Bring young people to the forefront

Sri Lanka’s youth - female, male and young adults - play the powerful role in the spontaneous and historic public uprising which led to the seemingly strongman President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country in an Air force flight to the Maldives. After he announced on July 9 that he would be resigning on July 13 from the Maldivian capital, Rajapaksa flew to Singapore from where he sent his letter of resignation to speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene. The Speaker summoned an emergency meeting of Parliament on July 20. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s final act was to appoint Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting President till Parliament elected a new Head of State. 

The young people and tens of thousands of others were responding to the worst ever economic crisis Sri Lanka is facing since independence in 1948. Most independent political analysts say Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave only one ear to what ministers and top professionals said on vital matters especially regarding the farmers and decided to switch to organic fertilizer and stop the imports of chemical fertilizer. Farmers have been not just workers but part of our culture for thousands of year and that is why we refer to it as agriculture.  But in recent decades, it has become agribusiness and Gotabaya Rajapaksa apparently wanted to give the organic fertilizer contracts to big companies run by friends and financiers.  

Organic farming is good, but it should have been done in stages with the cooperation of the farmers. So farmers were left fry and dry. In addition to this, we saw a drastic decline in the rupee value with Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange earning dropping to virtually zero level. This caused a huge increase in prices with United Nations agencies saying millions of Sri Lankans are facing a food security crisis is a not a virtual famine.  This provoked the young people so much that they occupied the Presidential Secretariat and turned Galle Face Green into a “GoGotaGama”. The young people were justified in what they did because in addition to the threat of famine, there were kilometres-long queues of vehicles at fuel stations and some three-wheeler drivers waited for several days and nights till they died of dehydration or exhaustion. 

We hope politicians at last learn a lesson from the shame and scandal of a high-powered executive President fleeing the country apparently fearing the youth would seize him and put him in custody to be tried on charges of bribery and corruption, abuse of power and other crimes. We hope members of Parliament will remember that they are public servants and they need to give to the people and work for their welfare and wellbeing instead of grabbing the people’s money and becoming millionaires if not billionaires. They young people especially have taught their political leaders how to be servant-leaders and not to abuse privileges to such an extent that one party leader is said to have air conditioned even the washroom in his plush resident. 

Next month, the United Nations marks International Youth Day with the aim of transforming food systems with youth innovation for human and planetary health. In a statement, the UN says with the world’s population expected to increase by two billion people in the next 30 years, it has become recognized by numerous stakeholders that simply producing a larger volume of healthier food more sustainably will not ensure human and planetary wellbeing. Other crucial challenges must also be addressed, such as the interlinkages embodied by the 2030 Agenda including poverty alleviation; social inclusion; health care; biodiversity conservation; and climate change mitigation. It has been acknowledged that there is a need for inclusive support mechanisms that ensure youth continue to amplify efforts collectively and individually to restore the planet and protect life, while integrating biodiversity in the transformation of food systems. 

According to the UN, the day’s theme will not be achieved without the meaningful participation of young people. During the 2021 ECOSOC Youth Forum (EYF), the issues and priorities highlighted by young participants included the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly related to its effect on human health, the environment and food systems. As part of the official outcome, recommendations of the EYF, young participants stressed the importance of working towards more equitable food systems. In addition, they highlighted the need for youth to make informed decisions on food choices through increasing global education on the healthiest and most sustainable options for both individuals and the environment. There were also recommendations on providing adequate capacity development with respect to the resilience of food systems, in particular during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and in its aftermath.