As we celebrate World Youth Skills Day 2024, the theme ‘Youth Skills for Peace and Development’ highlights the indispensable role young people play in fostering peace and driving development.
This year’s theme comes at a time when the world grapples with numerous challenges that significantly impact the youth, making the need for equipping them with essential skills more urgent than ever.
Today’s youth face numerous global crises, including violent conflicts disrupting education and community stability.
Many young people are left without quality education, limiting their future opportunities.
The digital age, while connecting the world, has also fostered a polarised online environment filled with negativity and misinformation.
This online polarisation intensifies real-world tensions, complicating modern communication and social interaction.
Economic inequality also exacerbates these challenges, as disparities in wealth and opportunity deprive many young people of essential resources, stifling potential and threatening societal stability.
INSIGHTS FROM LOCAL YOUTH
Nur Aiman Nabilah binti Mohammad Yaakub, a 22-year-old graphic design student, recently showcased her final year project at a local college exhibition.
Her work underscored the importance of recognising diverse learning styles, a critical skill for fostering an inclusive and peaceful society.
“My project focuses on embracing and enhancing learning because we often forget that everyone has different styles or methods of learning. I want to raise awareness and remind people that it’s normal for different individuals to process information in unique ways,” Nur Aiman explained.
Reflecting on her educational journey, she shared, “As a student, I struggled with learning when I was younger. However, once I discovered the learning style that suited me best, I began to excel in my subjects.”
Her project, a 2D animation illustrating the four main types of learning – visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading – serves as an educational tool to highlight these differences. Her dedication to the project was evident in her commitment to learning new skills.
“Everyone has their own strengths, and my specialty is animation. I didn’t always know how to animate; I learned some from my course but a lot of it, I learned through online resources and self-teaching.
“For this project, I created my first 2D seven-minute animation, and it was difficult because I underestimated the effort required. For example, a 30-second animation took me four hours to complete,” she recounted. Despite the challenges, the project was a significant learning experience.
“There’s still much to learn, but this experience has been invaluable. As we grow into adults and start developing our own businesses, concepts, and styles, we can make our country proud by becoming a more independent and innovative generation,” Nur Aiman concluded.
Meanwhile, Muhd Muzakkir Abd Fadzil, a 32-year-old graphic design graduate from a local institution also shared his journey and ongoing projects, offering a glimpse into how young people can harness their skills for creative and impactful endeavours.
This is his second attempt at creating a manga, with his first one centred around myths and legends in the Sultanate.
Reflecting on his educational journey, Muhd Muzakkir shared the challenges he faced, “I’m in my 30s now, I experienced a 10-year hiatus after secondary school when not many institutions accepted my qualifications. Eventually, Kolej International Graduate Studies lowered their admission requirements, allowing me to enrol.”
His passion for drawing persisted throughout these years, even though he was never formally trained as an artist. “Back in the 2000s, my skills were limited to drawing stick figures,” he recalled.
His aspiration to have his artwork published began in 2016. “I began to aspire to have my artwork published, even if just as a side business,” he noted, demonstrating the entrepreneurial spirit that many young people possess.
His journey underscores the importance of perseverance and adaptability, essential skills for navigating today’s complex world.
THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL’S MESSAGE
In a message for World Youth Skills Day 2024, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres emphasised the critical importance of empowering young people for the future, “The future of humanity and our planet depends on young people. But it also depends on ensuring they have the skills to tackle today’s challenges and shape a more peaceful tomorrow”.
He shared that there is already a clear link between countries that enjoy high levels of peace, spending on education, and school completion rates. “Yet today, almost a quarter of the world’s youth are not in education, employment, or training – with that figure more than twice as high for young women.
“Meanwhile, the financing gap for education in low and middle-income countries stands at a massive USD100 billion a year. This year’s World Youth Skills Day shines a spotlight on skills for peace and sustainable development. Around the world, young people are already working to build safer and stronger communities.
“They can make an even bigger difference for our shared future with training for the burgeoning green and digital economies, education to help break the cycle of hate speech and misinformation, tools to enhance mediation and dialogue, and so much more.” – Wardi Wasil
