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Talking about Next Steps
Negombo, Sri Lanka No one at the Youth Summit seemed to get much sleep. Every night there was singing or dancing or drumming late into the night.
A special evening of cultural entertainment had been arranged for Thursday. Kandian drummers wearing wide skirts and Sri Lankan-style turbans pounded out complex and insistent rhythms on double-ended drums. Bronze male dancers, chests covered with necklaces of silver and ivory, kept up with the beat.
RHIYA participants performed as well. Hoang Thanh Tam floated across the stage, moving a round straw hat in graceful circles around her body as part of a folk dance from a northern province of Viet Nam. Anita Rai, in a traditional crimson and blue Nepalese outfit with dangling gold jewelry, danced to a tune about the flowing nature of life.
Sitting in two lines on the floor, the Vietnamese delegation clapped bamboo sticks back and force in a carefully synchronized rhythm while others lined up to leap through moving sticks without getting whacked.
And finally a disc jockey put on some contemporary music and everyone was up dancing again.
In their dancing, as in their conversations, the young people from Asia combined an ease with global culture with a deep respect for their own traditions and values. Several of the young people, even those from countries that are quite restrictive, talked about their own cultures with pride. We like the way we do things in our country, said Sumbal Shjafi Durran, 23, of Pakistan.
While the performances were going on outside, a smaller group was huddled around computers and flip charts. They were synthesizing the recommendations for policy makers that groups had formulated earlier in the week.
The recommendations – including sections on gender equality, reproductive health education, youth friendly services, HIV/AIDS and youth participation – were one of the key outputs of the week, something the delegations could take back to their countries and use to bolster support for youth.
But the recommendations were not the only thing they were leaving with.
I have learned many new techniques for making drama more easily, said Bandith Ladpakdy, 21, from Lao PDR. He explained that he works with a small drama group in Ventiane that brings with messages about sexual and reproductive health to small villages. Later in the day he displayed his acting abilities, playing the king of a country where sexual and reproductive health issues were the key to the peoples happiness.
Several groups said they were leaving with more energy, enthusiasm and knowledge to work effectively back home.
Members of the Bangladesh said they wanted more to take on more responsibility when they returned to their countries. Unless they give us more responsibility, we cannot learn leadership, said Epsita Tanin, 19.
They need to believe that we can do this. And we have to show them that we are capable, said Fahad Chowdhury, 18.
For more information contact:
Thierry Lucas: tlucas@unfpa.org
Galanne Deressa: deressa@unfpa.org
This section was posted on 12 November 2004.
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YOUTH SUMMIT IN SRI LANKA: Day 5 - Next Steps 
