Space
for Youth Speak
 Youth Speak Forum 2016 organised by AIESEC in Sri Lanka happened for
the first time at Sri Lanka Foundation on March 19 on the theme
Entrepreneurship and Employability with the participation of over 200
delegates. 'Youth Speak' is a global movement conducted by AIESEC
partnering with United Nations and 'Youth Speak Forum' is an initiative
of this movement where the young leaders are given the chance to discuss
global issues with the thought leaders, business leaders and experts of
the world.
Youth Speak Forum 2016 had a delegation of 200 representing 16
universities and educational institutes (University of Colombo,
University of Kelaniya, University of Moratuwa, University of Sri
Jayewardenepura, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Institute of
Information Technology (SLIIT), University of Ruhuna, Rajarata
University, BMS, IIT, Sabaragamuwa University, Oxford College,
University of London, Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, Eastern
university of Sri Lanka, National School Of Business Management, BCAS
City Campus), 6 schools (Musaeus College, Good Shepherd Convent, Zahira
college, Nalanda College, Sangamiththa College, Lyceum International
School) and 8 clubs and organizations (AIESEC, Rotaract, Gavel, Leo,
Toastmasters, UNV, SL2College, Interact) in Sri Lanka. These delegates
were between the ages 16-26 and represented many areas of the country.
The forum was chaired by Zoe Lawson, Head Coach/Director at Colombo
Horse Riding Academy, Consultant & Communications at MDF Training &
Consultancy and also a former AIESEC Sri Lanka president.
The Forum got underway with two inspiring keynotes delivered by
Nissanga Warnapura, the Founder/ CEO at 3D Concept Studio Co. Pvt. Ltd.
on 'The importance of believing in your dreams and not being afraid to
bring in brand new concepts to the market' and Sunesh Rodrigo, TedX
Speaker as well as the Managing Director at Vantage Consultancy on ' How
constantly improving yourself leads to success, the importance of
managing a good online brand and how employers value that brand using
his own personal story.' Following the keynotes, a session was delivered
by Irushi Aluwihare, the General Manager at Image Consultants on 'the
employability skills, skills lacking in Sri Lankan Education System, how
an individual can improve his skills and also empower others'.
After a refreshing lunch, the delegates were grouped into workshops
as they preferred, which were conducted by Duleepa Karunaratne, hSenid
Mobile on 'the role youth play in establishing social enterprises and
hSenid developed a business model with the delegates to empower them to
establish their own social enterprise.' , UN Volunteers and
International Labour Organisation on 'Youth, Volunteerism &
Employability' and by Sampath Thrimavithana, Virtusa on 'key skills
businesses are looking for in an applicant, other than a degree and the
opportunities available to develop those skills while being an
undergraduate.'.
 The
later part of the forum included an action Space which was a segment
where delegates were given the guidance and resources to develop a
project concept to improve the quality of education in Sri Lanka. They
were guided with a Social Enterprise business model to build concepts
under topics such as IT literacy, English education and Entrepreneurship
Education. AIESEC in Sri Lanka will select three concepts out of 15
developed at this space and will implement it in Sri Lanka collaborating
with the group that developed that concept.
A panel discussion was also conducted with the participation of two
UN representatives who were the Official Youth Delegates of Sri Lanka to
70th UNGA, Thilina Kalhara and Naushalya Rajapaksha, the Founder/CEO of
hSenid Group of Companies, Dinesh Saparamadu and the Head of Learning
and Development of Virtusa, MSampath Thrimavithana. With the questions
raised by the Chair as well as the delegates, the panel discussion
concluded the essence of the Forum. Giving away the tokens of
appreciation to the Guest Speakers, Youth Speak Forum 2016 came to an
end while the delegates danced for the AIESEC roll calls.
The Facebook page [1] contains more updates and photo albums of the
event.
www.facebook.com/youthspeakLK/ |
