The South Asia Sub-Regional Consultation on Youth Volunteerism to promote participation, development and peace concluded here Wednesday with Kathmandu ‘Call for Action’.

The three-day consultation summarised the most critical ideas and action steps from youth in the South Asia sub-region, including the importance of youth’s role in engaging their communities in environmental service and the necessity of heightened youth participation in peace development through nonviolence and entrepreneurial leadership.

The event was organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in collaboration with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Global Peace Foundation (GPF).

Some 200 participants of nearly twenty nations gathered from within and outside the South Asian subregion took part in the consultation.

According to information shared at the programme, the event was the first of its kind fostering youth engagement, development and peacebuilding, built on the Asia-Pacific Peace and Development Service Alliance launched in Bangkok at ESCAP headquarters.

Based on the issue clusters of environment, health service, youth entrepreneurship, peace building and disaster preparedness set during the Bangkok Forum, youth participants engaged in complex yet lively discussions with panels of experts to discuss the current situation and identify action steps that youth can take through service, focusing on the South Asian subregion.