"Youth Gathering for Peace" Conference
Youth Gathering for Peace conference conducted by the State Ministry for Peace (SMP) in collaboration with Rana University and participated by Government authorities, university lecturers and students from 22 provinces.
Najia Anwari, General Director of Strategic Communication of the State Ministry for Peace (SMP) said that this gathering was a good platform for youths to share views on peace and promised to reflect their views, suggestions and observations in SMP policies.
Ms. Anwari said that educated and professional youths can drive a change. She added that inclusiveness was part of the policies of State Ministry for Peace (SMP) and that the ministry will design programs for its implementation with consultations from academic institutions. She said that will every youth must be a volunteer ambassador for peace.
Abdul Khaliq Balakarzai the deputy of State Minister for Peace in Coordination of tribes’ affairs appreciated the enthusiastic participation of youths in the gathering and said that youths were always victims of war and they can also play a major role in bringing peace to the country. He also called on youths to promote peace in schools, universities and academic institutions.
The deputy in Coordination of Tribal Affairs of SMP said that the peace process was a time-consuming process and that the active participation of youth will help the process to achieve a durable peace.
Sayed Mustafa Sayedi, deputy director of Rana University said that this university was not limited to academic activities but this institution was willing to take part in major national processes.
Mr. Sayedi added that currently the attentions were focused on the intelligence and political aspects of the process and that the social peace was neglected to a large extant.
He added that the curriculum of this university included peace journalism and peace and conflict resolution subjects.
The acting chancellor of Rana University further said that the national processes rarely reflect the professional views of academic institutions and added that this university will stand with other public universities to utilize students and academic activities in peace efforts.
Afghan Youth Representative to the United Nations for 2019 Aisha Khurram said that although the war goes on under the covers of War on Terror or War Against Invaders, in reality the war is against the children and youths who never have part in the conflict.
She called on the government of Afghanistan to lead the peace process to a result with honesty.
Mohammad Ajmal Shapoor, the deputy of youth affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Information said that the youth can take lead in peace process as they are in lead in the ongoing war. He called on the youths to support the peace process but said this will only be possible when the youths have the highest scientific and professional qualifications.
After the speeches, the participants divided into seven working groups and worked on specific topics and shared their conclusions with other participants. They answered to major questions of 1) what is the role of youth in the peace process and 2) what are the drivers and solutions of the conflict and violence in their resident areas.
Concluding the program, Hazem Esfandyar, director of the field studies of SMP said that the youths were among the main focus area for spreading and promoting peace activities of SMP. He promised that they were considering the views of the participants in the programs of SMP and added that no one but Afghans could restore peace in their own country.
At the end of the program, certificates of participation and appreciation letters were distributed to the participants of the gathering.
