By: Sumaya Hussein (husseinsumaya1@gmail.com)
Thumbnail photo: CAS of ICT, Youth and Innovation Hon. Nadia Abdalla. Photo courtesy of Daystar University.
Daystar University has been selected as the research institute of reference for the International Conference for the Great Lake Region (ICGLR).
The office of the Vice-Chancellor and the Directorate of Research and Post-Graduate Studies will spearhead the initiative alongside the entire Daystar Fraternity. Owing to this, a multifunctional youth forum was held on Wednesday at the Nairobi Campus to deliberate on jumpstarting the process of developing the Regional Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution. (UNSCR 2250).
The Forum
The forum was attended by the Speaker of the Senate, Hon. Ken Lusaka, CAS for ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs Hon. Nadia Abdalla, and the VC Prof. Laban Ayiro. Also present were Ambassadors and High commissioners as well as representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, United Nations (UN), youth-serving organizations, International Organizations, ICGLR Fora and Daystar fraternity.
“We are honoured as Daystar that you chose to convene this very important youth forum in this University that has a serious intention in the area of research and is a university that is heavily built on values,” said Prof. Laban Ayiro. “Not just religious values, but the societal norms that this country is so much desiring for”.
The UNSCR 2250 focuses on ways to give youth a greater voice in decision-making at the local, national, regional and international levels. The resolution defines youth as persons aged 18 to 29 and urges the Member States to set up mechanisms that will enable them to participate in peace processes and dispute resolution.
“Despite the fact that the youth account for more than 70 per cent of the population, they are not involved in social, economic and political spheres,” said Speaker of the Senate, Hon. Ken Lusaka, during his speech at the forum. “If the youth are not engaged in the designing, planning and implementation of programs and policies that affect not only them but also the country at large, their knowledge skills and energy become underutilized”.
The VC Prof. Laban Ayiro insisted that the destiny of the country is in the youth, hence the need to strengthen them. “We must increase young peoples’ economic framework. Strengthening youth service system is very important,” stated Prof. Ayiro
ICGLR is an inter-governmental organization of the countries in the African Great Lakes Region, whose purpose is to promote sustainable peace and development in African countries. It has 12 core member states including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, South Sudan, Zambia, Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic and the Republic of Congo.