Scritto da alessandra

MeYouMe, Mediterranean Youth Meeting 2008 was a meeting - a journey there and back - between a Me and a YOU.

It was a chance, for the young participants - responsible for youth associations of 12 Mediterranean countries - for knowledge, debate, interculture.

The participants were young people wanting to commit themselves to build a public space for debate. Young people that, looking at the Mediterranean area, have pointed out its most urgent and current problems and the biggest challenges.

During MeYouMe young people discussed about these issues and challenges, because commitment to cooperate in order to build a Mediterranean of peace, dialogue, active citizenship and development rises from meeting.

Urgent issues: human rights violation and discrimination that still dominates in many countries; need for international dialogue and peace creation. Challenges: education and professional training to give freedom and opportunities to young people; chance to participate for the new generations’ leading role in society and politics.

In the 5 workshops (International dialogue and peace; Education and work; Human rights and discrimination; Youth leading role and participation, Social cohesion and local development in the Mediterranean area), young participants debated and raised problems, expectations and commitment declarations.

Problems pointed out
The young participants started from the admission of an actual lack of international dialogue in the Mediterranean area and have showed distrust in the future, finding utopian the carrying out of a true peace in the conflict area.
Both in the plenary sessions and the workshops, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a crucial issue about this topic. The debate between young Israeli and Palestinian participants has shown the unsolved tensions between the two peoples, and other young people got involved, in a strongly emotional discussion (overcome by the desire for dialogue and reciprocal acknowledgement).
Also the many human rights violations and discrimination were pointed out, as well as “false democracies”.
Within youth participation in social and public life, the lack of spaces for leading roles was pointed out.
In such a context, expectations and demands are real challenges to submit to governments and international community.

Demands
Among the Mediterranean youth’s demands there are:
- involvement in democratic processes regarding peace, human rights and cooperation in the Mediterranean area;
- planning and development of international policies to promote equal access to financial resources and cultural opportunities in order to fill the gaps between the different areas;
- creation of networks between youth organizations in the Mediterranean area;
- access to work for people with less opportunities;
- support in vocational guidance and work;
- a higher youth representation in parliaments and governmental bodies;
- laws supporting integration, to safeguard the rights of the ones who ask politic asylum and to encourage the access to foreigners’ citizenship and safeguard worship rights.

Commitments
Young people undertake to:
- create networks that connect people (by means of forum, online meeting points, workshops, conventions, meetings) that help share good practices and develop common actions and projects;
- organize events about peace and human rights;
- act as multipliers;
- transmit values and respect for human rights within their own family, working and social context, involving as many people as possible in the sensitization activity;
- work to guarantee equal opportunities and freedom of expression;
- promote activities that encourage multiethnic and multicultural exchanges;
- promote the culture of participation.

Young participants have worked on 5 final reports, that will be part of the draft of a final declaration, that will be approved within an online forum reserved to MeyouMe participants. Once approved, the final declaration will be published on this website and it will be sent to international bodies and participant associations as spokesmen by their own countries’ governments.

 

 

Tags: Culture, education, human rights, international dialogue, mediterranean area, Meeting, MeYouMe, social cohesion, Youth
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