The first Voice of Muslim Youth provincial election engagement session took place on Sept. 10 at Ben Franklin Place. I decided to organize this session after attending the Voice of Muslim Youth's Town Hall Meeting in July, when concerns around the lack of Muslim political engagement were raised. I told Kauthar Mohamed, the co-founder of VOMY, that I had an idea of how to get Muslim youth interested in politics by showing them how the issues that concerned them most were linked to Canadian politics.

As the Ontario provincial election is taking place on Oct. 6, I felt there was a great opportunity to encourage Muslim youth to vote in the upcoming election by giving them the chance to meet and discuss their concerns with local provincial candidates. Thanks to the sponsorship of the South Nepean Muslim Community and the Ottawa Muslim Women's Organization, we were able to cover all the costs related to organizing this important event.

It was mostly a gathering of the youth, and their message was clear: Muslim community leaders should take care of the community's most vulnerable.

The first town hall meeting of the “Voices of Muslim Youth” (VOMY) was a moving experience. Some 85 people attended, mostly but not all youth, including a big number of sisters. The evening included presentations, maghrib prayers (sunset prayers) and questions, as well as comments from the floor. Some 30 to 40 people stayed until the end.

How can we prevent our youth from becoming vulnerable to radicalization and violent extremism?  That was the question on everyone's minds at a recent conference organised by the Canadian Friends of Somalia.

The conference held at the National Arts Centre on 6th and 7th December was titled, “Promoting Peace and Preventing Youth Radicalization” and focused primarily on Somali youth who are at risk of being recruited to fight in their home country.