Progressive steps: FATA Youth Forum championing youth rights
Despite the volatile situation across the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata), youth belonging to the tribal belt are determined to fight for their rights through various platforms.
One of them is the Fata Youth Forum (FYF), a forum comprising young people from seven agencies and Frontier Regions (FRs) formed in January. It is a political forum with a vision to empower and inculcate leadership and decision making abilities in the youth of Fata.
FYF Chairperson Mahreen Afridi, 25, who is a student of MPhil at the University of Peshawar, said FYF has around 700 members. “A coordinator is selected in every agency, while agency managers and a representative have been selected from each tehsil of every agency.”
Afridi said FYF aims to raise and highlight existing problems and bring these issues to the government’s notice for consideration and solution.
She said its basic aim was to provide information, guidance and advice to the youth of Fata regarding education, employment opportunities and any other issues they face in their respective agencies.
Afridi said the forum’s members visit different agencies and encourage the youth to participate in healthy and constructive activities to enable them to understand the importance of their role in community development.
“A part of our objectives is to remove the misperception of the international community about Fata and its youth in a positive way,” she said.
She said that Fata’s youth is an important asset for Pakistan and must be used for national development. She added that due to the absence of opportunities in all sections of life, youth from tribal areas were losing their status in society. She demanded the formation of a youth policy aimed primarily at Fata.
Afridi complained that after devolving the youth ministry to provinces, provincial governments started working on policies, but no importance was being given to the youth of Fata.
She asked the provincial government and K-P Governor Masood Kausar to focus on the formulation of a youth policy for Fata and to give a clear plan and framework for their development. She added that a commission for youth policy must be formed at the Governor House to design a draft report.
“This is a very important time to address the problems of Fata’s youth by providing and improving educational, social, political, civil and economic opportunities,” stressed Afridi. She also urged the youth of Fata and FRs to join the FYF.
Afridi said that due to inadequate educational, health and other civic facilities including sports and entertainment, job opportunities and awareness of their rights, they have in effect lost their identity and importance in society.
Speaking about FYF’s achievements, Afridi said trained members in FATA provide training to children, among them the residents of Jalozai camp, to create awareness among their parents about education. “A series of trainings have yielded great results for us,” she added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2012.
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