PESHAWAR:The speakers at a day-long conference here at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University on Wednesday called for harnessing and preparing youth for peace and prosperity in the country.
They said the youth, especially females, have great potential to excel in different fields and it was imperative to train and guide them in a proper direction to contribute to the development and prosperity of the country.
They were addressing the conference held in connection with the closing ceremony of a project on “Harnessing Youth for Peace”. This project was an initiative of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, supported by Community Resilience Activity–North (CRA-N), with its implementing partner Higher Education Regulatory Authority (HERA).
During the conference, 31 students from the Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) of Khyber, Kurram, North Waziristan and Orakzai presented their essays and research papers on CVE themes.
The conference provided a platform for the students to share their findings and to open unlimited realms of discourse for further research.
Chief guest, Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash, Chief Secretary to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Dawood Khan, Secretary to Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Higher Education Archives & Libraries Department graced the closing ceremony of the project with their presence.
Dr Safia Ahmad, Vice Chancellor Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar welcomed all the guests and congratulated both the implementing organizations and partner universities for the successful completion of this Project.
She said that SBBWU was the first-ever women’s university of KP catering to more than 6,000 female youth and trying to make female students active members of society.
Dr Yasir Kamal, Member HERA and Project Director, in his address, highlighted the importance of the “Role of Youth in Peacebuilding” by emphasizing that such activities bring opportunities to turn our very young people into productive assets that could contribute significantly to peacebuilding within the country and beyond.
Dawood Khan Secretary to Govt of KP, Higher Education Archives and Libraries Department, in his speech, appreciated Higher Education Regulatory Authority, KP for initiating hands-on training for the youth of Newly Merged Districts.
He praised the concept of promoting research and essay writing and recommend the participants become master trainers, and replicate the training and become change agents.
Secretary HED has also emphasized the importance of harnessing youth for peace in universities and in NMDs, stressing on preparing students’ minds for peace narratives and requesting donors to fund such initiatives.
Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash, Chief Secretary, Government of KP, in his speech, appreciated HERA for training 220 participants, saying that the training has imparted the right message: “Peace is central to all development”.
“If we promote education, specifically among girls, it will bring peace,” he added.
In the end, certificates and prizes were distributed among participants.
The aim of the project was to sensitize and train faculty members and youth of universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on CVE themes, including tolerance, critical thinking, leadership, conflict resolution, and positive social action for 100 students of selected four districts i.e. Kurram, Orakzai, Khyber and North Waziristan.
Different trainings were arranged from November 14, 2022 to December 9, 2022 at four public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar, Kohat University of Science & Technology, FATA University & Hazara University, Mansehra.