KARACHI, Aug 8: The acting US Consul-General, Kay Anske, has urged the youth to discuss all issues being faced by people in the region and then come up with their suggestions about how to solve them amicably.

Inaugurating a three-day youth conference, organized by the Azad Foundation and Aalians International and sponsored by the Save the Children (Sweden) and the United States, she said that the United States was a strong believer in the empowerment of youth and that it was supporting this initiative as it could provide a platform for youth to discuss regional issues.

Some 14 international delegates — eight from Bangladesh, four from Sri Lanka and one from Germany – and more than 150 youth from all over the country are participating in the conference.

Ms Anske said that there were some difficult issues, like gender equality, human rights, trafficking in women and children, drug abuse, peace between India and Pakistan, education, technology, cultural diversity, HIV/AIDS, etc., that were being faced by people of this region.

The US diplomat said that these were not the issues that were relevant solely to Pakistan or any other participating country. Rather, she added, these were regional and in truth the global issues.

She said that the youth conference was designed to bring together youth activists from various countries of South Asia to discuss many of these difficult issues and the participation of the youth and their commitment would make a difference. Some good proposals and recommendations would be finalized at the end of the conference, she hoped.

Sindh Governor’s adviser Mohammad Ali Shah told the youth that during their studies, they should concentrate only on acquiring education and knowledge.

Khurrum Maqbool of the Azad Foundation said that the IJY campaign seeks to connect the youth serving the welfare of the planet through youth organizations across the globe. He identified such organization as those working towards the common global aspirations, racial equality, human rights, poverty elimination, child abuse and trafficking, stronger neighbouring ties, technology and education, etc. He said that if the youth addressed these issues and came up with possible solutions for improving conditions in society, they could make a difference and bring about changes for the betterment of the country.

Syed Fahad Rizvi of the Aalians International said that the world’s greatest desire today was for the people to come closer, settle down differences over geographical boundaries, and eliminate discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour and religion. He hoped that the conference would provide a platform to bridge the gap between people and bring them closer.

A Sri Lankan parliamentarian at the conference, K. A. Baaz, said that more such conferences should be held so that the youth from the region could have more opportunities to meet and discuss the issues being faced by their societies and find ways to resolve them amicably.

Later four groups were formed to discuss one subject each. The subjects were peace and development; sharing and learning through each other; improving democratic strategies for good governance; and ICT & Education.

More than 24 Indian delegates were also scheduled to come and participate in the conference and, according to the organizers, had also reached Delhi from different parts of that country. However, they added, they were refused visa to visit Pakistan at the last moment.

The organizers stated that the conference was originally scheduled to be held last month but had to be delayed as visas to the Indian delegates could not be arranged in time. The new date had been fixed on the assurance from the government that visas would be issued in time, they added.