A two-day forum organized by Telenor Group to explore, discuss and develop solutions to some of the most daunting challenges facing Asia’s youth recently concluded in Bangkok, Thailand, with a Pakistani delegate presenting the winning solution to address youth employment.
As part of its commitment to empowering a generation of digital natives, Telenor Pakistan and Telenor Group brought the global Telenor Youth Forum to Asia for the first time, inviting the leaders of tomorrow to develop actionable solutions that address key issues for youth in the region.
The regionally-focused Forum centered on: fighting youth joblessness, getting more girls into schools, educating young laborers, breaking the taboo of mental health, and engaging youth in national dialogue.
Fatima Rizwan from Lahore was part of a team that developed a solution for tackling youth unemployment, which was chosen as the top presentation at the Forum. Youth unemployment is more than double the rate of the total working population and working poverty is significantly higher for workers in young age brackets across Asia. The team proposed the development of an online portal to address both current joblessness and prevent future unemployment by helping young people make the
right life decisions, explore occupations and take online learning courses. This winning team will be invited to Oslo, Norway, as featured speakers in this year’s upcoming global Telenor Youth Forum, held in partnership with the Nobel Peace Center.
“The creative, inspiring solutions presented by the delegates is a testament to the incredible potential that is available within youth all across Asia,” said Karianne Melleby, Head of Global Partnerships, Telenor Group. “We look forward to continuing the dialogue with these participants in order to support the possibility of bringing these solutions to life as real, scalable programs to benefit their peers.”
“We are very proud of delegates from Pakistan who contributed perceptively towards dialogue and developing possible solutions to solve the problems faced by youth in Asia,” said Michael Foley, CEO Telenor Pakistan. “Looking at these talented minds equipped with technology, it is not hard to imagine the Pakistani youth changing lives for the better,” he added.
Teams of 29 total delegates were guided by world-class mentors and speakers from organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF Global Innovation Centre and the Nobel Peace Center, who provided expert resources for strategy building, design planning and solution delivery.
The global Telenor Youth Forum is in its fourth year and will be held in Oslo, Norway during the Nobel Peace Prize week in December. For more information on the upcoming 2016 program, and to learn more about how to apply for it, visit: https://www.telenor.com/youthforum/.
