Basis for Remarks by
Janis Bjørn Kanavin Ambassador of Norway on
Pakistani Youth Policy Consultation Workshop in Islamabad, 29th January 2005
31/05/2005 :: Glad to be introduced and to be able to address this Workshop as a friend of the Youth Policy. This friendship is both institutional and personal – I happened to be Vice-Chair of the Norwegian Youth Council when it was formed 25 years ago.
I learned then, and I hope to heed that knowledge still, that no-one can speak on behalf of youth if they are not young. We can feel young, we can contribute with our experiences and views, but we cannot and should not take the focus away from giving youth themselves the space to address their own needs and priorities.
In this vein – and also as a non-Pakistani – it is not in my place to make specific comments or try to influence the output of the Workshop. Having heard the preliminary report from the group work, I am reassured that this Workshop has addressed very pertinent issues and will come up with a solid set of recommendations.
Having been honoured to speak as Chief Guest, I will make three points of principle and – despite what I just said – add one specific suggestion. These principles are in no way uniquely Pakistani, they apply as much to Norway as to any other nation, but I will try to illustrate them in a relevant fashion to this Workshop.
1. The participatory nature of a youth policy is central. It means of course that youth must be allowed to participate, they must be encouraged and enabled to participate. It is, however, not meaningful if there is no response to the input of the youth. Elders must feel accountable also to youth specifically. This means of course that the Government must be responsive to the result of youth participation in society and in policy-making. I hope and believe this Workshop exemplifies such response. But the need for responsiveness towards youth participation goes beyond the governmental sphere. Politicians in general must be responsive. Teachers and professors must be responsive. Employers must be responsive. Tribal leaders and other elders must be responsive. Maulanas and other religious leaders must be responsive. The military must be responsive. And this need goes right to the heart of the home – we as parents must be more responsive to the needs of our own youth.
2. The representativity of youth input is equally central. What use is participation if it is not inclusive? This is perhaps not as straight-forward as it sounds. Inclusiveness does not only mean gender equality in participation, not just allowing minority voices to be heard. It means that a youth policy and plan of action must allow for special interests to come forward. It must not be elitist, it must not be tabooist. I do not want to mention questions like forming student unions, etc., but I do want to emphasise strengthening the youth representation in civil society and to dare to face possible short-term problems in order to win the long-term goal. This goal is bringing Pakistans youth to contribute more strongly towards the goal of every nation – to grow and prosper for the benefit of all its people. The representativity issue also relates to the topics addressed – the Youth Policy offers, for instance, a unique opportunity to address issues such as reproductive health in a straightforward and non-tabooist manner. I am glad to hear it mentioned also in the report from the group work. This is a matter-of-fact issue that concerns and confronts every single youth – and it is very much the concern of the welfare of this nation.
3. Providing meaningful resources is equally central to any Youth Policy – both in order to strengthen the machinery necessary for the Policy and the Plan of Action, but more importantly to facilitate engagement of the young. Holding line ministries accountable to play their part will be a major task in Pakistan as it is in Norway. My advice is to channel the funding as locally as possible – make it a strong part of the devolution process, contributing towards strengthening real local democracy. Make it as outreach-oriented as possible, work with CCB’s, with the private sector and with civil society, build partnerships to make each rupee go that much further.
4. Finally, the specific recommendation: in defining the age span of youth, and therefore the focus of the Youth Policy and Action Plan, I suggest that youth is that period in a persons life where many have entered working life, but have not yet started a family of their own. In Pakistan, many have left school by the age of 15, and by the age of 25 many are married. Keep the focus to that ten-year span.
I wish all of you every success in drawing up the Youth Policy and Plan of Action – the job har just begun. When these initiatives are launched in March, I hope the effort to improve them will grow stronger and stronger. Most of all, however, I wish you well in cooperating towards implementing the Policy and the Plan of Action. Pakistan needs the warm heart and the sound mind, the clear voice and the strong hands of its youth.