Joint Policy Recommendations

Pak-Afghan Youth Leaders Summit 2020

January 25, 2020

Kabul

As part of CRSS’ Pakistan-Afghanistan Track 1.5/II initiative “Beyond Boundaries” – an ongoing cross-border series of high-level dialogues and meetings since October 2015 – CRSS and its Afghan partner, OESP, held a Pak-Afghan Youth Leaders Summit on January 25, 2020, in Kabul on “Connecting Youth Beyond Boundaries for a Better Tomorrow.”

A 14-member visiting delegation of young Pakistani professionals from different provinces of Pakistan and 21 youth leaders from Kabul in Afghanistan, belonging to various fields of expertise, participated in the summit. The youth leaders summit was a sequel of CRSS and OESP’s first youth summit held on November 23, 2019, in Islamabad. The young delegates proposed the following joint policy recommendations:

Education, Vocational Training & Gender

  1. There should be exposure visits arranged between university students in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a way to enhance people to people contact, especially between the youth.
  2. An alumni network should made of the Afghan students who return to Afghanistan after studying in Pakistan.
  3. More literacy programs should be set up to bring out of school children in both countries to schools.
  4. General public awareness should be increased in both countries using the media as a tool as well as the mosques for communities located in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
  5. The private sector should play a more active role in bringing more children to schools to ensure education in both countries for both girls and boys.

 

Media, Creative Arts and Cultural Exchanges

  1. Under cultural cooperation, arts collaborative projects should be arranged in both countries, such as one week of a large scale exhibition in Afghanistan of Pakistani cultural items and same of Afghan products in Pakistan – one year in Afghanistan and then one year in Pakistan. Moreover, collaborative art festivals should be arranged that allow artists, musicians, dancers and craftspeople to meet, interact and showcase their work.
  2. In addition, there should be museum collaborations to promote the culture of both countries.
  3. The traditional fashion industry should be promoted in both countries – e.g., promotion of Pakistani clothing in Afghanistan and vice versa.
  4. Video songs promoting the message of peace with fusion of national languages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, such as Pashto, Urdu and Dari can be made to use music as a tool to bring the two people together.
  5. Skill development workshops can be held, for example in Pakistan National College of Arts (PNCA) for Afghan and Pakistani youth in collaboration with the Ministry of Arts, and similarly in Afghanistan. In addition, diplomas can be provided to those who take art skill development classes, such as pottery, in both countries.
  6. There should be collaboration between the tourism industry in both countries.
  7. The quota for art students scholarships should also be increased to promote the exchange off art between the two countries.
  8. Film festivals that focus on films focusing on and made by Pakistani and Afghan filmmakers should be promoted.
  9. Digital tools should be used to highlight stories of everyday heroes and their achievements in addition to sharing traditional folklore and folktales between the people of the two countries.
  10. Workshops should be arranged to teach people, especially the youth, how to identify fake information, disinformation and propaganda on both social and traditional media.
  11. Web resources, such blogs, podcasts, illustration blogs etc., highlighting areas of common interests, such as food, sports, culture should be promoted.
  12. Cultural, entertainment and food TV channels should be legally made available in both countries.

 

Trade, Economic Connectivity and Employment

  1. CPEC should be connected to Afghanistan to materialize the Silk Road dream through Afghanistan.
  2. Pakistan and Afghanistan can become a bridge to connect with Europe for trade
  3. Trade should be disengaged from politics.
  4. There should be made a joint committee for ensuring transparency in the way trade occurs.
  5. There should be incentives created for investors.

 

Peace-building, Refugees, Minorities & Environment

  1. Steps should be taken by both governments to provide protection to vulnerable segments in both societies, such as marginalized women, out of school children, and transgenders.
  2. The youth and women both should be provided with more opportunities to become agents of peace and change.
  3. There should be cross-border exchange programs for peace, such as youth initiatives on peace-building.
  4. There should be more pro-women budgeting and legislation at both provincial and federal levels.
  5. Steps should be taken to protect and rehabilitate refugees.
  6. There should be lobbying and capacity building of government and law enforcement agencies through policy, advocacy and dialogues.
  7. Eco-friendly industries should be encouraged over others to protect the environment as well as the wildlife.