Youth Tolerance Summit 2019 Held in Lahore

News from World Faith Pakistan! The Youth Tolerance Summit YTS 2019 on “Role of Youth in Peaceful Coexistence” was organized by Youth Development Foundation and the Ministry of Human Rights and Minority Affairs Punjab and held in Lahore.

More than 250 people attended YTS 2019 including students from different universities and schools, volunteers, social activists, religious leaders, and representatives of civil society.

In his keynote speech to the 2019 Youth Summit the chief guest, Minister Ejaz Alam, said, “Youth is future of Pakistan and [its] government… realizes it. [We] believe in social harmony and equal citizenship in the country. Our government promoted peace and  interfaith harmony among different school of thoughts.”

“Educational institutions in Pakistan function under three separate systems— public, private and madrasas. The difference in understanding of alumni from all these institutions is one of the main reasons of persecution and intolerance”, said Mr. Shahid Rehmat, Executive Director YDF and Mr. Karamat Jameel President YDF while talking in the summit. “We are trying to fill this gap by bringing together students from different backgrounds on one platform and encourage them to work together for fostering harmony in the society.” Shahid Rehmat said, “Youth plays a pivotal role in peace building. We provided them opportunities to interact with one another and create harmonious environment.”

Sughra Sadaf lauded the efforts of the Youth Development Foundation and said the organization, founded in 2007, effectively works with youths towards achieving its vision of a vibrant, tolerant and pluralistic society. It bridges gaps among youth through; interfaith dialogues, friendly relationship and human based coexistence.