Conference for Youth – Iraqi Politicians, in MP Safiya al-Suheil’s Baghdad residence.

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Independent Legislature, Safiya al-Suheil, has organized a conference in her Baghdad residence, for Youth, under a motto “The Future is for us (Youth).”   The conference was attended by several State officials, including ministers, Arab and Foreign diplomats, and a representative of Iraq’s President, Jalal Talabani, along with about 150 youth, from both sexes.   The conferees carried out a dialogue during the meeting among cabinet ministers, director-generals, Members of Parliament and the young men and women, ages of whom ranged between 15 to 30 years, some of them belonging to civil society organizations and others, who participated in demonstrations in central Baghdad’s al-Hurriya (Liberation) Square and a number of young Members of Parliament, held in a large tent in Safiya al-Suheil’s residence, in cooperation with the UN Development Program (UNDP).   Both sides, Young people and officials, expressed satisfaction for the experience, where “people with demands and officials meet to talk openly and frankly, to understand the demands and possibilities of State institutions to satisfy those demands.”   Young Girl, Sara Mahmoud said: “This nice initiative, by Legislature Safiya al-Suheil, is appreciated for the efforts it had exerted to invite related officials to listen to the voice of youth and their demands, in order to raise them to the centers of decision, because Iraqi youth are not represented in such positions in general.”   Another Young man, Saqar Aal-Zakariya, Member of the so-called ‘Youth Parliament’ said: “The Youth have always raised demands to the officials, who promise to respond for, but each time those promises don’t enter in action.”   The Representative of the Iraqi President, Dr. Abdul-Latif Rashid, told IraqiNews.com news agency that “this conference is important because it puts us in direct contact with a significant part of the society – the Youth.”   The organizer of the conference, Safiya al-Suheil, said in her speech that “the motive of the conference is to listen to the voice of youth and to build bridges between them and the officials, in order to prove for officials that the Youth have a special language, they have to listen to.”   She said that “the conference has taken place through cooperation with the UNDP, and we think that the great interaction that took place between officials and the Youth, shall open a goodwill opportunity for further cooperation and serious action among both.”   On his part, the UNDP’s Represenative in Iraq , Paolo Lembo said: “Our participation in this conference is important to listen directly to the demands of the Youth and the challenges and obstacles they are facing, thing that undermine their participation in several fields, such as development, political decision and other issues.”   “The UNDP’s Office is preparing a program to include viewpoints and proposals, based on the demands of the Youth, that would be presented to the Iraqi government and other related bodies, in order to look into the issues of the Youth in general,” he said.   At the end of the conference, the conferees issued a number of recommendations, including the investment of the Youth potentials in the right manner, the liquidation of obstacles and challenges confronting them, the creation of educational and vocational opportunities and decreasing the loophole between officials and the Youth.   SKH (FT)