HARIPUR: Speakers at an event said that despite being a potential driving force for the socio-economic development of the country, youth are often treated as part of the problem, making them highly vulnerable to social, economic and political challenges.
Human Development Organisation and Integrated Human Rights Network jointly organised the summit, where the students of different public and private sector colleges and universities were in attendance on this occasion.
The speakers said that the youth population of the country constituted 64percent who were, at a time, beneficiaries as well as victims of the system. “One in every four persons is a youth, and at the same time every fourth person is suffering from different mental health issues, which is further compounded due to excessive use of digital technology, information overload, and heavy dependence on technology,” said Mohammad Ahsan Khan, Director Programme HDO.
Talking about civic freedoms, he said that the civic space continued to shrink, which was evident from the recently released civic space index by international monitors showing Pakistan’s decline in global rating to 24/100 from 28/100. “The democracy and media freedom indicators also present a worrisome situation,” he said. Briefing the audience about the role of the Youth Leadership Network, MatiUllah Khan, a young social activist, said that the need of a representative forum for youth specifically dedicated for overall wellbeing of youth, was conceptualised by the HDO and IHRN and its operational strategy will premise three pillars which included youth organization and mobilization, orientation and capacity development and networking and advocacy to engage youth for policy reforms focusing youth empowerment and development.
