Youth Representatives urged the Sindh government to resolve issues of the youth and look into the revival of student unions in a seminar conducted on Tuesday. Speakers of seminar ‘Youth Dialogue on Democratic, Peaceful Governance and Sustainable Development’ organised by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan and Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) highlighted issues faced by Pakistani youth including employment, quality of education and extremism in educational institutions. PILDAT President Ahmed Bilal Mehboob addressed the seminar on the occasion. He said that the youth made up a large faction of Pakistan’s population. “Pakistan is currently one of the youngest countries in the world and the second youngest in the South Asian region and this high proportion of youth offers tremendous opportunities for national development but it also poses huge challenges if the country fails to educate and equip them with required skills and knowledge,” he said. “It is with this purpose, that is, to provide a platform to Pakistani Youth, to express their views on state policies and matters of their concern, in an informed and structured manner, and to help them learn how to engage in civilized dialogue on contentious issues, that PILDAT initiated this dialogue,” said Mehboob while addressing the gathering. In their questions to representatives of the Provincial Government and Opposition, Youth Speakers highlighted issues on education and extremism, promises made to revive student unions, lack of clean drinking water and toilets in primary schools, prospects for higher education, lack of focus on development of rural youth, rights of transgender in youth, corruption in Sindh’s institutions, land reforms, and how the government and opposition could work together for the higher cause of civilian supremacy. Representatives whether from the Government or Opposition, agreed with the issues highlighted by the youth and said that there was a dire need to invest in youth development in the country. The matter of revival of student unions was emphasised upon across the board among leadership of political parties present from Sindh Province. Members of opposition highlighted the need to prioritize discussion on youth issues, such as growing menace of extremism in educational institutions, and the extremely low budget allocated for their development. Published in Daily Times, September 26th 2018.