Group raises concern against lack of youth representation

One Nation Our People Youth Club president, Abdul Zorhab, said the coalition Government needed to focus on organising a more inclusive National Economic Summit involving a wider range of stakeholders including youth leaders and community representatives.

The summit ended at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva on Friday. Mr Zorhab said including more youths or community representatives to be part of a large scale event such as the National Economic Summit provided a more accurate description of the struggles faced by grassroots communities’.

“This would help ensure that the needs and concerns of all members of society are taken into account and those policies and initiatives are designed to benefit everyone, not just a selected few,” he said.

“As a youth leader, it is disheartening to see how our voices are not being heard by those in power with the Economic Summit only open to 500 participants.”

He said it was crucial that youths were given the opportunity to participate in events and be given a chance to provide their perspectives on certain issues discussed at events such as the National Economic Summit.

“We hope that they take steps to ensure that young people are not ignored or overlooked in decisionmaking processes as our voices matter,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad said youths were well represented during the summit which also included university students.

“We will be holding these sorts of discussions and dialogue in other parts of the country including Lautoka,” Mr Prasad said.