International Youth Day 2006

This was a day when the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan was celebrating International Youth Day. I happened to be a very good participant at events like these, and a naive one too! I sent in a poetry of mine as a contribution and got a call from the HRCP to be part of this event held at YMCA.
On this day for the young generation i learnt:

1) That adults (HRCP PC) can copy your poem, act all smart about it, have a shamless grin on their face
2) That giving wrong credits are ok!
3) Lala Rukh, the Geo cameraperson, gave men a hard time...amazing!

This article about the event was published in Dawn August 26, 2006

Celebrating youth

By Sahar Majid

On August 12, children and adults around the world take a break from their daily routines to celebrate International Youth Day.

This year the theme of the International Youth Day was "Tackling Poverty Together". To celebrate this day, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) organised a function in Karachi. The major focus of Youth Day was to implement the ideas to further encourage the empowerment and participation of youth in the processes and decisions that affect their lives.

Concordant with the theme “Tackling Poverty Together”, young people from schools, colleges and universities gathered at the venue along with their contributions which included posters, paintings, poems and essays.

Muhammad Ejaz Ahsan, Programme Coordinator, HRCP, gave an engaging speech to highlight the pressing problems of youth — poverty, lack of education and unemployment.

“International Youth Day additionally seeks to increase awareness for the global initiatives, improving the lives of youth, particularly those efforts undertaken by young people to alleviate poverty,” said Desiree Natasha Francis in her speech. Later, Ramsha of Home Grammar School recited a beautiful poem on poverty.

A local musical band was also there to entertain the guests. Faraz, the singer of the show sang many songs and amused the audience. But Al Fareed leva dance group from Lyari stole the show by performing Balochi dance in their traditional style.

Various posters and paintings depicting the theme of the show were also on display. A poster with “Youth want fun not guns” written on it was the most attractive. A beautiful painting on drawing chart was also worth seeing. It was made by a college student, Faraz Askari, who is afflicted with speech disability.

“Young academicians, lawyers, public representatives, etc. should actively participate in the overall strategies against poverty and the factors causing it,” wrote Jordan James, a student of final year, MA (International Relations), University of Karachi, on his poster. He impressively tried to describe the ways to tackle poverty.

The speech presented by Jerusha Gill of St. Joseph’s High School on ‘Drug addiction’ was mind blowing because it’s a very critical issue of modern times. Young people, especially those who are despaired in their lives due to poverty and unemployment, often find the way to escape their miseries by indulging in drugs. These young people need our help and they shouldn’t be left alone. It’s our responsibility to show them the right way to live and to encourage them to deal with their problems.

Another youngster Shumaila Khan of Mono Technical College gave an excellent speech on ‘Young Generation’. She raised very strong points for younger generation and the problems faced by them due to lack of resources.

A representative of HRCP was also distributing feedback forms among the audience to get their views about the show and ideas for further improvement. This writer gave her suggestion to HRCP to contact different information technology firms to arrange workshops for youngsters so that they not only learn the latest technology but are also trained to work in a professional environment.