Youth Symposium for Peace & Tolerance | Nangarhar
The Second Round of Youth Symposium for Peace and Tolerance initiated by the Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO) in cooperation with other national and international organizations has been successfully organized in Nangarhar province on February 11, 2021 in Nangarhar province. The main theme of the symposiums was “the challenges toward educating and promoting the values of democracy and human rights in Afghanistan”.
In this symposium, including Wahidullah Rashid, AELSO’s provincial representative in Nangarhar province, associate professor Fahim Rahimi, lecturer at Nangarhar University; Abdul Qaher Beheshti, head of AELSO’s research department; Najibullah Sulaimankhil, AELSO’s board member; Abdul Latif Barakzai, head of Silk Road Online radio station which serves as AELSO’s broadcasting channel; more than 60 youths including girls, boys, cultural and civil activists have actively participated. The participants discussed and exchanged views on the issues of fighting extremism, ways to better promote the values of peace, democracy and mutual acceptance in the country.
The symposium consisted of three parts:
- Speeches by keynote speakers
- Experts panel, &
- Group work by the participants
The symposium started by Muzhda Rahbar, & Rostum Jalalzai who were the announcers of the program. At the beginning of the program, Sonika Arian, a provincial fellow of the AELSO introduced the Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO) to the participants and provided detailed information about the organization’s activities throughout Afghanistan, particularly in the eastern provinces. Ms. Arian gave information about the main reasons behind organizing Youth Symposium for Peace and tolerance, and AELSO’s planned activities in the future.
In the second part of the program, an expert panel chaired by Wahidullah Rasheed was moderated. Associate professor Fahim Rahimi, lecturer at Nangarhar University; Abdul Qaher Beheshti, Head of AELSO’s Research department; Najibullah Sulaimankhil, AELSO’s Board member; Atiqullah Watandost, peace activist; Abdul Latif Barakzai, head of Silk Road Online radio station which serves as AELSO’s broadcasting channel, gave a speeches and provided convincing answers to the participants’ questions.
At the beginning of the panel, Wahidullah Rasheed briefly introduced panel members and pointed out their efforts for ensuring peace in the country. Following that, Associate professor Fahim Rahimi, lecturer at Nangarhar University, spoke about the role of the youth in the peace process and reminded to the youths about their responsibility being an Afghan youth.
Rahimi said:
“although the young people are the main victims of war, but they don’t have the role they are supposed to have in ensuring peace and prosperity in the country. Young people are both physically and mentally the envoys of positive peace in the country. The solutions to get out of the current problem are: understanding they reasons we are in war and violence, changing political and social thoughts, creating opportunities for young people to travel and explore different parts and cultures of the country, spreading positive thoughts through technology, strengthening unity and harmony, eliminating every kind of biases and working for peace in the individual level. Doing these activities are directly the responsibility of youths.”
Following that, Abdul Qaher Beheshti, Head of AELSO’s Research department, spoke about the problems beyond peace and its fundamental solution, and recalled the achievements of the AELSO for ensuring sustainable peace throughout the country.
“The Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO) has been ranked among the top 50 think tanks in Asia for three consecutive years in a survey conducted annually by the University of Pennsylvania, USA. The AELSO from the first day of its establishment have been bestowed with remarkable achievements. Translating, publishing & distributing more than 40 volumes of world’s renowned books, is a good example in this regard.”
Beheshti said:
“The main reason behind current problems in the country is not resolving the current issues through dialogue. Instead of guns and violence, we need to work for promoting the culture of negotiation and dialogue so that the people of this land can live in peace.”
According to Beheshti;
“Beheshti believes that, the effective way for ending the current violence and war in the country is following the principle of pluralism and working for promoting this principle. In the domain of pluralism, everyone will share power, and the door to national understanding will be open to accept each other. In such a situation, no group can claim leadership over Afghanistan.”
Following Beheshti, Najibullah Sulaimankhil, AELSO’s Board member talked about Peace & Trade, and said
“Strengthening trade will result in creating job opportunities for young people in which at the end of the day will lead to long lasting peace in the country. Many mega projects for regional connectivity are being implemented in the region by regional powers mainly China. Afghanistan with getting involved in one of these projects can link the benefits of the regional powers with peace and prosperity in the country.
Sulaimankhil added:
“Three groups namely: government, organizations and public play a key role in strengthening peace and expanding trade. The government should design and implement effective policies to boost trade & export in the country. Organizations and think tanks can work for getting close the public and government and recommend academic and research based solutions for removing barriers in this regard. On the other hand, the public with having the purchasing power have the ability to determine the types and quality of the products and services in the market.
Continuing the program, Atiqullah Watandost, peace activist talked about the practical & academic steps needed for ensuring peace in the country and said:
“Understanding the true value of peace, having good faith and commitment to peace, adopting the approach of forgiveness instead of revenge, and working with academic centers for promoting the values of peace & harmony in the country are among the measures necessary to ensure long lasting peace in the country. Since our society is a traditional society, the role of the Mosques (Menbers) in securing peace cannot be ignored. But it should not be forgotten that universities and academic institutions are also considered as most effective tribunes for promoting these values today.”
Following Mr. Watandost, Abdul Latif Barakzai, head of Silk Road Online radio station spoke about the role of media in fighting extremism, and pointed out the positive as well as negative role medial can play in this regard. Barakzai first defined extremism, named the main factors that contribute to strengthening extremism in the country, and named solutions to combat this ugly phenomenon. According to Barakzai; the media plays a key role in this regard. Awareness by the media, promoting the values of mutual acceptance by the media and expressing the ugliness of extremism at the individual and community level are some of the activities that can be effective in fighting extremism in the country.
In the third part of this program; Participants were divided into six groups and discussed for 15 minutes about the topics that were previously determined. At the end of the group work, each group was given 5 minutes to share the results of their group discussions with the fellow participants.
At the end of the symposium, Najibullah Sulaimankhil, AELSO’s board member, concluded the symposium and spoke about AELSO’s achievements and activities as well as its future plans throughout the country, especially in the eastern province of Nangarhar. Following him associate professor Fahim Rahimi, lecturer at Nangarhar University, praised AELSO for its unique initiative and called on youths for actively participating in such programs which surely contributes to sustainable peace in the country.
The second round of the Youth Symposium for Peace and tolerance in Nangarhar province ended with the book “Islamic foundations of free society” to the keynote speakers, distributing certificate of participation, group photo and praying for a prosperous, peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
AELSO’s Communication & Public Relations Department