ISLAMABAD, May 27: Centres should be set up at grass-roots level that provide guidance to youth on reproductive health as well as psychological issues. This was stated by Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Kashmala Tariq at the concluding ceremony of the three-day RHIYA Youth Summit organized by a local NGO, Sachet, in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and European Commission (EC).

Ms Tariq said change could only be brought in the country by taking initiatives aimed at providing necessary knowledge to young people.

She also stressed the need to provide legal assistance at grass-roots level to young people for addressing cases of sexual harassment and gender injustice.

She said majority of the country’s population consisted of people from the middle class and revolution in the social sector could only be instigated by people from within this class.

Earlier, the newly-appointed UNFPA country representative, Dr France Donnay, while addressing the ceremony, said the UNFPA had a special focus on youth development and the Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in Asia (RHIYA) project would contribute to improved reproductive health as well as overall wellbeing of Pakistani youth.

She said the UNFPA offered internship opportunities at its office in New York on biannual basis to young people from around the globe to equip them with managerial and leadership skills.

The summit provided young delegates an opportunity to share their issues and suggest strategies/recommendations for government institutions, international donor agencies and local stakeholders active in the field of youth development and reproductive health.

At the end of the summit, a set of recommendations was unanimously approved by the participating delegates. They called for promotion of a culture of mutual understanding and respect among young people from all over the country through media and inter-cultural dialogue forums.

It was also recommended that parents must trust their children and not provide them biased information, religious leaders play their role to promote understanding and acceptability of reproductive health issues, confidential counselling services be made available at district level and support provided for establishment of youth networks at grass- roots level.

In the end, the participating youth took oath that they would struggle against gender discrimination and work day and night for the development of the country.