Youth For World Peace

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF YOUTH ON TERRORISM

YOUTH FOR WORLD PEACE

FEBRUARY 26 – 27, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

The Kuala Lumpur Youth Leaders’ Statement on Terrorism As participants, who attended the International Conference: Youth on Terrorism, held on 26-27 February 2009 in Kuala Lumpur, we hereby affirm our resolve and commitment as youth leaders to effectively deal with the scourge of terrorism, and declare that we: - Condemn all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and who so ever committed them; - Deplore the continuing tragic loss of civilian lives and destruction of properties caused by terrorist acts and activities arising out of unresolved conflicts; - Emphasise the importance of continuing to identify and address the underlying conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism through the formation of counter terrorism measures; - Urge Governments to give emphasis on winning the hearts and minds of peoples concerned when developing counter terrorism measures; - Reject any attempt to associate terrorism with religion, race, ethnicity, creed or caste and stress the need to both strengthen dialogue and foster mutual understanding between cultures and civilizations; - Reiterate the principled position that under the Charter of the United Nations and international law the legitimacy of resistance to foreign aggression and the struggle of people under colonial or alien domination and foreign occupation, for national liberation and self-determination; - Reiterate the central role of the United Nations in addressing the phenomenon of terrorism; - Call upon Governments to enact and/or update relevant laws to punish those individuals or groups who support terrorism; - Call upon Governments to intensify the exchange of information on terrorism with the aim of enhancing cooperation; - Urge Government to give due recognition to the role of youth as agents of change in the process of decision-making at national and international levels and in dealing with terrorism and other related matters; - Encourage and promote youth to play a more purposeful role in addressing terrorism at the national, regional and international level. Plan of Action In order to achieve, these objectives, we: 1. Call upon the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to convene as soon as possible a stand-alone Global Youth Summit on Terrorism, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, as a run-up to the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly; 2. Call on Governments and Youth Organisations to actively promote the role of youth as ‘change agents’ leveraging on ICT and the New Media as key enablers to combat terrorism. Focus should be in enhancing awareness of the danger posed by terrorism and using ICT-based tools such as mobile phones social networking websites (e.g Face book Web logs) and user-generated video content (e.g YouTube) to bond together and remain connected towards establishing a network of “youth journalists” to help prevent terrorism; 3. Call for intensified cross-cultural and cross-political discourses, and exchange of experiences among youth leaders the world over; 4. Urge leaders pf political parties and civil societies to be resolute and steadfast in getting the United Nations to assume a central role in the investigation of all crimes against humanity, including acts of state terrorism; and 5. Call on other Governments to hold similar conference as the one initiated by Malaysia so that youths are engaged on a pro-active and sustained basis to ensure necessary follow-up action.

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