Afghanistan Times
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AT-KABUL: Afghanistan Youth Civil Society Association (AYCSA) urged the national unity government to establish a ministry for youth affairs which was promised to address problems faced by young Afghans.
The association warned the government of nationwide protests if the demand was not met by President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, office-bearers of the AYCSA recalled the promises made by the president and CEO during their election campaigns and said the two leaders should now honor their words and carve out a ministry that would deal only with youth affairs.
They said that both Ghani and Abdullah are now in power but they forgot their promises regarding establishment of a ministry for youth.
Chief of the AYCSA, Fardeen Fidaee, said that annually hundreds of educated youth leave the country in search of job in foreign lands, but unfortunately scores of them lost their lives.
“Due to lack of employment opportunities youth join anti-government forces or become drug addicts. If the government does not fulfill its commitments regarding establishment of youth affairs ministry, the situation will become worst from worse,” he said.
He said that youth make 60 percent of the overall population and played significant role in the 2014 presidential elections because several young Afghans lost their fingers for casting ballots.
Fidaee further said that there are too many challenges in front of Afghan youth but are left unaddressed as there is no specific ministry where they could share their problems and get attention of the relevant authorities.
Establishment of ministry for youth would bring improvement in young Afghans’ lifestyle.
He said that if the government has not paid heed then they would have no other option but to launch nationwide protest demonstrations until their demand is met.
Mohammad Asghar, another member of AYCSA, complained that Deputy Ministry of Youth Affairs is not resolving problems of youth.
He said the government should establish an independent directorate for youth if it could not establish a separate ministry.
The association also asked the Wolesi Jirga through a resolution to put pressure on the unity government for establishment of youth affairs ministry. (By Akhtar M. Nikzad)
