World Youth Conference 2014:

Opportunity for a Sri Lanka brand name in youth development

by Ranil Wijayapala

The 'World Youth Conference' from May 6 to 9 will give an opportunity for Sri Lanka to create a brand name in development of the youth, Deputy Education Minister and Supervisory MP, Youth and Skills Development Ministry, Mohan Lal Grero said.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer on the World Conference on Youth the Deputy Minister said that Sri Lanka has done a lot for the development of the youth and Secretary General to the United Nations Ban Ki moon has mentioned Sri Lanka's name 14 times in his speeches regarding world youth development.

"That means we have created a sort of brand name in developing youth and this conference will be a part of that process", he said.

He said there is an overwhelming response for the "World Conference on Youth" as 160 countries which represent almost 80 percent of the world countries have confirmed their participation in the conference to be hosted by Sri Lanka.

There are 900 youth, 105 high ranking officials, 24 Youth Ministers, 35 UN officers from different UN agencies are participating in the conference.

President of the UN General Assembly John W. Ashe, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy Ahmed Alhendawi will also participate at this conference.

He said the 'World Conference on Youth' will be the first platform for the policy makers on youth across the globe and the youth to sit together and come to a consensus between them on an outcome document called Colombo Declaration 2014 focusing on the post 2015 Millennium Development agenda for the next 15 years by 2030.

"People who actually involved in the post 2015 Millennium Development agenda will be the 18 to 20 years old youth who are participating in this conference. They will be real stakeholders of the development program and to take it forward. Therefore, they are the people who have to voice their ideas about what they want", the Deputy Minister said.

"All these benefits will be distributed among our youth also as our policy makers will look into the Colombo declaration when they are making their policies regarding future development.

In future before every budget this will be a document which should be actually followed and adhered by different policy makers", the Deputy Minister said.

He said Youth and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma has a very clear vision about the future of this country and he has realised that the future of the country is also the youth of this country.

"So he is trying to do everything regarding the youth and he has realised that youth should be given a platform to express their ideas and their ideas will taken into consideration when the policy makers are making their policies", he said.

The Youth Parliament was found in 2010 to empower the youth in the decision making process in the country by sending the Hansard reports of the Youth Parliament to the relevant Ministries for the Ministries to consider the ideas of the youth and include them when they are taking policy decisions.

"The hosting of the World Conference on Youth is another such endeavour where the Minister is trying to empower the youth in our country in decision making process and bring out their talents giving them exposure to the whole world through the conference", the Deputy Minister said. The Deputy Minister said Sri Lanka has invested enough for the development of the youth and to improve their secondary and tertiary education.

"Now what is necessary for us is to empower them in the decision making process and get their commitment and participation in the development process.

What I have observed is that they are backward and they do not try to innovate things and think a new and start new ventures", the Deputy Minister said.

So, when they get this exposure they will realise how the people of other countries are thinking and will find how the youth of the developed countries are thinking.

This conference is organised and spear-headed by a Steering Committee co-chaired by Minister Dullas Alahapperuma Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development and MP Namal Rajapaksa from Tharunyata Hetak Organisation.

There is another committee looking after the content and the structure of the conference.

That is called International Youth Task Force which consist of 20 members. Ten members from the Sri Lankan group and the other ten members representing different regions of the world.

"These 20 young people are managing the content and the structure including the agenda and the content which are to be included in the final document", the Deputy Minister said.

Minister Dullas Alahapperuma has appointed 24 sub committees to look into the matters such as the arrival and departure of the delegates, food and beverages committee, conference hall arranging committee, opening and closing ceremony organising committee and they are also chaired by different individuals and they are looking after the total organisation of the conference.

"So we hope the representatives from 160 countries to make use of this opportunity to make their representation on the post 2015 millennium development agenda and witness what is actually happening in Sri Lanka while participating in the conference", the Deputy Minister said.