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WORLD YOUTH MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRACY FUNCTIONAL WORKSHOP
Organizers: World Youth Movement for Democracy
Moderator: Cristina Costa, World Youth Movement for Democracy working group, Brazil
Rapporteur: Andrea Des Marais, Global Youth Action Network, United States
This workshop was intended to share information about the World Youth Movement for
Democracy and build partnerships to develop the Movement in the coming years.
The idea of the Youth Movement came from meetings at the World Movement Assembly
in São Paulo in 2000, but it has only begun to take shape in recent months, after the South
American Regional Office of the Global Youth Action Network was selected as secretariat and
the working group met to clarify the intent, aims, and structure of the movement.
The Youth Movement is a network of networks that will support and complement the
work of its participants, based on the belief that an effective and sustainable movement for
democracy and human rights depends on active participation of young people.
Working with young people means working with three generations at once: the youth
themselves, their parents and relatives that may be affected by new ways of thinking, and their
future children. Many organizations within the World Movement have found in recent years that
their objectives would be well served by working with young people, and are looking for ideas
and tactics for involving them.
This network aims to serve as a platform for young leaders to advocate for the importance of
their involvement in democracy building, a forum for sharing information, strategies, training
materials, and other resources, and an action-oriented solidarity movement.
The primary role of the international coordination is to promote information exchange and
dialogue among the members, and provide support to develop member-led collaborative projects
ideas that emerge from these dialogues. Generally, activities occurring under the context of the
WYMD will fall under four main priority areas:
- Capacity-building for conflict resolution and the non-violent promotion of democracy
- Advocacy and promotion of democratic values and human rights
- Networking to share information, exchange ideas and promote collaboration
- Developing international solidarity networks, to support young people working in adverse circumstances.
Any youth organizations that work with these issues, or other organizations that have youth-
focused programs in these areas are invited to send the secretariat information about their
programs and join the Movement.
The secretariat has developed a website and mailing list to
serve as a central information source for young democracy and human rights activists and people
working with young people to build democracy. These tools will develop as members share
information and resources.
The workshop participants committed to acting as the "nucleus" of membership, that will
share resources and do outreach to other organizations.
Immediate Actions:
- International coordination will focus on reaching out to new members and stimulating idea-exchange and promoting collaborations among these members. Because its membership structure is closely linked to the World Movement, the Youth Movement is especially looking for partners within the World Movement with strong commitments to networking and youth programs.
- All interested participants will send information about their programs, upcoming events, opportunities for youth, and ideas for collaboration to the secretariat to build the online information hub.
- We will work to develop an agenda for advocacy within the World Movement to give more priority to youth issues and participation. A central proposal would be increasing youth presence at Assemblies.
- Members will organize around World Youth Day for Democracy, October 18, as a focal point to highlight youth participation in democracy and human rights movements and reach out to youth on these issues. This could be done through hosting discussions, trainings, rallies, concerts, solidarity vigils, or any other activity within with the focus of the organizing group.
Collaborative Projects
As a primary purpose of the WYMD is to share ideas for collaborative action, participants began
this process in the workshop. The following ideas stood out:
- Developing national level websites (and printed materials) aimed at young people, with information about democracy issues for the country and listings of active groups, projects, events, and opportunities.
- Hosting Regional Youth Assemblies in 2007 or 2008 to bring together youth from
different areas of democracy work for capacity building and networking.
- Establishing a solidarity alert and information system, integrated with the World Movement, to call attention to the struggles of member organizations and areas for action.
- Establishing a system for channeling funding towards youth engagement projects
- Developing a Youth Participation Index and undertaking a survey to evaluate the degree to which different countries open avenues for youth engagement.
- Conducting a global survey of the roles youth play in developing democracy in societies at different levels of democratic development (closed, transitioning, and formally established) and develop a report to act as a guide, reference, and advocacy tool.
- Contact political parties with youth wings to get them involved, and encourage the formation of youth wings where they do not yet exist.
Anyone interested in participating in the Youth Movement is strongly encouraged to get
in contact with the secretariat.
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