July 12, 2018: CODE PAKISTAN concluded the two-day National Youth Conference on Countering Violent Extremism on Campuses, in collaboration with the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC), today. The National Youth Conference gathered 150 students and faculty members from 41 universities and 4 madaris from all over Pakistan, alongside relevant government officials and subject matter experts, to derive a set of key policy recommendations on countering violent extremism on university campuses. The National Youth Conference resulted in policy recommendations around the following ten different themes related to countering on-campus extremism through an inclusive process involving the direct beneficiaries of the policies, i.e., the students and faculties of universities and madaris:
Theme 1: Pakistan’s Legal Framework on Preventing Incitement to Violence
Theme 2: Peacebuilding through On-Campus Extra-Curricular Activities
Theme 3: Promoting University Madrasah Interaction both at Campuses and Madaris
Theme 4: Impact of Social Media and Other Online Content on Youth
Theme 5: Exploring Causes of Violence and Types of Extremism in Youth
Theme 6: Role of Faculty and Student Forums in Countering Intolerance and Extremism
Theme 7: Ideological Imprint of Extremist Organizations in Educational Institutions
Theme 8: Drug Abuse on Campuses: Role of University Administration and LEAs
Theme 9: Role of Female Faculty and Students in Countering Extremism on Campuses
Theme 10: Inter-University Coordination for Promotion of CVE Research
The Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage Barrister Syed Ali Zafar chaired the concluding session of the National Youth Conference. Barrister Zafar appreciated the efforts of the three partnering organizations in organizing the conference and assured his full support in the implementation of its recommendations. During the concluding session of the National Youth Conference, Chairman HEC Dr. Tariq Banuri remarked that most of the recommendations of the conference revolved around promotion of tolerance of diversity and inclusivity. He said that he supported freedom of expression and tolerance for diversity and added that anyone should be free to express their opinions as long as they did not incite violence. National Coordinator NACTA Dr. Muhammad Suleman Khan thanked all the participants of the conference and the teams of NACTA and CODE PAKISTAN, especially President of CODE PAKISTAN Mr. Dilawar Khan, for making the event a great success
The discussions on the ten thematic areas of the National Youth Conference were moderated by Mr. Mohsin Ali Turk, Ms. Sehar Tariq, Mr. Assad Ahmed, Ms. Puresh Chaudhry, Mr. Muhammad Ali Nekokara, Dr. Arshi Saleem Hashmi, Mr. Sohail Habib Tajik, Dr. Shafqat Huma, Ms. Ammara Durrani, and Mr. Fahd Humayun.