On March 27, 2021, 28 leaders of youth organizations from 6 countries including the Philippines, Hong Kong, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, and South Korea, joined the online intercontinental youth workshop to discuss a solution to the deprivation of educational rights in Asia and Oceania.
With the theme of “Education, let’s regain the right to learn”, the event aimed to improve the human rights of young people by informing the deprivation of educational rights in Asia and Oceania and form a coalition of NGOs to promote youth education.
Mr. Kima Jack Pedro, President of National Youth Council of Tuvalu, said, “The main problems that young people currently face in Tuvalu are drinking, cigarettes, early marriage, teenage pregnancy, and sanitary health. The biggest challenge in solving the current youth problem is that the level of social awareness is quite high, but there are not many cases that actually move to ‘action’. So youth should practice value education on their SNS using hashtags. I am confident that the actions of young people can spread the culture of peace.”
Mr. Bulidama Ilikini, Vice President of Navakasali Youth Club (NYC) of Fiji, talked about the “indigenous culture” among the various education that Fiji’s youth should learn. “All education can give different rights to the people in the community. On the other hand, Fiji’s education is centered on Western education, and its authority over Fiji’s indigenous culture is weakening. I think this is one of the causes of destroying the traditional culture, language and cultural identity of the Fijians,” he said.
As a solution to the problem that young people can do, he suggested to hold “activities and education for young people” with “active participation so that organizations such as NYC and IPYG can continue to operate.”
This virtual workshop was held as the 2nd Youth Empowerment Peace Workshop (YEPW). The 1st YEPW was held last January 9, 2021 where around 100 youth organizations from 38 countries participated. It is a platform of communication for youth around the world to discuss the problems they face that threaten peace and youth.
Regarding the value of the YEPW, Mr. Piya Ratna Maharjan, President of Track Nepal online media, said, “We need to create valuable education and build an education system. Especially, it is a very important virtue for children to respect teachers, parents, and each other. We should also educate about morality, ethics, and culture. By learning this, you can live a great and wonderful life.”
The host of this event, International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), announced that there would be the 3rd YEPW in the following month under the agenda of “Discuss Ways to Improve Educational Rights”.
