Daily Times

A one-day conference on “Harnessing Youth for Peace” was held at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar (SBBWUP) to provide a platform to the students to share their findings and open an unlimited realm of discourse for further research.

This project is an initiative of Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, supported by Community Resilience Activity-North (CRA-N), with its implementing partner Higher Education Regulatory Authority (HERA), said a press release issued on Sunday. In this conference, a total of 31 students of Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) of Khyber, Kurram, North Waziristan and Orakzai presented their Essays and Research papers in a highly engaging and participatory manner.

Tashfeen Zia, Deputy Registrar, SBBWUP welcomed all the guests and participants and gave a brief introduction of the project by emphasizing that such activities will promote community level development through conflict prevention strategies in the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Dr Yasir Kamal, Member, HERA in his address, highlighted the importance of “Role of Youth in Peace Building” by emphasizing that such activities bring an opportunity to turn our very young people into a productive asset that could contribute significantly to the peace building within the country and beyond.

The conference was divided into two stages; the first round included speeches by keynote speakers on the “Role of Youth in Peace building” and in the second round, the students presented their research paper and essays on different topics. Prof. Dr Safia Ahmad (TI), Vice Chancellor in her speech emphasized on the fact that establishing synergies of collaboration between young students could result in understanding of diversity, exchange of knowledge, networking and best practices in society. She also highlighted that it was an era to prepare our youth to face challenges of the time with unshakable courage and confidence. We should focus more on regular youth exchange programs between the colleges/universities students and society stakeholders to understand each others’ common heritage and culture, she expressed.

Prof. Dr. Babar Shah, Director Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Peshawar in his session, highlighted that we needed to practice and hold dialogue sessions on the themes like, Gender Equality and Human Rights at national and international level. The media also plays an important role in raising voice to ensure social cohesion, peace and security in the society, he added. The participants also highlighted the problems and challenges faced by the young people in different spheres of life at local and national level. These discussions resulted in encouraging ways forward to address these issues.

Panelists Dr Abida Bano, Mohammad Asfandyar Marwat and Mohammad Fahim from Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Peshawar evaluated the students’ work and performance for which the first three positions will be awarded with cash prizes in the closing ceremony. The conference covered the CVE themes including tolerance, critical thinking, leadership, conflict resolution and social cohesion.

Irfan, Abdul Shakoor, Muhammad Umair Said and Hamidullah of Community Resilience Activity-North (CRA-N) also graced the occasion with their presence. The conference concluded with the distribution of certificates among the students and shields among the panelists and guests.