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Parliamentarians urged to invest in youth to prevent violence, extremism

Xinhua, September 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

The U.S. Academy award winning actor, Forest Whitaker, on Monday called on parliamentarians to invest in youth to prevent violence and extremism from taking hold.

While addressing the ongoing Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, which kicked off here Monday morning, Whitaker used examples of child soldiers in Uganda, gang members in Mexico and orphans in Syria to demonstrate the important job parliaments and parliamentarians have in fostering peace and development.

"You need to speak for all the people around the world who are not being heard," he said. "You have to help these people find their way so they can stand strong in their identities, you have to demonstrate that everyone matters, you have to convince them to hope again."

Whitaker said that it was important to invest in nurturing girls and boys now, because it was much easier to help stop them before they turned to violence or extremism.

"It's so much easier to devote our days for caring for and educating the next generation of leaders rather than getting down on your hands and knees and spending what could be an eternity of pulling up weeds," said Whitaker. "Every single man and woman can play a role in shaping a world where our children grow up knowing that they're cared for they are cared about and there is a place for them."

He reminded the parliamentarians of the importance of their jobs and their potential to contribute to making the world a better place.

"You have some of the most beautiful jobs on the planet," he said, "because with the laws you pass you are shaping the very movement of ebb and flow of our countries and our cultures."

A total of 138 speakers of national parliaments and 39 deputy speakers from some 140 countries, including China, are attending the conference at UN Headquarters in New York from Monday to Wednesday. The global parliamentary summit is held every five years.

Whitaker, born in July 1961, is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for starring in films such as Lee Daniels' The Butler, Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Endit