YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The Day of Defense of Young People was marked August 12. The conference organized by the Union of Youth Organizations (UYO)–calls for special laws to be established to protect the rights of the young people of Armenia.
Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders–and their integration into the country’s social and political life is integral. The conference participants acknowledged that the youth is in a difficult socio-psychological state because of unemployment and other serious problems.
The UYO has established a close relationship with the National Assembly–which resulted in the establishment of a parliamentary youth council composed of a group of experts who will study the opinions of the youth regarding individual bills. The young political and public figures are also cooperating with the Ministry of Education and Science–and they have agreed to set up a youth advisory body under the ministry.
Despite numerous problems–most young people are optimistic. The conference participants spoke about Levon Ter-Petrosian’s presidency under which young people were deprived of the opportunity to express their opinion. Since his resignation in 1998 they are no longer ignored. The participants also expressed their gratitude toward President Robert Kocharian who helped establish the All-Armenian Youth Fund–which provided a number of youth organizations assistance to reestablish themselves.
The UYO’s goal is promoting the formation of a civil and democratic society in Armenia–bringing young people’s opinion of the country’s problems to public notice–and involving young people in the solutions of these problems.