World Youth Forum to open new vistas for youth

By Naalir Jamaldeen

The World Youth Forum-2014 to be held at BMICH from May 6 to 10 will open new vistas in the life of youth in the country. A document called "Colombo Declaration" will also be launched and it will be a global document which will empower youth to call upon authorities to work towards fulfilling their objectives, National Youth Services Council Chairman Lalith Piyum Perera said in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

National Youth Services Council Chairman Lalith Piyum Perera

"The Forum will be held under the theme 'Youth Participation in Post 2015 Development Goals or Agenda'. The Millennium Development Goal was set up in 2000 for 15 years.There is a necessity for an agenda beyond 2015 and the new theme is based on this concept ", the Chairman said.

Excerpts of the interview

Q: Can you elaborate on the World Youth Forum 2014?

A: Nearly 2,000 delegates are expected to take part in the global youth conference.

Four hundred youth will participate representing different countries, 350 delegates representing constituencies such as civil societies, youth NGOs, youth clubs and individuals.

Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry, National Youth Services Council Officers and the Youth Services Council officers from others countries will also participate. Around 750 officials will take part in the World Youth Forum 2014. Around 100 ministers including Sri Lanka will also take part in the conference.

"The organising committee has arranged different programs from May 6 to 9. On May 6 certain preparatory trainings will be held for participants.

The main programs of Forum will be held from May 7 to 9. On May 7, the goals which was set out in the Millennium Development Goals with the youth participation and youth development will be discussed.

On May 8 it will be discussed on what can be done in order to get the youth involved in the future development process and on the third day it will be discussed about the futuristic aspects of global youth development agenda. Discussed will be held on how youth could be used for development.

When the Millennium development Goal or agenda was set out in 2000 for the period from 2000 to 2015, it did not consist the view of all.

The views of academics, politicians, youth and women were not taken except for the ideas of experts. There is a huge gap between 2000 and 2015. In the interim, many changes might have taken place.

Now the world has understood the importance of partnership and contribution of the parties and when the development plans are drafted beyond 2015 these parties will also be included.

The World Youth Forum is a global event, many people including youth representing various countries across the world will participate.

The Forum will provide a great opportunity to youth to exchange their views to achieve a common goal that is youth empowerment and development. Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma who attended the previous World Youth Forum in Mexico said in speech that the World Youth Forum 2014 must be held in Sri Lanka.

In 2011, Minister Alahapperuma who attended United Nation's high level meeting in New York on youth while delivering keynote address on behalf of Sri Lanka stated that Sri Lanka would like to host the World Youth Forum in Sri Lanka in 2014.

This event is not a conference but a discussion table where millennium Development Goals and post 2015 development goals will be discussed which were accepted and acknowledged by the member States of United Nations.

The following year, in 2012 External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris also invited all the member States to attend and extend their support to the World Youth Forum to be held in Sri Lanka.

Last year President Mahinda Rajapaksa invited the member States to support the World Conference on Youth and it was widely agreed.

Few weeks before Minister Dullas Alahapperuma who personally met United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and invited him to attend the World Youth Conference 2014 to be held in Sri Lanka. United Nations is also committed towards youth development.

In between we held number of events, meetings and bilateral discussions with different Governments, NGOs, youth organisations to make the World Youth Conference a success.

The Colombo Declaration will guide member States and other partners to include youth in their development agenda.

United Nations Agencies and Governments have widely acknowledged this proposal. The United Nations three times acknowledged the World Youth

Conference as one of the vital conference in their three resolutions.

The Government of Sri Lanka has already passed two cabinet papers supporting this event.

A large number of events have been organised in line with the Forum such as exhibitions for a global village, cultural shows, discussions and debates.

Q: What are the benefits Sri Lanka could gain from the Forum ?

A:The Youth Forum will be a gateway to make Colombo a global city where the youth will set out their development agenda.

This is the place from where our youth rallying round to show the world

what we have done to achieve the Millennium Development Goals or agenda. The international participants will be made aware what kind of programs the Government implemented to overcome the issues of youth and empower them. For the first time many Asia, Africa and Latin America countries will present their case studies and their achievements.

Q: Restoration of peace in the country has bridged the gap among youth in the country. The National Youth Services Council has implemented several programs. This is an occasion to showcase the ongoing development and youth empowerment programs implemented in the country, can you explain?

A: Sri Lanka is among few countries in the world which has a separate body to deal with youth affairs. Sri Lanka Youth Services Council has been merged with the Youth Affairs Ministry and has been re-branded as Youth

Affairs and Skills Development. The unemployment ratio in Sri Lanka is low.

World Youth Forum 2014 will be a common platform where the youth and their delegates throng to discuss the problems the youth face in the contemporary world and to find the means to solve those problems. The youth who visit Sri Lanka may be the Ministers, Parliamentarians, corporate leaders and social service activists in another one or two decades. They get a chance to see the massive development taking place in the country.

Q: The World Youth Forum 2014 can be used to portray the ongoing development in the country. Do you agree with this statement?

A: Of course, the youth who attend the World Youth Forum 2014 will come to

know about diverse infrastructure and livelihood development projects which

and operational across the country by visiting those places. The medias from various countries will attend the conference. They may telecast or broadcast these development works over their channels and radio frequencies.

Q: How many youth will participate from Sri Lanka?

A: Over 100 youth representing Sri Lanka will participate in the Forum . They will represent youth from the North and the East. I am confident that they will do a wonderful job.

Q: Can you outline the cultural and social benefits Sri Lanka could gain from the Forum?

A: History shows that world conferences were peaceful and harmonious events where the mutual relations between the countries across the world were developed.

The youth who take part in the conference will receive an an opportunity to exchange their cultural values with each others. Moreover, a large number of youth who belong to different ethnic or social groups participate our

youth can learn about different cultures and traditions.

Q: What are the youth empowerment programs the National Youth Service Council plans to implement this year?

A: We are focus on implementing youth revolution programs this year. The National Youth Services Council launched the National Youth Policy. Our Minister is very innovative and we are looking forward on innovative things.

We are planning to increase the number of members of the youth club federations f to two million. The Youth Parliament election will also be held this year.