I’m glad to share here about my experience regarding to the Commonwealth Youth Senior Officials Meeting in Brunei that held from 27th August until 29th August 2019. First and foremost, this is my first experience attending to an international meeting and I got opportunity to gain a lot of experience and knowledge throughout this meeting. Furthermore, after joining in the Commonwealth Youth Senior Officials Meeting, I have acquired all the knowledge I needed about Commonwealth meticulously. In Commonwealth Youth Senior Officials Meeting, we have discussed about youth development programmes from various countries. The meeting brought together senior officials responsible for youth, national youth leaders, youth workers, key regional stake holders from across the region and provided us an opportunity to focus on the emerging regional and global youth development landscape and help identify priorities for action. It is also a way to gain knowledge of regional youth issues. The role of young people in the development of Commonwealth countries had been focused in this meeting. This meeting also aimed on improving the wellbeing and livehoods of young people in the commonwealth. This Commonwealth Youth Senior Officials Meeting had given me an opportunity to discuss and prioritise policy issues on the youth development agenda in this region.
In addition, I get to know about the programmes that conducted by other countries on empowering youths. I look forward to organise and coordinate some of the programmes that discussed in the meeting. I have no doubt that some of the programmes really beneficial to the growth of Malaysian youths. This session conducted very well as it become an eye opener especially for myself on youth development. As the first day of the Commonwealth Youth Senior Officials Meeting, we visited to the Youth Development Centre. We were welcomed warmly and welcoming speech and presentation on Youth Development Center given by Madam Fauziah Binti Haji Mohd Salleh, Head Of The Youth Development Center. On the first day, we were attended welcome dinner at Indera Kayangan Ballroom, The Empire Hotel and Country Club.
We had a chance to have a significant discussion session with The Rt. Hon Patricia Scotland QC, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth on the session of caucus presentations summary and conclusions. In that briefing section, we were advised to be a strong and always be motivated so that we get to understand our strengths and weaknesses. As a further matter, we also had a presentation and discussion session from Head of each Country Delegation such as People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Republic of India, Republic of Singapore, Malaysia, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Brunei Darussalam. Ms Alina Cheong,Head Of Malaysia Delegation from Ministry of Youth presented about Malaysian Youth Policy (MYP).
On the last day of our official trip, we had a small and meaningful discussion with Mr Sushil Ram, Programme Manager (Youth), Social Policy Development, Commonwealth Secretariat on Youth Participation. As the last agenda, we had opportunity to visit some important places as a social cultural visit such as The Royal Regalia Museum, Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and Sultan Omar Ali Sifuddien Mosque. Every places that we visited holds important place in history of Brunei. This official trip to Brunei for the Commonwealth Youth Senior Officials Meeting brought me many pleasant suprises and forged stronger ties with friends from around the region including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Singapore and with Brunei as the hosting country. I had a chance to encounter cultures of different countries. in my point of view, gaining as much knowledge as possible is important. Knowledge is also very important to shape our personality and perfect our behaviour and dealings with people.I too believed that continuous cooperation, closer collaboration and sharing of information and best practises would be able to apprehend any issues and problems encounter within the set targeted timeline. I would like to thanked to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for this opportunity to join this meeting. There is no doubt that I had much to take home from the Commonwealth Youth Senior Officials Meeting. As conclusion, I have learnt to gain knowledge in support youth growth and development as well as to be brave to speak and be bold enough to use your voice in a correct source.
KAVIMANI MADHU
EXCO
MAJLIS BELIA MALAYSIA
