The Federal Government has launched the Prime Minister’s Youth Program under which various steps are being taken including laptop schemes, scholarships, modern courses for youth across the country.
Under this program, for the first time in the history of the country, the National Advancement and Youth Policy is being brought in to empower young people and join them in national development, which will include all from the age of 10 to young people. This policy is underway to consult the youth and the government is being told that the consultation process should be completed in the next two months and the policy should be announced.
What are the issues of this policy? What will benefit children and young people? How will this policy be helpful in national construction and development? What will be the mechanism of execution? A special dialogue was organized in the “Express Forum” regarding the “National Advancement and Youth Policy” to find out the answers to most such questions, in which representatives of the government and civil society expressed their views. The forum conversation is a reader reader.
Sabiha Shaheen
(Focal Person, National Advancement and Youth Policy, Prime Minister Youth Program)
Under the Prime Minister’s Youth Program, the Prime Minister’s Youth Program is being brought to the National Advancement and Youth Policy for the first time in the country’s history, which is comprised of 4ES, Employment, Employment, Engagement and Environment under the Prime Minister’s Youth Program.
It is also for the first time that the policy made for youth is being consulted with youth across the country at all levels. A 25 -member delegation consisting of deputy secretary, focal personnel and experts went to the dimensions of the country, including the hills of Chitral, the valleys of Swat, Mardan and consulted with the local youths there. 4 focus groups are formed in each university and thus their opinions are taken.
Until then, consultation process has been completed across the country besides Punjab province. Due to the Pak -India war, this process was stopped on the day India was present at Bahawalpur at that time Bahawalpur was present in this regard. There was a lot of work on this policy. After consultation in 25 cities of Punjab, this policy will be announced in the next two months. Through this forum, I appeal to all the youth that the Prime Minister’s Youth Program’s social media accounts must follow, the best programs are being run for them and more are being brought.
The government wants no youth to be left behind, young people can contact us on these pages. 65 % of the country’s population is young, the government cannot provide them with jobs alone, so we have to create entrepreneurs. We are also carrying madrassas and school students, no citizen is being discriminated against.
Great Jacob
(Executive Director FDI)
Credit for the first National Advancement and Youth Policy in the country’s history goes to the Prime Minister Youth Program Rana Mashhud Ahmad Khan, Focal Person, National Advancement and Youth Policy, Prime Minister Youth Program Sabiha Shaheen and his entire team.
This policy will certainly be an important milestone in national development. Young people are our valuable assets, they can strengthen the domestic economy, but if they are not focused, they can be a burden on the economy which will have an impact on national development so they will have to take large measures. To me, the most important young people right now is to hope and get out of the darkness of despair. They have to assure that the state is serious about taking steps for their betterment and is also working in this regard.
To me, more important than policy making is to restore the confidence of the youth in the state. The state should give young people the opportunity to move forward with extreme seriousness, responsibility and delay. This is a period of artificial intelligence and modernization, so there is a need to bring projects that are compatible with our local conditions and modern requirements. We have to train our youth in advance in higher education, employment, exchange programs and other contexts, preparing them in advance for everything so that it is easy for them to tackle the challenges. The steps taken for the youth will play an important role in the strengthening of the already standing building, we have to bring all classes into the mainstream.
Everyone has to provide equal opportunities for young, women, eunuchs, minorities, special people. We have to bring the youth of Azad and Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit -Baltistan, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the national mainstream and provide them with equal opportunities to move forward.
Our educational system has been oppressed. Everyone added their own articles but they do not have harmony. After the 18th Amendment, more curriculum problems arose. Now students are suffering from confusion. I think our educational curriculum needs surgery, without which matters cannot proceed. One of the major problems in the contemporary is Mental Health, so if we want to improve the current and future of the younger generation, Mental Health and Well Being will have to be part of the policy at the national level, because unless there is a regular policy, resources will not be available for this work.
Ramen Mashhood
(Member National Youth Council of Pakistan)
About 60 % of the country’s population is young, they are also assets and also risk. The government needs large -scale measures for them. Reviewing the report of 2024, 11 % of young people were unemployed last year, which is the highest rate in the country’s history, which is because they do not have soft skills, vocational training and practical skills.
We have a talk of entrepreneurship, but it is also a bitter fact that 90 % of our startup culture fails, we have to make business -friendly policies to promote it. Startup growth is essential to stabilize industry and trade.
Adulsoment is 10 to 19 years old, these children are not capable of facing other challenges, including psychological and physical problems, they are weak, so they need to be guided so that their future and life can be improved. Children are guided in schools, but on the other hand, millions of our children do not go to school, they have no problem, their dream of national development cannot be fulfilled without their training, participation and development. These children need vocational and technical training, there are government agencies, they have to be brought into the system.
The National Youth Council has a total of 113 members, of which 13 are Pakistani. All these members are selected under a long method, it is represented by all classes from all over the country and no discrimination can be made here. The members of the National Youth Council are guiding the youth in connection with the Prime Minister’s Youth Program so that no youth is deprived of government policies. The policy -making is also seeking guidance from the Ulema Council so that seminaries can be included. We understand that everyone can be taken along with them. One thing to note here is that our educational curriculum is outdated, it has to be compatible with the modern requirements.
Hussein Hashmi
(Niab President, National Youth Volentire Network)
Adulsoments and Youth are 67 % of the country’s population. For the first time in the country, a policy is being made for them, which is welcome and encouraging, which will help to end their exploitation at all levels. It is regrettable that degree holders are being exploited in the name of free internship, they are taken without a paid work which will have to be discouraged. Our organization is informing about global volunteers in educational institutions across the country. We also seek the opinions of the youth who are conveyed to the parliamentarians to improve the policy.
It is also happening for the first time in the history of the country that the youth’s policy is being consulted, which is certainly a good move, it will have lasting effects and will also be easy to implement. This policy also features special attention to the mental health of the youth, which is a very important issue. This policy is discussing the ‘structural employment’ of the youth.
When it becomes a structure and the jobs of the youth are seen under policy, their job problems will help a lot. Policies are being made for the youth. For the past three years, our network has repeatedly reached its demand to the Punjab government.
We believe that joining the policies of Global Volunteer Standards will not only innovate in volunteerism in Pakistan but also promote the volunteer works of the youth. Our government agencies, which are providing various facilities to the people, need to be strengthened by complaints. If these institutions have access to every citizen and the Silen coming to the complaint is respected, then matters can be better.
Each institution should have a mechanism that sets time for immediate solution to any complaint and applications should not be hanged for years. In addition, a monthly or quarterly report of each organization should be published regarding complaints and their resolution, which will improve the performance of the institutions.
