27 July 2023 12:12 am Views - 288
With President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government taking practical and effective measures to pull Sri Lanka out of the debt crisis and restore economic stability within a few months, it is important to give a vital place to the role of youth in the economic development strategy. They could get involved practically and effectively in major social problems such as poverty alleviation, and the battle against climate change so that we could have a “green economy”.
Indian social reformer Kailash Satyarthi—who campaigned against child labour in India and advocated the universal right to education—has portrayed the role of the youth in a powerful way. He says the power of youth is the common wealth of the entire world. The faces of young people are the faces of our past, our present and our future. No segment in society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of young people. Judged on this basis, where does Sri Lanka stand?
At present the youth are seen mostly in demonstrations against various policies of the Government but they also performed the extraordinary feat of forcing former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in a secret flight. The Government through proactive and innovative measures should inspire the youth to enter into a peaceful and friendly dialogue and work out the role they could and should play in this digital era.
We did see through powerful youth uprisings in 1971 and 1988, but the youth and the country realized that violence is counterproductive or destructive and the way to solve problems is a peaceful and friendly dialogue. In the north the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and other terror groups learned the same lesson with more than 100,000 being killed or injured, the economic cost incalculable and the country still suffering its consequences politically and economically.
On August 12 the United Nations marks International Youth Day with the theme being “Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World”. In a statement, the UN says today, the world is embarking on a green transition. The shift towards an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly world is critical not only for responding to the global climate crisis but also for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A successful transition towards a greener world will depend on the development of green skills in the population. Green skills are “knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society”.
According to the UN, these include technical knowledge and skills that enable the effective use of green technologies and processes in occupational settings, as well as transversal skills that draw on a range of knowledge, values and attitudes to facilitate environmentally sustainable decisions in work and in life. Due to their interdisciplinary nature, the essence of green skills is sometimes expressed, partly if not wholly, through other associated terms such as “skills for the future” and “skills for green jobs”. While green skills are relevant for people of all ages, they have heightened importance for younger people, who can contribute to the green transition for a longer period of time.
The UN says youth can be a positive force for development when provided with the knowledge and opportunities they need to thrive. Today, there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population. By 2030—the target date for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that make up the 2030 Agenda—the number of youth is projected to have grown by seven per cent, to nearly 1.3 billion.
Half of the people on our planet are 30 or younger, and this is expected to reach 57% by the end of 2030. A survey shows that 67% of people believe in a better future, with 15 to 17-year-olds being the most optimistic about this. The majority of people agree that the age balance in politics is wrong. More than two-thirds (69%) of people across all age groups agree that more opportunities for younger people to have a say in policy development/change would make political systems better. Globally, only 2.6% of parliamentarians are under 30 years old, and less than 1% of these young MPs are women.
American singer-songwriter and poet Jim Morrison has some practical advice for youth who do not wish to play an active role in politics and social fields. “The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask”.