Second Round of Youth Symposium for Peace & Tolerance | Paktia – Afghanistan
The Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO), along with the Lincoln academic center and the White Social Organization (The White Assembly) jointly organized the Youth Symposium for Peace and Tolerance in Paktia province on November 12, 2020.
In this symposium, the youths, university lecturers & students, civil and human rights activists, religious scholars as well as cultural and social activists actively participated.
The speakers and participants of the symposium talked about the important role of youths in educating and promoting values of peace, prosperity, mutual acceptance and pluralism in the society.
Our provincial fellow Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Saleh briefed the participants about AELSO’s main initiatives for promoting the values of peace in the country, particularly in Herat province.
Then Mr. Gulzar Zazai thanked the AELSO and its provincial team for organizing the symposium. He said:
“Peace is almighty Allah’s command and it is our responsibility to work together for the prosperity of our people. This kind of gatherings assists in creating positive views among all stockholders of the society”.
Continuing the program, Mr. Abdullah Totakhil, Head of Telecommunications of Paktia Province talked about the role of youths and technology in promoting the values of peace and tolerance in the country. He said:
“Today’s generation is the generation of technology, and access to technology among Afghan youths is very high. Even in remote areas of the country, most of the youths have access to social media and tech tools which can be a huge potential for policy makers. It is our responsibility to work with non-governmental organizations such as the AELSO in employing this potential in a positive way. Modern technology has facilitated many tasks and we are sure this will also facilitate the promotion of values of peace, tolerance and to stand against extremism in the country.”
After that, participants of the symposium got the opportunity to share their views and thoughts about symposium’s topic with the fellow participants.
Ms. Zarghona Mangal, one of the participants said:
“Pluralism has emerged as a political and social culture in human societies in order to wipe out the conflict and violence. We, as Afghan youths, have the responsibility to work for promoting this phenomenon for ending the conflict and violence in the country.”
Mr. Shabir Ahmadzai, one of the participants talked about the making the future of Afghanistan and said:
“We need to work more for youth’s empowerment so they have the capacity to oppose extremism and extremist’s movements. Changing Afghan youth’s mindset is the way forward for the country. We need to work on programming youth’s mindset toward peace, prosperity and tolerance in order to ensure a conflict and prejudice free Afghanistan. We are really thankful to the Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO) for realizing the urgency of this issue and have initiated many applicable and highly effective programs for promoting these values among youths in different parts of the country, particularly among the cultured and civilized people of Herat province.”
In the second part of the program which was a panel discussion, Mr. Molavi Khuwajauldin Haq Bayan, Chairman of the Paktia Ulema (religious scholars) Council, Mr. Mir Agha Manavi lecturer at Paktia University, and Mr. Laiq Wahdat Paktia Youth’s Affairs Officer, answered the questions raised by the participants and member of the civil society.
In the group activity section of the Youth Symposium for Peace & Tolerance, participants have been divided into groups to discuss and recommend better ways for promotion tolerance, opposing radicalism in Universities and the role of youths in this regard. Representatives of each group made specific suggestions and recommendations at the end of the group work. The participants of the youth symposium for peace and tolerance considered self awareness, comprehensive study of the issues, youth’s responsibility, and employment as the key strategies to promote the values of peace, tolerance, prosperity, and the fight against extremism.
certificates of participation have also been distributed to the participants in order to appreciate their presence and endorse them for participating in the future events.
The program ended with the concluding remarks and praying for a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan by Qari Sahib Abdul Latif Mohammadi, as well as group photo.
AELSO,
Communication & Training