Youth Leader Urges Students To Participate In Budget Consultations

The president of the Pacific Medi­cal Student Association, Abdul Mufeez Shaheed, has encouraged students to participate in the ongoing national budget consultations.

Mr Shaheed was one of the partici­pants in the 6th Young Pacific Leaders Conference currently underway at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva.

The 27-year-old is a final-year student at the Fiji National University’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sci­ences. He is completing his Bachelor in Public Health.

Speaking to the Fiji Sun on the margins of the Conference, he said it was impor­tant for youths to participate in the Na­tional Budget consultations because the policies made will determine the future which will impact younger Fijians.

“Government is providing a platform for the public to engage in budget con­sultations and young people should take these opportunities to make their voices heard,” he said.

“It is important that young people have a say in decisions made.”

Speaking about the ongoing confer­ence, he said he applied to be part of the youth initiative because it was a good platform to raise his voice on issues he was passionate about.

“This was a good opportunity for me to come here and learn about the serious issues and how to combat the issues. It will be a good networking opportunity,” said the 27-year-old.

“The main issue I am looking at is civic education and leadership. We are very complacent in the sense that we just want to go through the education sys­tem and get into the job without realiz­ing that every action that we do has an impact.”

He urged youths to look for opportuni­ties such as the 6th Young Pacific Lead­ers (YPL) Conference.

“Everyone is a leader in their own right. They should look for opportuni­ties to explore their leadership quali­ties,” Mr Shaheed said.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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