National Conference on the role of youth in reconciliation at LKIIRSS

by Manjula Fernando

The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies will host its sixth National Conference on Reconciliation - the 'National Conference on the Role of Youth in Reconciliation' on Wednesday, January 2 from 2.00 to 6.00 pm.

The objective of the program is to engage and empower youth in the national reconciliation process through youth oriented sustainable and long-term programs. The national conference has been organised keeping in mind Sri Lanka's young people between the ages of 14 and 35 years, numbering approximately 7.4 million represent both the present and the future of Sri Lanka.

Young people and youth organisations have the potential to contribute immensely to the national reconciliation process through fund-raising for capacity- building and development activities in conflict-affected areas and advocacy and campaigning for peace.

Most significantly, youth organisations can provide a space for dialogue and the search for solutions, thus empowering youth from across the island, separated for decades. The youth can more easily cut through the clothes of ethnicity and religion to build genuine friendships, as youth usually represent a more vibrant and progressive culture than possessed by older generations. It is also today's youth that will engage future generations, the coming population boom after the conflict.

Sri Lankan society after 30 years of conflict is steadfastly and successfully moving in reconciliation to build a harmonious society.

Five national conferences on reconciliation have been recently convened at the Kadirgamar Institute, they include the Inaugural National Conference on Reconciliation (November, 2011), National Conference on the Role of the Business Community in Reconciliation (January, 2012), National Conference on the Role of Education in Reconciliation (March, 2012), National Conference on the Role of Women in Reconciliation (July, 2012), and National Conference on the Role of ICT in Reconciliation (September, 2012).

Kadirgamar Institute aspires to facilitate and act as a catalyst in the reconciliation process by promoting dialogue and collaboration among all such members of society who should contribute to the reconciliation process.

Asanga Abeygoonasekera, the Executive Director of the Kadirgamar Institute invites all those interested in participating in the National Conference on the Role of Youth in Reconciliation and other events related to national reconciliation to contact the institute.