KARACHI: More than half the population of youth between the ages of 15-29 years is out of the labour force and only eight per cent of them is self-employed, with a high degree of gender disparity.

‘Female inactivity’ (individuals who are neither out of work nor employed) in the province was very high (91.5 per cent) in 2006-2007, official statistics indicated.

This was stated by speakers at a provincial youth panel discussion “Prospects of Peace and Social Cohesion in Sindh” organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) that was attended by a large number of young people, according to a Piler press release.

The speakers included Noor Ahmed Solangi, A.D.O.E, Gadap Town, Sindh Education Department, Naghma Iqtidar, researcher at Karachi University, Zulfiqar Shah of Piler, Rafique Channa of PFF, Zohaib Kaka, Sindh University, Bhit Shah and Mohammad Hanif of Radio Pakistan.

The speakers urged the provincial government to make the new youth policy participatory by including recommendations of the youth of rural areas as well.

They said Sindh has lower multi-dimensional poverty indices as compared to other provinces. The gap between urban and rural indices is wider at 13.6 per cent in urban and 78.21 per cent in rural areas, indicating extreme poverty and facing multiple deprivations in districts such as Tharparkar, Thatta, Badin, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar and Shikarpur.

Furthermore, they said that the young people have to play their role effectively particularly in restoring peace in society by organising healthy activities. Peace can be restored by bringing youth of various communities closer to each other and encouraging them to participate in each other’s social and cultural activities.

The speakers said that by providing a healthy environment for education and other extracurricular activities the young generation can become more responsible. They also highlighted the poor standard of school education which they said was influencing the young people towards antisocial behaviour.

They recalled that in the past people would sit together at one place to discuss their issues and would solve disputes but such gatherings were few and far between.

The capabilities and energies of the young generation should be channelised to bring about positive changes in the society, they said.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd , 2014