Editorial

Security

Politics

World

Letters

Sports

Obituaries

Archives

Towards realizing the dream of creating a cohesive Sri Lanka an article by Ayesha Zuhair, a facilitator at SLYP 2005 August 24-28 saw a unique fusion of young minds at Colombo's Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall. It was the inaugural sitting of the Sri Lankan Youth Parliament (SLYP); a youth run initiative, which brought together 225 youth between the ages of 16 to 25 from all corners of the country to address a wide range of issues that affected their communities.

The Sri Lankan Youth Parliament (SLYP) launched it's maiden issue of the SLYP Communique which includes the voices of action partners at the first sitting of the youth parliament recently. The event took place at the auditorium of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) where the Speaker of the Parliament W. J. M. Lokubandara was the chief guest.

Addressing the action partners, the chief guest said that he would organise a day for them for a sitting at the actual parliament. He said that parliament should be considered as a sacred place where decisions are made on behalf of the people of the country and disturbing its proceedings is a crime.

Director BCIS, Dr. Thusitha Tennakoon said that the BCIS is planning to have regional meetings with the core objectives of strengthening the network created at SLYP 2005. He said that youth should be seen as an asset to the nation and not as a problem to be solved.

The SLYP is a youth led, youth run, initiative, whose aim is to mobilise and create a network of young people to bring about positive and sustainable change to issue to issues that effect youth and their communities in Sri Lanka.

The first step towards this effort was the first sitting of the SLYP 2005 which took place on August 24 to 28 at the BMICH.

Two hundred and twenty five delegates aged 16-25 representing all districts, ethnic and religious compositions attended the SLYP 2005 on the basis of the action plans submitted by the applicants.

SLYP 2005 provided these young leaders of Sri Lanka an opportunity to meet in a challenging and stimulating environment, interact and put forward their own solutions for today's issues.

The main objective of SLYP was to create an action based island wide network of young people, who will implement action plans that they developed during the programme. The project was designed and coordinated by Sri Lankan delegates of the international youth parliament.

SLYP's unique approach

The fundamental purpose of SLYP is to bring about sustainable change in people's lives. Accordingly, it has a strong focus on action. SLYP selected delegates to attend SLYP 2005; upon return to their communities these delegates become SLYP action partners.

The focus on 'action' is reflected in the selection of delegates based on their plans for change in their communities. This focus on 'action' can be seen throughout the planning stages and also in its post-event programme where the focus is on action planning, skills of analysis, sharing of information and networking.

SLYP is not a youth focused programme in the traditional sense. It does not focus on young people as 'beneficiaries', but rather it recognised the vital role that youth can play in leading change processes on a national and global scale. All SLYP action partners are working on youth led interventions aiming to bring about change at a range of levels.

Sri Lankan Youth Parliament - a note about name

SLYP uses a symbolic meaning of the word Parliament in its name to reflect the importance of young peoples as actors and decision-makers in the world today. Around the world, Parliaments are spaces in which agendas are set, strategies are developed and action is planned for. Traditionally, young people have been excluded from such spaces and the Sri Lankan Youth Parliament use of the term represents a reclaiming of that space by young people.

SLYP does not operate like a formal parliament. There are no elections, no ministers, no Parliamentarians. Nor does SLYP employ an adversarial, Majority rules or consensus modus operandi.

Rather, SLYP encourages critical analysis of issues by young people leading to action for a peaceful, equitable and sustainable world.

SLYP is much more than a conference or meeting, it is the beginning of an island wide 2 year cycle of social action and leadership development that will bring young leaders from the many districts of Sri Lanka, together as one network.

Represented through all of you, is the rich diversity of people that form Sri Lanka. Each person who is present here at SLYP 2005 has something unique and valuable to contribute. And it is a welcome opportunity for us to hear your voices from across the globe.

Nicole Breeze, International coordinator, Oxfam International youth parliament in her message to the opening ceremony of SLYP 2005.

| News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security | Politics |
 | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries | Magazine | Junior Observer |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.