Promoting peace: Connecting youth, policymakers through mediation, dialogue

Grantees say they will utilise funds for peace building at grass-roots.

ISLAMABAD:

The youth, if empowered and made a part of political decision making, could help resolve issues pertaining to militancy and violence.

This was the crux of a speech made on Wednesday by Inyatullah Khan, Local Government and Rural Development minister Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (K-P), at a concluding ceremony of a European Union (EU) funded project, that focused on helping the youth of K-P and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) learn mediation skills and connect with policy-makers, pronounced peace a rare commodity in the province.

“We are victims of the unfortunate war mostly because we haven’t facilitated our youth to get engaged in positive activities,” he opined.

Each of the five enterprising youngsters who participated in the initiative, jointly carried out by Search For Common Ground (SFCG) in and PAIMAN Alumni Trust, were awarded a grant of Rs300,000.



Grantees of the project were chosen by an independent three-member jury based on the proposals submitted to them by the participants. One of the beneficiaries, Asad Ali Khan, a 29-year-old from Tank said the grant awarded to him will be utilized for raising awareness regarding peace and tolerance in his hometown.

“Only through awareness can a society save itself. One cannot, for a longer term, change individuals by instilling fear in them,” he opined.

The loss of both arms in a suicide attack has not derailed Ansar Abbas’s will to work for peace-building.

A resident of Dera Ismail Khan, he shared his grant with Asma Latafat who said the trainings had helped them understand conflicts and the media of their resolution in a better way. They will be using their grant to work with youth committees in their district for peace building at the grass-roots.

The project reaffirmed EU’s long-term commitment to help the resilient people of region, said the guest of honour, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Pakistan Pierre Mayaudon.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2013.