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Women and Democracy inaugurates Youth Transforming Tomorrow'

Mariyam Malsa
07 March 2019, MVT 13:34
The launching ceremony of the 'Youth Transforming Tomorrow' series. PHOTO: WOMEN AND DEMOCRACY
Mariyam Malsa
07 March 2019, MVT 13:34

Women and Democracy officially launched the 'Youth Transforming Tomorrow' series at a ceremony held at Maldives National University (MNU) on March 3.

The programme scheduled to be carried out from March 3 to 28, is structured into forums during which young people can present opinions and concerns to community leaders on ten topics, including mental health, drug abuse and environmental issues.

Speaking at the ceremony, founder and president of Women and Democracy, Safaahath Ahmed expressed her belief that youth participation should be the cornerstone of any development policy.

During her address, Safaahath extended gratitude to MNU, Project Lead Grace Corcoran, and the board members of Women and Democracy for help in making the launch a success.

"We believe in letting the youth speak for themselves rather than speaking for them," said Grace during her speech at the inauguration ceremony.

Additionally, Grace emphasized the need to tackle the failure to recognize the legitimacy of youth contribution and the unique perspectives of young people.

The Project Lead advised all participants to coherently and professionally voice out opinions about aspects they believe should be prioritized and discussed in depth.

Grace also expressed gratitude to the MNU student association, American Center Maldives (ACM) as well as Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment and Ministry of Tourism.

Chief Guest of the event was Hameed Abdul Ghafoor, an individual who had worked in the youth-related field of sports for 20 years in addition to his services as a parliamentarian.

Hameed stated that Youth Transforming Tomorrow was the first initiative of it's kind that he had witnessed. He also stated that the program to help kick-start meaningful youth contributions which would have a great impact considering that a large proportion of the population consists of youths.

While 'Youth Transforming Tomorrow' is aimed at young people residing in the capital city of Male'. Representatives from embassies, consulates, businesses, other NGOs and relevant government ministries are set to take part in the project. Women and Democracy highlighted that some sessions will be attended by ministers themselves.

At the conclusion of the program, youth concerns regarding the topics will be compiled and presented to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment for consideration.

Women and Democracy, established in 2016, promotes sound democratic governance and advocates for greater economic and political participation of women.

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