ISLAMABAD: The Minister of State for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul has stated that violence is the product of coercive imposition of one’s ideologies on others; hence, we need higher goals in order to make the youth progressive, as the youth is a huge stakeholder in Pakistan.
She said this while speaking at a book launching ceremony followed by a seminar on “Street Code and Youth Violence in Risky Neighborhoods: A Cross-cultural Comparison of Youth Violence in Germany, Pakistan and South Africa” organised by the Department of Sociology, of Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) here on Wednesday.
It was the joint research project of the Institute of Conflict and Violence (IKG) Bielefeld University Germany, Department of Sociology Quaid-e-Azam University and Cape Town University South Africa under the leadership of Professor Dr Wilehlm Heitmeyer, Dr Steffen Zdun, Dr Sebastian Kurtenbach, Dr Simon Howell, Abdul Rauf and Dr Muhammad Zaman.
Zartaj Gul, who attended the seminar as a chief guest, stressed upon the importance of the issue of the juvenile in the streets of Pakistan.
She said that the regulation of the behaviour of youth is not only the responsibility of the state but also a collective responsibility.
She said the youth is the future of Pakistan and PTI government is committed to working for the youth by providing them with the employment opportunities that are the core of street violence.
The participants of the seminar discussed the core findings of their research on codes of street and violence. This seminar served as an opportunity to discuss the dynamics of the street code and violence and the way forward to address the youth affairs. Participants shared their knowledge, exchanged best practices, and discussed ways to improve and provide a conducive environment for the youth to be a productive part of society.
Dr Muhammad Zaman, who one of the authors of the book explained the findings of their research project “Street Code and Youth Violence in Risky Neighborhoods”.
He discussed the similarities and differences in how street codes operate in different cultural contexts. He further suggested the policy recommendations for the juveniles in the risky neighbourhoods with four “E”: Education, Employment, Engagement and Empowerment of the youth. The first and foremost was the provision of quality education followed by employment. He stressed that the youth should be provided with technical skills and economic opportunities.
Furthermore, the civic engagement and provision of sports activities shall be ensured. In addition to this, he asserted that the youth should be involved in decision making and needs to be politically empowered.
QAU VC Professor Dr Muhammad Ali appreciated the work of the research team on such an important issue. He recognised that there is a larger responsibility of academicians and the community to understand this issue and asserted that it is an important issue which should be admired.