The next speaker, Mohammad Iqbal of the IOM (International Office of Migration), explained the work of the IOM in helping migrants to return to their home countries in a humane and orderly process. He outlined the three different programmes running: assisted voluntary return for illegal migrants; voluntary assisted return and reintegration; and a new pilot project which will focus on five countries, including Afghanistan, whereby nationals could return to Afghanistan on a temporary basis to work for reconstruction. This scheme is funded by the Home Office.  Information about this  scheme was available at the conference.

We then watched a short video, Burden of History, a documentary about Afghan women produced and directed by Zarghona Rassa, former Afghanistan TV journalist and presenter, in September 2006. This showed that while women in Afghanistan were now holding positions of responsibility including becoming members of the new parliament, there was still great prejudice and discrimination, that the legal system did not treat them as equals with men and that many did not feel safe moving about the streets on their own. There is a long way to go in achieving justice and equality for all.

Laura Stock of the Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum then spoke about the situation for refugees in the UK and mentioned the barriers they face in this country, particularly if they are children. There are often delays in the asylum process which cases instability and a lack of security. There is systematic social exclusion of asylum seekers that frequently leaves vulnerable people isolated and alienates future citizens. There is also the issue of family separation and experiences of dislocation from home.  There are barriers in accessing services including access to schools, further education, training opportunities and employment. There is also prejudice and misinformation from the media. She then spoke of the role of the Refugee Forum in promoting greater understanding of the refugee experience and encouragement of further understanding between communities. The integration of refugees is a dynamic two-way process. It is both re responsibility of the host community and the refugee communities to build a shared future. The two-way process of integration applied to education, employment, health and public services, political participation and in promoting cultural heritage. It was particularly important to empower and promote the activities of young refugees as these young people (such as those here at the Youth Conference) have the chance to impact upon the future of both the UK and Afghanistan.

The final speaker was Inspector Dan Stobbart of the Hammersmith & Fulham police. He began by saying that Afghan young people do not seem to get into trouble with the police which was a really positive situation.  He then mentioned that there were only 25 Afghans in the police force in London and he encouraged young Afghans to consider a career in the police force including working at local level as Community Support Police Officers. This would further assist with community integration and you did not have to be a UK citizen to join and work for the police.

We were then entertained by a group of young men wearing national costume who performed the Attan dance, ably led by Niarzy Fahim Hikmat.

The gathering then adjourned for delicious food and refreshments and an opportunity to view the photographic exhibition. This included strong images of both young and old, girls and boys, women and men - working, playing, attending school, resting and hoping. The faces of contemporary Afghanistan, in all their rich diversity.

After the break we enjoyed a colourful and entertaining fashion show of Afghan ceremonial dress, modelled by students who had worked hard to put the parade together. Miss Kohistani joined them on the catwalk to demonstrate a range of costumes for men and women from various regions within Afghanistan.

The evening concluded with songs sung in Dari, Spanish and English from the Afghan rap singer Aris Parwez. Copies of his latest CD were on sale at the event.

The boys once again joined in the Attan before everyone dispersed. The event had provided a brief glimpse of both opportunity and challenge for the Afghan community in the homeland and in the UK.

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Ameen Sultani: Love and passion for our country forced me into participating in the Afghan Youth Conference. This was an opportunity for me to promote and raise awareness about Afghanistan, hoping that it would be an attempt to change how the media portrays Afghanistan. The event was a success in terms of allowing me to understand Afghanistan by exploring different cultures, which I was unaware of and it has been an excellent opportunity to network with other Afghan youths on whom the future of Afghanistan depends upon. There needs to be more events similar to this event to raise awareness and attract individuals like myself to identify what 'I' or 'WE' as a team can do for our country. Also, if this event desires to remain successful it needs some source of communication flow to keep youths informed and network with each other because 'Only Together We Can Create A Better Afghanistan'.

Idrees Rasouli : Over all the whole evening was a joyful and entertaining venue, which demonstrated a cultural part of Afghan nation (The Catwalk). The talks given by the number of important personalities gave us a wider understanding of our responsibilities as Afghans that includes inside and outside of the United Kingdom.The photographic exhibition was also respectfully a mixture of past present and perhaps the future of Afghanistan and its public. To my knowledge, for the coming events, it would be great to have a theme up on which the afghan events should be presented. Having an event that fully demonstrates Afghanistan and its people would cater a lot of extra sidelines to an event. Hence, including (the world famous) afghan food in the future events would create an important and impressive environment on its own for the non Afghans.

Mohammad Akbar:  I believe that the Afghan Youth Conference was a success. Despite the fact that it had its shortcomings yet it was a pioneering work. I sincerely hope that this event has unshackled the minds of the stakeholders in Afghanistan’s progress and re-development and propelled them into contemplating over the involvement of the youth in this huge task that awaits us.  I would be very delighted to see events of similar nature and purpose convened, and the inalienable importance of youth highlighted. Should this hope materialise I would feel that we achieved our goal.I and the rest of the team members involved in this event gained not only knowledge and experience but also friends and pleasant memories of working together. Perhaps this was the most prominent and valuable personal gain for all of us. The event touched slightly on many aspects of Afghanistan ranging from the grim realities of drugs, poverty, lack of education to the brighter aspects of our rich cultural heritage, reconstruction of the country, and Afghans who reconciled the differences of Afghan and western cultures and made a difference – such as Ms. Hammasa Kohistani. I would like to thank all my friends Tarana, Maral, Ikram, Arian and most importantly Mr. Mayvand for his relentless efforts for youth development. 

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