Young people as the leaders of today
Sophie North and Sarah Walpole tell us more about CIVICUS
Half of the world’s population are under the age of 25. (1) It is therefore crucial that we, as young people, have our perspectives, ideas and skills recognised. We must be involved in local and global decision making.
This year, the annual CIVICUS assembly - a gathering of civil society organisations from around the world - made significant efforts to include young people in their discussions. For the first time, a quota of 150 places was set for people under the age of 25, and at this meeting the youngest ever board member, aged 23, was elected.
In recognising the importance of young people in civil society, CIVICUS is taking an important step forward and setting a valuable precedent. We were among the young delegates, and our experience at the assembly led us to question what, as young people, we have to offer to such bodies. To help us answer this question we spoke to Kumi Naidoo, the Secretary General of CIVICUS, who has been a prominent youth activist and is now a strong advocate for giving young people a voice in civil society.
According to Kumi, as young people, our “vibrancy, dynamism and enthusiasm” cannot be valued highly enough. Where cynics may think progress is not possible, youthful enthusiasm is essential to maintain momentum and bring about change. Kumi was himself involved in the apartheid movement, where success would not have been possible without passionate belief and enthusiasm.
Another important reason why we must be involved at every level of organisations is that many of the issues that they address chiefly affect young people. For example, half of the 14,000 people who are newly infected with HIV each day are under the age of 25. (2) In order to devise effective policy to tackle this problem it is vital that young people’s perspectives are taken into account.
Young people are better able to understand the social and psychological impacts of issues such as HIV on others of their own age group. In Kenya, the belief that having sex with a virgin can cure HIV infection is still prevalent, and as a result, children as young as three may be victimised and infected through rape. Young people also feel the impact when family members are HIV positive; younger members of the family may become caregivers for their parents or older siblings. Those who are directly affected feel more impassioned and dedicated to effecting change.
Young people in Kenya have set up three different youth groups to raise awareness about HIV, and Amos, the leader of one of the groups, explains that “seminars, football matches, dramas and debates” are all part of the awareness raising. Thika is a rural district near to Nairobi, which used to have the highest rate of HIV infections in Kenya, 3 in 10 twenty to fourty-five year olds being HIV positive, but since young people initiated peer education programmes the prevalence of HIV has fallen to less than 1 in 10. (3)
Young people have access to a variety of networks, which can be enormously powerful campaigning and mobilisation tools. “Facebook” is an example of a social network that now links thousands of people throughout the world, and the majority of users are young people. Facebook is composed of thousands of groups - many of which have a youth activism focus. Through such groups it disseminates campaigning messages, advertises protests and encourages social action to thousands of other young people. “Taking it global”, another online community, connects over 130,000 young people aspiring to make a difference in their local and global communities. It encourages the sharing of tools, ideas and resources for campaigns and activism.
Universities and other educational institutions are also fantastic resources as they bring young people together and provide opportunities to share information and ideas. Students have long been known for their activism and role in shaping public debate. In May 1968, student strikes were the spark that brought about political change in France. Following a series of strikes universities in Paris, two thirds of the French workforce took industrial action, which eventually brought down the De Gaulle government.
Young people often have fewer dependents and the repercussions of our involvement in activism are generally not as broad. Although there are many exceptions, many young people have the bonus of having less responsibility at home, for example to their family and career. This gives us the opportunity to stand up for what we believe in, representing only ourselves and putting minimal risk on others. Having weaker ties to family and career can give young people more time, which again makes it easier to engage in protests and other movements. However, although this may ring true in the West, for many in the global south, conflict, poverty and disease often necessitate young people to take active roles in caring and providing for the family. But they can also be very involved in activism. Take Ngoga Gateretse from Burundi for example. By the age of 15 he had joined the Rwandese Patriotic Front to try and stop the genocide in Rwanda. He also had a position on the board of Global Justice - an organisation which gives advice to activist youth organisations.
As we have discussed, key resources that young people have at their disposal are enthusiasm, a different perspective and level of understanding, youth networks, and fewer ties. This is not to devalue the resources that older people bring. By involving people of all ages in debate and action, we can make the most of both the resources of young people and the experience of older people.
At the CIVICUS assembly, we as young delegates made a stand, calling for our viewpoints to be heard alongside those of other ages. Kumi Naidoo commented that “young people taking a real initiative to work across generations was a positive step to realizing change, providing hope for the future”. The skills and potential of young people must not be forgotten. It is up to us to be proactive and use the opportunities available to us to bring about effective intergenerational collaboration. In Kumi’s words, young people “not only will be leaders tomorrow, but [also] are leading today.”
Sophie North and Sarah Walpole
4th year medical students
University of Leeds
Leeds, UK
sophienorth@fastmail.fm and argotomunky@yahoo.co.uk
(1) http://www.unfpa.org/adolescents/index.htm
(2) http://www.unfpa.org/issues/index.htm
(3)http://www.headliners.org/storylibrary/stories/2006/hivaidskenya.htm
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