibility and solidarity.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2020.
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