15th World Conference on Youth concludes :

Sri Lanka makes great strides to integrate youth in development

By Naalir Jamaldeen

The 15th World Conference on Youth concluded last Friday. The conference was held from May 7 to 9 an BMICH. The inaugural ceremony was held at Magam Ruhunupura International Convention Centre (MRICH) President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony.

The "World Conference on Youth 2014" focused attention on challenges faced by youth, the solution and the role of youth in the post 2015 development agenda. Youth representatives from 162 countries participated in the inaugural ceremony and the conference. Many problems such as unemployment and several other problem which obstruct the development and empowerment of youth. Twenty six Youth Affairs Ministers across the globe also participated.

The main theme of the Conference was "Main Stream in youth in 2015 Agenda" giving priority to youth. The main discussion included the role of youth in setting up the goal after 2015 and what kind of steps should be taken to empower them the and their contribution towards the country and the society. In line with the main event several side events, round table discussions were also held.

The first International Task Force (IYTF) was appointed consisting of 20 youth, 10 from Sri Lanka and 10 from other countries.

Discussions were held under seven themes such as realising equal access to quality education, full employment and entrepreneurship, poverty eradication and food security, promoting healthy lives and access to health, environmental protection, emergency preparedness and youth centered urbanisation, realising peace, reconciliation and ending violence and ensuring inclusive recreation, sports and cultures.

While addressing the event President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka proposed to host this conference at the UN High-Level Meeting on youth at the UN General Assembly in 2011 based on the reasons such as addressing increasing challenges faced by youth. The current population of Sri Lanka is 20 million and 26 percent out of them are youth.

The President said that after the eradication of terrorism the hope among youth towards a better and progressive Sri Lanka and that have been restored. There will be three billion young people in the world by 2015. it is an important global strategy is developed to accept youth focus and ensure their participation in the current and future development programs at national, regional and global levels.

"The primary responsibility to ensure youth participation in development lies with the state. We as leaders and policy makers need to consider the number of challenges to make effort meaningful and successful", the President said. "The minds of youth are susceptible to influence and can be easily misguided. This is the attraction for terror groups to recruit youth combatants to their cadres" President Rajapaksa said.

Sri Lanka over the last couple of years took large strides to integrate youth in the development process. One of the main and productive policy initiatives taken by the Government is creating a Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry by amalgamating Ministries such as Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Youth Affairs. The Ministry brought institutions which are engaged in youth development under one umbrella, according to Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma.

He said that the mechanism to organise youth in the country is an important area in youth development which is done through the network of youth clubs set up in each village. Currently there are 14,000 youth clubs functioning across the country over 600,000 members have joined so far in those clubs.

"Besides, Sri Lanka has launched the National Youth Policy (NYP) this year. The NYP was formulated based on three pillars such as ensuring youth, enabling youth and empowering youth. Likewise Sri Lanka initiated many more youth development programs for the sake of youth.

Bathiya and Santhush sang the theme song which was written by Minister Dullas Alahapperuma.

A magnificent inaugural ceremony was held and cultural items were showcased. The youth delegates who represented various countries across the world were clad in clothes which depict their cultural and traditional values,

When the UN set out the millennium development goal in 2000 by world leaders committing their countries to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out time-bound goals on meeting the needs of world,s poorest. These goals to be achieved by 2015 formed the basis for what are known as the eight millennium goals, which have been broken down into 21 quantified targets that are measured by 60 indicators.

Many youth marginalised from social economic opportunities, with limited access to essential resources. Eighty seven percent of youth population live in developing countries, nearly 45 percent youth across the world living on less than two dollars per day. Youth are among the most vulnerable of all persons of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aim to reach targets. Whether it is poverty, hunger lack of education, maternal morality, unemployment, environmental degradation or HIV/AIDS, the impact on young people can be far greater than on their older counterparts.

This is because many young people often lack access to information, schooling opportunities for civic participation and engagement, social influence and back rights, and are often overlooked in national development agendas. Therefore young people participation to achieve the goals are crucial to ensure successful and sustainable development.

Sri Lanka as a member state of United Nations and committed to UN Charter is working diligently to fulfill its national global responsibilities in achieving the millennium development goals. Sri Lanka's aim to achieve MDGs is spearheaded by the Ministry of Finance and Planning, with the support of the UN Country team and with direct implementation assistance from the UNDP. The National Council for Economic Development (NCED) brings together stakeholders from private and state sectors to develop economic policies and action plan.

The Mahinda Chinthana 10 year development goal framework" clearly specifies the Government's commitment for the achieving of MDGs for all Sri Lankans across the entire country. The Government in its budget preparation has called to relate MDG key performance indicators of Ministries to budgetary process. With the peace and stability returning, Sri Lanka has a unique opportunity to focus more on MDGs, especially addressing those related to regional imbalances. While Sri Lanka is well on track in achieving most of the MDGs targets by 2015 at national level to localise MDGs at private and regional level. Sri Lanka is constantly seeking to adopt innovative methods in working with youth in achieving goals.

Young people are vital to society, "Today's adolescents and youth are shaping social and economic development, challenging social norms and values, and building foundation of the World's future". "Youth movements and groups are challenging traditional power structures and advocating for new social contracts between state and society. Youth have demonstrated their ability and potential to be positive agents of change who can help solve the problems that surrounded the planet's present and future.