Young Muslims congregate for harmony

Around 70 young Muslims will attend a National Summit for Young Australian Muslims, co-hosted by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and the Australian Multicultural Foundation on Saturday, the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, John Cobb said today.

The summit, to be held in Sydney, will bring together young Muslims ranging in age from 12 to 29 and will provide a major opportunity for wide ranging consultations to take place with young Muslim delegates from around the country.

The Summit is one of a number of consultations with Muslim communities, following the Prime Minister’s meeting with Muslim community leaders on 23 August.

“The Government supports the National Muslim Youth Summit and I hope it leads to additional forums to provide opportunities for young people from various faiths to focus on common values and hopes for Australia’s future,” Minister Cobb said.

The summit aims to identify useful initiatives to support young Muslims to achieve success, build self esteem and develop a communication plan to combat negative perceptions.

The themes that will be dealt with at the summit are identity, community, education and training and personal relationships.

“Young Australians need to feel there is a place for them in our nation’s future and the Government is already planning a further series of Youth Summits similar to this one.

“I have great hopes for our young Australia Muslim to take on leadership roles and build bridges with non-Muslim Australians.”

“I look forward to the meeting on Saturday morning and working with them in the future,” Minister Cobb said.

Parliamentary Secretary (Children & Youth Affairs), the Hon Sussan Ley, welcomed the delegates to the Summit and said that it was a significant occasion for young Australian Muslims to come together with the government to address issues important to them.

“This Summit represents Muslim communities from across the Nation who together face similar challenges. I hope to see this Summit bring optimism and guidance for future conferences in leading these young people in a positive direction.

“The Australian Government has a number of programmes that help provide opportunities for young people to participate in, contribute to, and thoroughly enrich our society,” Mrs Ley said.

The National Summit for Young Australian Muslims will take place on Saturday 3rd December with a pre-Summit dinner on Friday night.