Policy consultations: Youth policy draft focuses on interfaith peace

Policy is a comprehensive document which reflects the ‘seriousness’ of the Punjab government, says NGO consultant.

LAHORE: A revised draft of the Punjab Youth Policy was put forward by the Youth Affairs, Sports, Archaeology and Tourism Department during a consultation meeting on Tuesday.

The draft comes on the heels of a series of consultation meetings based on the original draft, which was criticised for replicating the national youth policy. Formulated in 2009, the national youth policy became irrelevant after the devolution of the Ministry of Youth Affairs in light of the 18 Amendment.

The new draft identifies youth as ‘positive potential’ and the policy as a tool for personal and social development. The draft stresses terms such as ‘diverse identities’, ‘pluralism’, and ‘tolerance’. It also strongly recommends promotion of youth volunteerism and encourages interfaith, intercultural and interprovincial peace to address ‘youth extremism’.

South Asia Partnership Pakistan Executive Director Mohammad Tehseen said the policy was a comprehensive document which reflected the ‘seriousness’ with which the government was addressing the issue. He added, however, that the document could be made more robust to ensure workability. Tehseen also said that ‘minority youth’ should be given prevalence in the listing of the priority youth groups, which currently places them at seventh position out of the eight priority youth groups.

Shahid Jamil, director of Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority, said the youth policy must encourage and facilitate the youth to take up technical education. He said it was a misconception that there was a lack of resources. “Resources are there. Policies to allocate them need to be formulated,” he said.

Youth Affairs, Sports, Archaeology and Tourism Department Deputy Secretary Saqib Rashid represented the department during the presentation.

The policy has been formulated in collaboration with Bargad, an organisation which works on youth rights across Pakistan, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which provides technical assistance on issues of population and reproductive health.

Bargad board member Salman Sheikh said it was essential that issues of health and population be appropriately addressed in the policy, factors which in turn also influence employment opportunities. He urged the government to involve the private sector in youth employment by legislating internship programmes.

Information and Culture Department Additional Secretary Tahir Raza Hamdani said that efforts for youth progress were all segmented and lacked integrated efforts.

“The Punjab government allocates a major chunk of the Annual Development Programme towards youth development, results of which will become visible once the policy enters its implementation phase,” he said.

The draft policy has proposed twelve implementation strategies working on education, employment, reproduction and empowerment through political and social mediums. It also identifies institutional mechanisms for policy implementation while recommending the formation of evaluation bodies. It further proposes that the Chief Minister present an annual progress report to the Punjab Assembly on youth affairs.

Heinrich Boll Stiftung programme manager Iqbal Haider, who has also worked on drafting the youth policy, said the consultation process was vital. Haider added that while all policy making is essentially political in nature, the youth policy is even more so since there is a possibility of extending jurisdiction due to the involvement of several departments.

Bargad executive director Sabiha Shaheen said the current provincial government had worked for the progress and development of youth affairs.

“With the political will in place and the bureaucracy on board, we are looking forward to the approval of this youth policy ,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2011.