News
Friday, February 24, 2012
Danish ambassador for strengthening Pak youth* Uffe Wolfhechel highlights the importance of youth in country’s development
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan, Uffe Wolffhechel, has emphasised on the important role of youth in highlighting issues and providing solutions to Pakistan’s prospectus.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 4th batch of Youth Parliament Pakistan (YPP) on Thursday. The formal inaugural ceremony began by paying homage to six youth parliamentarians who lost their lives in an air crash on July 28, 2010.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, Senator SM Zafar, MNA Khurram Dastgir Khan, MNA Nadeem Afzal Gondal and MNA Anusha Rahman also addressed the inaugural session.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Danish ambassador highlighted the importance of a youth parliamentarian’s role and how they would be engaged in debating some of the most important questions concerning the future of Pakistan and the South Asian region.
“Fighting for a better world gives life a meaning. It leads, sooner or later, to concrete changes, and when you work together with others, it nurtures the individual and collective ability to make a difference,” the ambassador said.
He noted that the education system in Denmark works around the empowerment and rights of the individual citizen.
“Throughout education, the Danish youth is taught that their opinion matters and can determine the influence on policy and decision makers. We strongly believe that the youth hold the key to the future of this world - and for Pakistan - it remains equally relevant. We are, therefore, very happy to be supporting the Youth Parliament of Pakistan,” he said.
Facilitated by PILDAT, the YPP is patterned after the National Assembly (NA). The inaugural session would be lasted over five days, where the selected young Pakistanis from across Pakistan joined the session.
YPP is also expected to debate the Balochistan issue, electoral reforms in Pakistan and in particular the new electoral roll in its first session. The Danish International Development Agency (DIDA), Government of Denmark supported the fourth batch of YPP.
Earlier, the election process was held for slots of leader of the house and speaker of YPP.
A democratic process was adopted, same as in the NA, Muhammad Hashim Azeem elected as youth leader of the house.
In his address, after he took oath as the Youth Prime Minister, Azeem said that he would uphold the system of merit and 'right person for the right job' in choosing his Youth Cabinet.
Fahad Mazhar Ali, an aspirant for the PM position, becomes the Leader of the Opposition. Sarah Abdul was elected as the deputy speaker. The youth parliamentarians also met the parents of the members who died in the plane crash and vowed to continue the mission of promotion and strengthening of democracy in Pakistan.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk