One Day Before the Collapse of Afghanistan; the National Youth Conference 2021 was Successfully Organized
National Youth Conference 2021, in continuation the initiatives of the White Assembly and in cooperation with the Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO), RANA University, Azem Publications and other leading national and International organizations with the presence of more than 400 elite youth from all over the country and a number of professors and young scholars as members of the High Leadership Council of this conference, in an insecure and agitated condition by passing all the obstacles was organized for two days in Kabul province on “Nation-Building & Justice”.
Despite the fact that many cities were collapsed by Taliban and the security and political situation in Afghanistan was not favorable, the White Assembly, despite being exposed to numerous security threats, based on its commitments on human and academic beliefs and values, paved the way for youth and people to express their views and opinions to overcome on the currents challenges and crisis, although on the first day of the conference, the target of the terrorist attackers was repulsed and arrested by the security forces, the National Youth Conference 2021, was successfully organized with a great academic and effective achievement in creating a unified nation and realization of justice, freedom and prosperity in Afghanistan.
In this conference which organized annually by the White Assembly; a large number of youth, students, University lecturers, religious scholars, civil and human rights activists, social and cultural activists have come together from all over the country and discussed on the main themes of the program, needs and challenges of nation-building process, ensuring justice and strategies for creating a unified nation in Afghan society.
At the beginning of the conference, Mohammad Khalid Ramizy, one of the founders of The White Assembly, CEO of AELSO and member of the National Youth Conference Leadership High Council 2021, as the first speaker of this program provided information about the activities and achievements of the White Assembly, goals of the National Youth Conference 2021, and themes of the conference “nation-building & Justice” to the participants.
Following him, Dr. Idris Alokozay, Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Information and Culture, expanded the topics of the program for the participants and spoke about the role of youth in creating a united nation and achieving social justice in society, he added: “The role of youth in crucial and national equations is very important and it is these youth who, by gaining experience from the past, remove the points of separation and distance from the people and lead them to unity and empathy, justice is the basis of human life and without justice, a unified nation cannot be achieved.”
Then, her excellency Mette Knudsen, Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan & UNAMA, spoke about the role of the United Nations in strengthening the process of nation –building and realization of justice in Afghanistan, adding: “Over the last twenty years, the United Nations has made a significant contribution to the creation of a united nation and the realization of justice in Afghanistan, and has provided extensive support in this regard, the United Nations, as a global supporter, has always stood by the people of Afghanistan and has provided invaluable services for the prosperity and development of Afghanistan, and will continue to do so until justice and prosperity are achieved in Afghanistan.”
After her, the Minister of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, (Collapsed Government) Fazl Ahmad Manawi, spoke about social justice and the rights of war victims and added: “Justice is the beginning of the social mission of a Muslim and Islam considers the provision of justice in society as one of the human and religious responsibilities and duties, in his view, wars and distances have always resulted from injustice among human beings, and it has undoubtedly been justice that has dismantled the tools of war and led human beings to peace and goodness.”
Following the conference, Ainuddin Bahadori, The Chairman of Access to Information Commission of Afghanistan (Collapsed Government), spoke about the youth and their responsibilities for the future of Afghanistan and added: “considering the current situation, the basic responsibility of the Afghan youth is to strive for creation of unity and the spirit of on enation in society, in his view, the situation of three generations in Afghanistan (past, current, and future) is the responsibility of educated and elite youth who, by understanding their social duties and reasonability must provide the way and to unite Afghans and by realization of justice seeks to serve these three generations in Afghanistan.”
Then, Marjan Mateen, Deputy Chairman of the Public & Strategic Communication office of the President (Collapsed Government), spoke about the process of nation-building and the future of Afghanistan and said: “Strengthening the process of nation-building is one of the most important components of prosperity and development in Afghanistan, and in the absence of unity and tolerance among the people, justice has not been achieved and we cannot achieve a united nation, she saw the way to a united nation in Afghanistan through justice and unity among the people and held the youth responsible for achieving this ideal in Afghanistan.”
Dr. Omar Sadr, a university professor and one of the experts on nation-building in Afghanistan, looked at this issue academically and with raising the academic reasons discussed the nature of the concept of nation and the stages of achieving a unite nation from a theoretical perspective, according to him, no nation in the world is free from diversity and difference, and in fact these differences have become a point of connection and recognition and compliments between human beings and have brought different people together under a unite nation.”
Following him, Seyed Mustafa Saiedy, Vice Chancellor of RANA University and a member of the National Youth Conference Leadership High Council 2021, unveiled the book “Youth Narrative on Peace, Prosperity, and Tolerance” and added: “This book is the result of the National Youth Conference 2020, and the White Assembly intends to expand this academic and educational action once again, and the outcome of the National Youth Conference 2021, will delivered as well in a form of a codified research book to the Government of Afghanistan and international community.
After the end of the first part of the National Youth Conference 2021, all the members and participants worked to make a youth network among themselves, and at this part each youth was able to communicate with more than 20 other youth from different provinces of Afghanistan and know each other, the purpose of this part of the conference was to bring the youth closer to each other in order to create youth networks throughout Afghanistan and to exchange ideas, opinions and reflect the voice of the youth throughout the country.
In the third part of the conference, all the participants were divided into 3 different working groups and discussed on the challenges, opportunities, and solutions of the nation-building process in Afghanistan; the role of intellectuals, academic and civic institutions, and media in strengthening the process of nation-building and justice; and the benefits of realizing social justice and creation of a unified nation in Afghanistan, which the result shared to all the participants by their representative and will be published in a research book.
Bahram Akbari, Sohrab Samim, and Yamin Shams, the representatives of the three working groups, shared the results of their group work with all the participants and added that today and tomorrow of Afghanistan is in the hands of the aware youth and we are responsible to work for peace and intimacy among the people, the youth of Afghanistan must join hands and work to bridge the gaps and divisions among the people and create the conditions for unity and empathy to achieve a unified nation and realize justice in the country.
The first day of the conference has successfully ended with concluding remarks by Mohammad Khalid Ramizy, and in the beginning of the second day, his excellency Hamidullah Farooqi, Minister of Martyrs and Disabled of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Collapsed Government), spoke about the role of minorities in strengthening national unity and added: “Legally, politically, culturally, and economically, they are marginalized, and today, given the international importance of minorities, is a global issue for many governments. Afghanistan has diverse religious, ethnic, and linguistic minorities. So in order to strengthen the process of nation building and justice in all parts of country, they can be effective and the government has a duty to recognize these elements and provide the basis for their reconciliation and interaction in strengthening the process of nation building and justice in Afghanistan.”
In the second day of the conference, in a section entitled “Youth and Enlightenment” four elite youths representing four provinces of Afghanistan (Shabnam Salahshour from Herat province; Salahuddin Qarizadah from Badakhshan province; Shahid Hussain Ziayr form Nangarhar province, and Hosha Mobarez from Balkh province) Took part in this part of the National Youth Conference 2021 and conveyed the messages of the youths of their regions to other fellow participants, government officials and representatives of the international community through the conference.
These young delegates from all over Afghanistan got the opportunity to participate in the National Youth Conference 2021 as delegates along with their fellow youths from their regions, talked on different topics related to the main themes of the program, and stressed on the urgent and vital need for reaching to peace and promoting the culture of tolerance, unity and brotherhood among the people of Afghanistan.
From their perspective, the youths of today think of a better tomorrow with having the knowledge and experience of the past. They have spared no effort to create a united and justice-oriented Afghanistan and are ready to serve their homeland with any sacrifices. They expressed that this is the voice of thousands of youths who has supported us to participate in this grand conference despite number of threats in order to raise their voice to you all, the government officials and the international community. The youths in every corner of the country are ready to serve and strive to create a unified national and ensuring justice and this is one of their real aspirations for their country.
In the third part of the conference, the expert panel of the National Youth Conference-2021 on the themes of “Tolerance, Nation-Building and Justice” was organized by moderation of Khoshal Asefi and the participation of Dr. Zabihullah Afra, Dr. Sarwerasa Rafizada, Hooria Faizi Sardarzada, Habiba Qaderi, Mostafa Mudasir, Mohammad Tawab Rahimi, and Dr. Abbasin Stanekzai, as they are university professors, prominent figures in the Afghan youth community, and also they were members of the National Youth Conference High Leadership Council 2021.
The speakers of this expert panel discussed tolerance, nation-building, justice and other factors that can strengthen the process of nation-building, such as human rights, freedom, prosperity, and expressed their views on these issues to the participants, in their view, achieving a unified nation and realization of justice is not spontaneous and natural that can be achieved without voluntary actions such as ethnicity, nor is it possible with the suppression of traditional ties, Rather, in addition to preparing objective conditions such as the economic growth of communications, urbanization, and public awareness, it requires serious action by the elite and the government to strengthen the “collective life” among individuals and everyone, regardless of their ethnic, linguistic or religious characteristics, all of people must be considered as equal citizens of that nation, otherwise any use of force and violence will face numerous problems and obstacles in the process of nation-building.
After end of this expert panel, Ahmad Reaz Seddiqi, Director of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) of the ministry of economy (Collapsed Government) spoke about the activities and programs of non-governmental organizations for nation building and justice, and said: “NGOs in Afghanistan have made significant efforts over the past two decades to create national attitudes among Afghan people. Today’s conference, initiated by the White Social Organization on Nation Building and Justice, is one of the most prominent activities of these organizations in Afghanistan.”
He added: “Huge participation of youths from all over Afghanistan in today’s conference is a sign of empathy and unity among the people, particularly the young generation of Afghanistan. It gives hope that the future of Afghanistan will flow towards prosperity, happiness, unity, and justice.”
In the fifth part of the program, the leadership of the White Assembly and members of the National Youth Conference Leadership High Council 2021 awarded Freedom Champion’s Awards to the ten winners of this Award. Hosha Mobarez Yaqoobi from Mazar, Sayed Najib Asil from Kabul, Ahmad Riaz Sidiqi from Kabul, Alena Latifi from Parwan, Mohammad Javad Hamdard from Ghazni, Rafiullah Mobarez from Samangan, Shahid Hussein Ziyar from Nangarhar, Salahuddin Qarizadah from Badakhshan, Waqif Nouri from Bamyan, and Basira Peygham from Takhar provinces were the winners of this award.
The winners of the Freedom Champions Award were selected from among the young, active and revolutionary personalities who have carried out outstanding struggles and activities in various regions for promoting the values of freedom, human rights, and civilization, and have endured number of difficulties in this regard.
By taking this initiative and presenting these awards to these youths, the White Assembly conveyed its support for these valuable humanitarian activities throughout Afghanistan and expressed its gratitude to all freedom fighters and activists.
Then, The National Youth Conference 2021, has successfully ended with concluding remarks by Mohammad Khalid Ramizy; appreciating the members of the Leadership High Council; distribution of certificates to the participants from 34 provinces of the country and a group photo in the courtyard of the Chehelsotoon Palace.
To appreciate the effective work of the security forces in securing the conference and preventing a terrorist attack, he commended them specially and called on the participants to hope and strive for a free, independent, secure, and prosperous future.
It is worth mentioning that in this program, various news media; book fairs and national and indigenous symbols of Afghanistan were participated and added to the richness of this conference, along with other academic activities in this conference, the book “Islamic Foundations of a Free Society”, “Peace, Love, & Liberty” and other valuable books written in the field of Market economy, Democracy and Liberty, have been introduced to the participants as the main references for better understanding of the compatibility of free society values with the teachings of the holy religion of Islam.
The White Assembly is determined to organize such academic Conferences in all over the country and pave the way for youth to participate in national programs and raise their views. Those interested in promoting peace, human rights, liberty, prosperity, justice, and democracy can join the White Assembly and proudly contribute to creating a democratic & peaceful Afghanistan through our different academic and social initiatives.
We are grateful from the generous supports of our all donors and partners for their supports and contributions on successful organizing of the conference.
If you want to read the complete report of National Youth Conference 2021 report in English languge click here.