Youth from around 100 countries came together at the City Convention Hall in Imphal to participate in the second edition of the World Youth Summit, being held under the theme of "Youth for Global Empowerment".
Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh and Deputy Chief Minister G Gaikhangam were present at the inaugural ceremony of the five-day long event, organized jointly by Club25 International Manipur and International Youth Committee.
The objective of the event is to empower the youth, facilitate sharing of experiences and ideas on global issues and promote inclusive youth participation.
"In the global view, the role of the youth is important in any kind of empowerment, sustainable development, poverty eradication or any other issue. But due to lack of mutual understanding and negotiations, the global progress is lagging behind. So we are generally focusing on the World programme on action for the youth developed by United Nations Youth Assembly in 1991.To make people aware of these points we are organizing this youth summit. We are also focusing on the millennium development goals of the United Nations and also to achieve the post-2015 agenda," said Karnajit Singh, Convener, World Youth Summit.
The mega event provided an opportunity to youth from across the world to share the problems of their respective countries as well as deliberate upon various topics of global concern.
Through panel discussions and other activities, the delegates shared their perspectives on different issues.
The recommendations made during the Summit will be sent for policy formulation to both local and national governments and other international organizations.
"We should all discuss the world's problems and the youth are important because we are passionate and we have a lot of energy. So we can talk about it. It's a great opportunity for everyone," said Petra Navacekova, a participant from Slovakia.
"The youth should lead the world. It is the 21st century. It's our time. We should be at the forefront in innovations, changing ideas and things that will change the world. I believe that the older generations lived in the times of wars and so many other things but we are the technological generation so, we should be at the forefront of change and lead the change. So I believe this is a good thing," said Evechiene Ajuluchu Kwu B, a participant from Nigeria.
Solomi Dunai, a participant from Manipur said, "I am very excited and I hope that we will get to learn a lot of new things from this event where a lot of people from all over the world have come together."
Youths constitute a significant proportion of the world's population and as such they have a very important role to play in addressing various important issues of the world.
Such events are highly essential as they provide a platform to people from different parts of the world to come together for information and cultural exchange.
