Sri Lanka to host South Asian Youth Conference for 1st time

From left: Horizon Campus Head OF International Operations Thilina Rajapakse, Joint Chairman Sachintha Abeysooriya, Chairman Tharindu Abeyrathna, Conference Coodinator Yasodhara Kapuge, Delegate Selection and Support Coodinator Namirah Jiffry – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

By Shannine Daniel 

The South Asian Youth Conference (SAYC) 2015 is to be held from 11 to 15 December at Horizon Campus, Malabe. 

The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Peace, Prosperity and Youth of South Asia’ which is followed by the sub-themes of ‘Art, Culture and Peace’, ‘Gender Equality’ and ‘Self-Growth and Abundance’. The main objective behind this conference is to reinforce the bonds between South Asian nations and find realistic solutions from a fresh, farsighted perspective for the problems that are faced by these countries.

For the fifth consecutive year, SAYC will bring together youth from all countries in the South Asian region. This year the expected number of foreign and Sri Lankan delegates is 84 and 20 respectively. Four observers from Germany, China, Myanmar and Indonesia are to attend as well. 

The conference will be inaugurated on 11 December under the patronage of former president Chandrika Bandaranaike as the Chief Guest.  

The main organisers of SAYC 2015 are the Atlantic Council and the Blue Ribbon Movement of India, along with the Sri Lankan chapter of the Blue Ribbon movement, Horizon Campus Malabe and Sumithuru Youth Council, Sri Lanka. 

“Peace is expressed in three different ways; peace within, peace among people and peace with the environment. Hence, the whole idea behind SAYC is to look at peace not as an absence of conflict, but as an actual process in relationships,” said SAYC 2015 Conference Coordinator Yasodhara Kapuge.  

During the five-day conference discussions, lectures and workshops will take place to observe the relationship between peace, prosperity and youth and also focus on problems faced by South Asian nations when cultivating peace and prosperity.

Thereby SAYC aims to combine efforts to combat climate change, promote dialog mutual understanding between the youth of the South Asian region. It also aims to create a common platform for them to bring an end to extremism, racism and national hatred and resolve misunderstandings. 

Advocacy skills training is another a key objective of the conference, where they aim at enabling the youth to take up leadership roles to make meaningful contributions to the youth statements and gather examples of what youth are already doing in South Asia to build a green economy, and live sustainable lifestyles.

“Real peace and harmony can be achieved by active effort. That is what we young people of South Asia are trying to do and trying to discuss at the conference this year,” added Kapuge. 

In addition to its many key objectives, the SAYC will also draw attention of the world, especially the youth, to the new and successful youth of Asia.

Outlining the program design SAYC Chairman Tharindu Abeyrathna asserted that on 12 December will be the first thematic day of the conference, with the theme being ‘Art, Culture and Peace’ and it will include discussions on how Art, Culture and Religion can be used to create peace and harmony in the region.

The theme of the second thematic day, which is on 13 December, will be ‘Gender Equality’ and the morning session will be devoted to spending time in identifying the relevant gender issues in South Asia. Afterwards there will be a community panel, where many community leaders and community based organisations will talk about how these issues can be in their specific areas. 

On 14 December theme of ‘Self-Growth and Abundance’ will be focused on self growth and especially entrepreneurship since they are ways in which we can create economic growth in the region professed Abeyrathna. 

“When it comes to the South Asian region we identified that it is one of the least collaborative regions in the world. When we talk about the EU, or the African region or even other regions of Asia right now, these countries have a lot of initiatives, especially when it comes to their economic growth. However, when it comes to the South Asia we have only 5% to 10% of intra-regional trade,” he explained. 

Therefore on the third thematic day the main focus will be on how youth leaders can use entrepreneurship to further the economic growth of their home countries, and make South Asia a more collaborative region, added Abeyrathna. 

SAYC was born when South Asian Youth that came together at the fifth World Youth Conference held in Turkey realised that there were a lot of unresolved issues in the region and possible partnerships present. Thus, the need for a platform for the region’s youth leaders to become more diplomatically involved in order to resolve these common problems and issues in their countries became apparent. 

SAYC was first held in Bangalore, India in 2011 and it was a success on many fronts since all South Asian countries were represented and it also initiated many projects such as the South Asian Good News Channel and the Mangalore Youth Leadership Conclave. The main outcome of this conference which was the Action Based Change Declaration (ABCD) was presented to the UN by the Blue Ribbon movement in 2011. 

“The biggest victory of the conference was the personal bonds and friendships so we aim to bring peace and cooperation in the region through these ties and genuine friendships between the leaders who are making a difference across the borders,” acknowledged Kapuge.  

Afterwards it was held in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2012, and Bharatpur, Nepal in 2013. The 2014 Conference which was to be held in Bangladesh was held online due to the political environment of the country during that period of time.

The large number of expected participants at this year’s conference come from varied backgrounds and diverse fields, including medical, science and research, law, engineering and also social activism, stated SAYC Delegate Selection and Support Coordinator Namirah Jiffry. 

“What we expect from these individuals is that they gain experience and take it back so that they can implement it in their respective home country,” she added.