WCY focuses on good governance

By Naalir Jamaldeen

The 15th World Conference on Youth concluded last week. Several youth related problems were discussed during the conference under various sub themes .

Discussions on the second day were based on the theme 'Achieving Good Governance and Accountability'. Discussions were held with a presentation of the Draft Discussion Summary by Ms. Hannah Smith, a facilitator of the round-table discussion presided by panelists chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council Ahmed Adamu and CEO of the Halogen Foundation (Singapore) Sean Kong and Advocacy Adviser of Plan International Ms. Amanda Lundy.

Adamu gave an extended definition of 'good governance'. He said that accountability is one of the main factors of good governance. He said there are four types of governance such as the one disliked by people, one feared by people, praised by people and one that people do not know the existence of which is the best one."

While elaborating the benefits of good governance , Kong described the present Singapore and its state 60 years ago. The primary objective of his speech was to show how an under-developed migrant society in Singapore was transformed . He added that "policies of a country should be amended in a way that they change the attitudes of the people for their betterment." Lundy said that "Governance is a series of possibilities moving from bad to good," stressing the importance of access to information with many examples from Malawi.

The next theme that was taken during the round-table discussion on the second day was "Realising Peace, Reconciliation and Ending Violence. Nearly 100 youth from across the world participated in the discussions.

Minister of Youth and Sports of Nepal Purusottam Paudel, the International Secretariat and Outreach Coordinator of the United Network of Young Peace Builders Ms. Matilda Flemming and the Executive Director of Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies Asanka Abeyagoonasekera participated in the panel discussion.

Flemming said that to realize peace in a country there should be an "accountable government as well as a strong opposition.."

"We need a strong policy framework to facilitate peace building and peace in the post-2015 agenda," Flemming emphasized the importance of respecting each other as the lowest level of peace building,.

During his speech Minster Paudel focused on the process of peace and reconciliation of Nepal. "When the monarchy was toppled in a decade-long civil war involving the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and mass protests by all major political parties led to the establishment of the democratic republic in 2008," Paudel said. He also stressed the importance of active participation of youth in the peace building process. Abeyagoonasekera spoke o n the peace building process of Sri Lanka during which he mentioned that he is also a victim of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as his father was killed in an attack by the LTTE. He mentioned that reconciliation is fruitful when forgiveness is there.

"In our reconciliation process, it is important to get the positive engagement of the Tamil Diaspora," he said.

The second round-table discussions on "Inclusive Youth Participation at All Levels" was held at BMICH on the second day with the participation of U.N. Volunteers Program Officer. Narendra Mishra and the Founder and President of the Youth Advocacy Group, Luiz Carlos Guedes. Starting off the session, Mishra spoke about a global thematic consultation on post-2015 and governance. He said that youth concerns are critical for post 2015.

Young people must be involved in design and ownership a new draft agenda. Mishra added that youth should be involved in policy shifts towards a green technology and environmentally efficient modes of increasing employment innovation and shared wealth creation. "Full accountability comes only when people participate," Mishra said, adding that the 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) review placed emphasis on voice, accountability and the full participation of all segments of society in the decision-making process.

Mishra highlighted that youth engagement at national and international levels could be enhanced because ultimately it will be local, national and regional youth that will participate in the achievement of goals. National youth councils are increasingly providing platforms for youth to participate in decision-making processes but the world needs a mechanism to track implementation. Meanwhile, Carlos, in his comments at the session said that "real participation."

"It's unbelievable that today, when young people are 1/3rd of the population, we still have to discuss about participation", he said.

The youth cannot have a limited voice and space, he said. They need freedom to speak and to be heard but participation is not only speaking or being listened to. He also said that most companies and politicians say that they care about youth participation thus have made consultation available and asked young people to speake about something, but consultation is not participation. It's a tool for participation. Participation goes far beyond consultation.

They can't ask young people what we think and then take the decisions by themselves, Carlos said. Real participation is a whole process from planning and taking decisions, to implementing and evaluating it. The final outcome has to be made with a participative process. Carlos concluded his statement by stating, "It's a privilege to be here. We have to engage people that have no access to technology, people who can't speak English or any other U.N. major language. I know it's hard. I know it demands money, people, time and commitment. But it's needed.