This year’s Young Leaders Conference (YLC) yet again left no stone unturned in influencing and empowering the participating youth. Emerging trailblazers and visionaries of tomorrow went through extensive leadership training to lead the change.
This six-day residential program, supported by the founding partner EBM, brings together 300 youngsters between the ages of 18-24 annually from all over Pakistan. YLC this year kicked off bringing in Dr.Umar Saif, Chairman of PITB as the guest of honor at the inauguration ceremony.
The second day, sponsored by EBM, celebrated the major milestones of Pakistan and explored its challenges through a diverse panel of industry icons including Justice Nasira Iqbal, Pakistani judge and an international law expert and Dr Umar Saif, computer scientist and academic. Shuja Haider, one of the most prolific artists of contemporary Pakistani music shared his experiences and initiatives during the session. Shahzad Nawaz, actor and producer, also took the stage to educate on the possibilities of rebranding the image of Pakistan. A captivating ‘Duo Dialogue’ of Ali Noor, lead vocalist and songwriter with Raza Kazim, renowned philosopher and lawyer of Pakistan on the fourth day was a delight to hear.
Keynote and Panel discussions on various current issues were the highlights of the conference updating participants’ academic and practical based knowledge. ‘Nexus Matter’ by Fareed Alam and Brayshna Kundi from The Asia Foundation addressed the issue of water scarcity which Pakistan is currently facing
Discussion on menstrual taboos and stigmas sponsored by UNICEF was also an eye opener for many. This was followed by the launch of UNICEF’s #NoChutti campaign where the UNICEF Team officially launched their campaign to highlight the taboos associated with menstrual hygiene management.
The conference ended with the ‘Social Action Project’ session which required the participants to create the layout of the projects they were going to initiate to bring about a positive change in society and present it to the YLC team.
This year’s conference was sponsored by the Founding Partner EBM and Cause Partners The Asia Foundation, Australian Government, Feroze1888, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, USEFP, Wilshire, British Council Pakistan, UNICEF Pakistan, Marie Stopes Society, Jubilee Life Insurance, Alif Ailaan, KFC Pakistan, PTCL, Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited, ACM Foods, Mondelez International and Sui Southern Gas Limited.
Jang Media Group, the News, Geo News were the official media partners and Suno FM 89.4 was the official Radio Partner, for the conference while Xenith PR served as the Digital and PR partner, helping to bring the message of YLC to all media platforms and providing essential coverage. TCS served as a logistics partner, ensuring smooth- running and timely execution. Along with that, YLC also partnered with Torque for their strategic support. The YLC vision of youth empowerment and leadership was shared by and reflected in the efforts of all the partner organizations.