JEDDAH: The two-day Makkah convention organized by the Muslim World League (MWL) on Sunday urged Islamic organizations to cooperate with Islamic educational and cultural institutions in order to find viable solutions to problems facing Muslim youths.
The final communiqué issued at the end of the conference, which was opened by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emphasized the need to encourage youths to develop their personality through dialogue and open-exchange of viewpoints.
The annual conference cautioned the Ummah against the danger of growing extremism among Muslim youths and stressed the need to train them in light of the moderate teachings of Islam.
The participants commended the establishment of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, some 80 km northwest of Jeddah, and urged Muslim youths to make use of this pioneering initiative by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
“Such universities are essential for Muslims to cope with modern developments in science and technology,” the communiqué said. Muslim countries should establish more such universities and research centers in order to excel in modern science and technology.
Papers presented at the conference had dealt with the intellectual, social, psychological and economic problems facing Muslim youths.
The conference urged social and cultural centers in the Islamic world to find out the reasons for the increasing mental pressure on Muslim youth and find solutions for it in cooperation with educational, social and media organizations.
It called upon Muslim governments to make use of the credit facilities of International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in order to create special funds for providing soft loans for youths to establish small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
"This will not help reduce poverty but also create jobs for youths and help them to have a happy family life," the communiqué said. It called upon media institutions in the Muslim countries to launch an awareness campaign to prevent excessive consumption, deepen social responsibility among youths and encourage them to participate in voluntary activities.
The conference urged IDB to establish special development projects for youths in poor Muslim countries as well as in Muslim minority countries. It praised IDB's plan to establish an international endowment authority and urged Muslim businessmen to support the bank's charitable projects.
The communiqué also underlined the need to revise the curricula of universities and colleges as part of efforts to develop leadership qualities of youths in line with Islamic teachings. Special programs should also be held for youths to make use of their spare times.
