All Hazara Youth Conference
Aristotle quotes :“All those who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.”
With the nourishment and prosperity of Hazara community by the means of Education and literacy as our motto, Australian Hazara Students Group is proud to have organised the very first Australian Hazara Youth Conference, 2009.
From all over the continent, a huge number of participants belonging to various walks of life joined us in this conference where we discussed an array of issues related to Hazaras in Australia and abroad. The conference was attended by a large number of Hazara community members, leaders, representatives from the Immigration Department and Auburn Community Development Network (ACDN), the Mongolian Association, and refugee advocates in Sydney.
The conference - the very first of its kind, featured presentations from the Young Queenslander of the Year 2008, Homa Forotan, and former consultant to the United Nations and World Health Organisation, Dr. William Heartley. Also presenting were Hamed Faizi; a regular writer on Hazara history and culture, Afifa Sarwar; a former journalist in the Norwegian Refugee Council in Afghanistan, and a former Officer for the United Nations Assistant Mission in Afghanistan, and Mosa Gherjestani; former Vice President of Hazara Voice Inc., and the Area Relieving Manager of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The topics under discussion were;
- The educational awareness in Hazara Youth
- The unity of Hazara students and students unions across Australia
- Roles and responsibilities of our educated professionals and community leaders in relation with educational and social awareness of our youth.
- Integration of newly arrived Hazara migrants into the mainstream Australian society
From the conference we have produced a report that follows, one that we think summarises the key points that were made and lessons that were learnt. Our goal in presenting the conference was to set the foundation stones for a culture of dialogue amongst Hazaras to bond and share their experiences, acknowledge and explore the potentials of youth services as a strategy for social and economic assessment, to identify current issues facing our community, and to extend the hand of help and cooperation that can lead to Hazara unity. We believe we achieved our goal of creating a balanced and informed discussion to illuminate and educate.
To read a full report of Australian Hazara Youth Conference 2009, please click here.