The National Youth
Forum on Green Solutions in Pakistan was at the National University of Science
and Technology (NUST) Islamabad, Pakistan from 5–6 November 2012. Under
ICIMOD’s Youth for Sustainable Mountain Development (Y4SMD) initiative,
the event was organized by the
Asia Pacific Youth Task Force on Rio +20 (APYTF) with support from the Peace & Development Organization (PDO) and a
network of ICIMOD trained youth forum alumni in Pakistan. The event saw
participation of some 40 youth from all provinces of Pakistan, who were
selected through a rigorous application process while maintaining a balance
with respect to geography, gender and age.
The two day forum
provided a local forum for Pakistani youth for interaction and networking while
helping them identify locale specific green economy initiatives. The forum
oversaw keynote addresses by notable scientists, plenary discussions, group
exercises and field visits to sites with a focus on sustainability and green
solutions suitable for mountain communities.
Dr Abdul Wahid Jasra,
Country Representative for Pakistan provided inputs on how youth can benefit
from the various endeavors currently underway at ICIMOD and in Pakistan in
particular. Dr Jawad Ali Khan, DG. Environment & Climate Change, provided
the keynote address and the Minister for State- Ministry of Education &
Training, Mr Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf graced the closing ceremony of the event
Other notable resource persons included Mr Pirzada Moshibber, Director,
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council, Mr Ashiq Ahmad khan, Technical Advisor
ICIMOD Pakistan and Dr. Wajid Pirzada, CEO Agricol Pakistan among others.
Furthermore Mr Tek Jung Mahat of ICIMOD led various sessions at the forum
providing an overview of youth activities currently being undertaken at ICIMOD
and future opportunities for youth from the region. Mr Utsav Maden shared an
overview of social media tools that are being used for advocacy, information
sharing and collaboration.
The National Youth
Forum also saw the development of two important outcome documents - the Post
2015 agenda - Poverty Literacy & Environment Sustainability and the Youth
Appeal for COP18. These documents, drafted though group work and further
refined post forum virtually, also formed the agenda of the Global Youth Forum
on Green Solutions organized by the APYTF in Doha as part of the UNFCCC COP
18/CMP8 event in Doha. The Global Youth Appeal for COP18, thus generated was
further fine-tuned and shared with policy makers and delegates at COP18.
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