The long-awaited National Youth Policy (NYP) will be finalised within two months with the main objective of inculcating cohesion among youth, necessary for national integration and spending their lives collectively. This was stated by Minister for Youth Affairs Shahid Hussian Bhutto while addressing National Youth Summit 2008 (NYS) organised by World Population Foundation (WPF) in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) here on Saturday.
It was Shaheed Benazir Bhutto's mission to prepare youth to meet the future challenges, he said, adding that younger generation had a very significant role to play in the development and progress of a country. He said that the present coalition government was giving preference to the youth because it considered them as precious asset and future of the nation.
He said that the ministry wanted to prepare balanced policy, which had all essential characteristics and that, would only be possible after extensive discussion with the stakeholders, including concerned departments of the provinces and comments of general public.
"The NYP comprises four pillars. It will help youth to understand their culture and give them the knowledge about history," he added. He said: "Our second aim is to bring national cohesion among the youth to build a national integration with harmony. "Similarly, it will help them as how to spend their lives individually as well collectively," he said.
"Our main focus is to help the youth, belonging to rural areas of the country," he said, adding that 70 percent youth, living in rural areas, would be benefited through this policy. He asked the participants to come forward and give their suggestion.
Speaking on the occasion, WPF member Nosheen Abbas said that 50 percent population of the country comprised youth, which if properly trained, could play a vital role in the development of the country. UNFPA member Saima Ashraf said that the summit was aimed at creating awareness among youth.
It is pertinent to note that the Cabinet Division has sent National Youth Policy draft back to the Ministry of Youth Affairs several times on the ground that the draft was poorly prepared by the concerned ministry. Millions of youngsters, rightly called the future of Pakistan, are still waiting the end results of the government's tall claims regarding National Youth Policy, as the successive governments for the last two decades have failed to constitute the same.