Government to form youth development committees in all districts

KARACHI: Government of Sindh has started working  to establish youth development committees at district level all over  the province to engage youth in constructive and productive activities  to enhance their skills and promote their talent.

This was told by government officials during a two-day training workshop on Sindh held by Bargad, a national level organization working on youth development, and OXFAM in collaboration with sports and youth affairs department Sindh here at a local hotel.

The workshop entitled, "Sindh Youth Policy 2018 - Formulation to Implementation: Agenda for Youth" was meant to support implementation of the newly enacted SYP 2018. Thirty representatives of youth groups from across Sindh including youth from Empower Youth for Work (EYW) project in Jamshoro attended the workshop.

Caretaker Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Dr Junaid Shah, administrative secretary sports and youth affairs department Dr Niaz Ali Abbasi and Sabiha Shaheen Executive Director Bargad were among the notable speakers.

Minister Dr Junaid Shah in his interactive discussion with youth representatives said that the province of Sindh has formally adopted a youth policy and coming government is bound to invest more on youth. The policy would pave a way for empowering youth of Sindh. He encouraged the youth to be in touch with government officials, elected leaders and ministers to promote youth development in the province.

Secretary sports and youth affairs department, Dr Niaz Ali Abbasi said that the provisions of youth policy would implemented in letter and spirit. The government of Sindh is particularly interested to uplift girls in its youth development initiatives.

He also emphasized on interaction between youth and the government. He briefed that the department is establishing youth development committees in each district of Sindh. It would be ensured that both boys and girls are part of these district bodies. Deputy Commissioners in districts are on board to form these bodies, he further told.

Sabiha Shaheen from Bargad thanked the government of Sindh, OXFAM in Pakistan and youth groups for implementing the SYP 2018 right after its approval in May 2018. She said that the workshop was a first major step to link youth groups with youth affairs department. It carries forward the spirit of making youth part of the implementation process of SYP 2018 as was done during its formulation process. As many as 5407 youth representatives and other stakeholder of youth including government departments and civil society organizations contributed to formulate the SYP 2018, she informed.

During this two days activity, the youth representatives got orientation about the contents and process of SYP 2018 and learnt about working of governance structures in Sindh and as to how the SYP 2018 would proceed ahead to fulfill its pledged initiatives. They designed an implementation plan and advocacy projects for implementation of the SYP 2018. They particularly worked on youth employment and health rights issues in Sindh. These plans and projects will be submitted to sports and youth affairs department.

The youth representatives resolved that link between youth of Sindh and the sports and youth affairs department was an imperative for success of the youth policy. They demanded an early and efficient implementation and mass awareness about contents and government promises made in the newly enacted SYP 2018. They also requested that the SYP 2018 should be translated in Sindhi language so that youth from across Sindh could easily know about its contents. A Sindhi version will help in implementation of the youth policy, they urged.

Khuram Shahzad facilitated the workshop. Bushra Ahmad Program Officer OXFAM in Pakistan, Rizwan Jaffar, Saqib Niaz and Dr Nauman Ali Chaudhry also participated in the workshop as resource persons.