Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has stated that all Commonwealth member states have taken significant steps to educate and train youth, empower girls and raise awareness about climate change. I am very pleased to be here with you all today and to have the honour of serving as your Chair for this the 10th Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting. He expressed this while addressing the 10th Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting here on Tuesday. “This meeting is significant as youth ministers have not met since 2017 and so much has happened in the world since that time. In this meeting we have the opportunity to reflect, to share and agree on the way forward.  In this the year of youth, we have a responsibility to honour the mandate given by our heads at their last sitting in Kigali.   I believe the vision of the leaders in making this the year a year dedicated to youth led development is timely. We live in a ‘Young Commonwealth’. (In my own country, Pakistan, almost 70 percent of our citizens are under 30 years of age. I believe we have one of the youngest populations in the Commonwealth). If we are able to work with our young people, listen to their ideas and suggestions, invest in creating an enabling environment for them to succeed, I believe a path for a more sustainable, peaceful, prosperous and fairer Commonwealth can be achieved by 2030. Our work here, in the next few days, would have made a difference in the world.

He stated that my Government recommended the theme ‘Aiming Higher, Delivering More for young people in the Commonwealth’. Aiming higher, delivering more for young people expresses the combined aspiration and commitment of the Commonwealth family to invest in and promote young people’s development, particularly through the creation of opportunities for youth employment and entrepreneurship, recognising that the future success of the Commonwealth rests with the continued commitment and contributions of young people in promoting and sustaining the Commonwealth, and its values and principles as enshrined in Article 13 of the Commonwealth Charter. I am happy to report that all Commonwealth member states have taken significant steps to educate and train youth, empower girls and raise awareness about climate change. Lets all learn from each other’s experiences. From Pakistan’s perspective, the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PYMP) is a flagship program of the Government prioritizing youth empowerment. It strives to mainstreaming and inclusion of marginalized youth; particularly girls, religious and ethnic minorities; persons with disabilities and transgender community. Let me share with you all some of the key steps we have taken in this regard; Trained free of cost, some 400,000 youth in both high-tech skills and conventional trades, with a special emphasis on catering to foreign markets.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)