Act in Democracy, EuroDEMOS International Newsletter

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ACTin

Citizenship

decisionmaking

European policies

communication rule of law

civilsociety

responsibi

lity

knowledgeattitude

skills

humanrights

DEMOCRACYThis Newsletter is realizedwithin the international project

project developed byEuroDEMOS Associationand funded with support of the European Youth Foundationof the Council of Europe

Act by Knowing theMeans of Democracy

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Accreditation: 2010-RO-22

Authorization: IS 000603

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International newsletter

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Accreditation: 2010-RO-22

Authorization: IS 000603

Project Motto:Democratic society has at the basis of its functioning the socialresponsibility formed through involvement and civic participation

(Morel Bolea)


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EuroDEMOS is the first independent organization from Romania which since 1990,has been constantly occupied with promoting the importance of civil society by involvingcitizens and young people for training future opinion leaders, through programs and projectsof community interest.

EuroDEMOS is an umbrella type association composed of five organizations (YouthOrganization, Students Organization, Pupils Organization, Women Organization andOrganization of Young Romanian Ethnics Citizens from Moldova) and 12 departmentsspecialized in areas of civic interest.

EuroDEMOS International Association

EuroDEMOS is an independent non-governmental association of human rightsdefence, civic school of volunteer involvement, training and promotion at international level ofyoung future opinion leaders, through applicative programs of European interest.EuroDEMOS is an association with a history of 23 years gained through constant civicperformances. In the last 8 years of activity at international level EuroDEMOS Associationspecialized on European policies of training opinion leaders.

EuroDEMOS initiated and coordinated numerous civic programmes of communityinterest on domains such as: youth, human rights, sustainable development, ecology andenvironment protection, special education, social assistance, culture etc.

EuroDEMOS trainers are specialists in non formal

education with numerous training programs developed atnational and international level, having as beneficiary: youth,people from disadvantaged areas, civil servants from publicadministration, etc.

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The project main activity wasthe international trainingAct by Knowing the Means of Democracyth th

which took place in Iasi, Romania, on 10 - 19 of April 2013.Participants were youth leaders and youth workers from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Italy,

Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Spain and Turkey.

EuroDEMOS Association developed the international project Act by Knowing the Means of

Democracy.The project was carried out with the financial support of the European Youth Foundationof theCouncil of Europe.

One of the project results was the foundation of the INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER ACT IN

DEMOCRACY on youth and democracy which aims to make accessible to young people at international levelinformation on democracy and human rights, useful tools and opportunities for youth.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The international training Act by Knowing the Means of Democracy aimed to promote activeparticipation of young people at local, national and European level by knowing the means of democracy.

The information offered by the trainers, facilitators as well as the informational exchange among theparticipants and non formal methods focused on democracy from a practical perspective, working onstructures, tools and methods that the participants may use and apply further on in their activities and developyouth active participation.

The project topics included: democracy values and tools, Council of Europe tools on democracy andyouth participation, exchange of knowledge on youth participation in the participants' countries, youth policiesand European instruments to support the work on human rights and democracy, ways of participating indemocracy, financing opportunities for youth activities, intercultural exchange, creation of the internationalnewsletter on youth and democracy and others.

The training was conducted by multi-qualified and professional team of trainers, quality auditors,

evaluators of professional competencies, master of ceremonies, events organizers, project managers, socio-

educative animators and others.

Act by Knowing the Means of Democracy

Project activities:- International training Act by Knowing the Means of Democracy

- Creation of the international newsletter Act in democracy- Workshops on democracy and youth participation in high schools in Iasi

The project approaches themesof European interest such as democracy and active youth participation.

The project increased the participants' competences as active citizens in democracy and strengthened thepartners' organizations cooperation. The project has at basis applying non formal methods to actively involve

the participants. At the training was combined theoretical information (inputs, presentation) with practical

activities (workshops, analyses, study visitat Iasi City Hall, role play, TV show simulation, etc). 2


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International Newsletter

ACT in DEMOCRACY

Youth and Democracy

The newsletter will be published periodically and distributed worldwide among variousstakeholders, organizations, institutions, networks involving youth.

THE INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER ACT IN DEMOCRACY,youth and democracy, was founded within the international project Act by Knowingthe Means of Democracy and itaims to gather articles to make accessible to young

people at international level information on democracy and human rights, useful toolsand opportunities for youth.

on

The newsletter articles reflect the views only of the authors and

EuroDEMOS Association cannot be held responsible for the informationcontained therein.

The International Newsletter ACT in DEMOCRACYoffers the framework for youth all over the world to express and to

share their experiences and knowledge in the fields of democracy,participation, youth work, opportunities for youth, etc.

ACT in DEMOCRACY team invites all

interested citizens to support with pertinent informationand articles the active civil society that militates for

promoting democracy values and European activecitizenship.

Democracy isa governance system that is based on respect forhuman rights,separation of powers, rule of law, freedom and correctitude of elections.One of the conditionsfor having a democratic system is the participation of citizens in decision making process.

The International Newsletter ACT IN DEMOCRACY is a useful tool to develop theactivity of actors working in the field of democracy, human rights and youth and to strengthen the

cooperation at international level.

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Democracy


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Democracy between

myth and reality

Reinhold Niebuhr said Man's inclination to justice makes democracy possible,but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. Individual rights in ademocratic country constitute a dam against abuses of power by a government or

political majorities. A democratic government that is elected is accountable to thecitizens. It is not the enemy of the individual rights but is their defender. Nobody is abovethe law which is created for the people and not imposed on the people. Citizens of a freeand democratic society pursue their interest of their welfare, exercise their rights and take

responsibility for how they live their own life.

They decide themselves where they work, what work will make, where they live,whether or not they will join a political party. These are personal decisions not politicaldecisions. Governors are employees or servants of the state. In Romania some complainthat the education system it was destroyed showing a lack of training and the fact that theydon't know the democratic freedoms. Thomas Jefferson wrote: If a nation expects to beignorant and free, in a state of civilization, then he is expecting for something that has not

been and would never be. Totalitarian societies (authoritative) by their policies ofeconomic oppression and acculturation level deliberately cultivate at mass level a passive

acceptance attitude of everything they do those who call themselves power of thepeople. Diane Ravitch said: totalitarian political system promotes a policy of passivityand apathy. The totalitarian regime seeks to form a docile and obedient people.

A nation who walks on foot is a nation easy to lead. I mean by this poorpeople, who have limited horizons and to whom is promoted by every means theidea that the ruling power is almighty and you as a man of the people are nobodyand must obey because nobody listens or defends you if you complain. Therearen't others better than them; you cannot choose other than them. Wealth and

well-being is the right of those who own the power and you must shut up or elseyou stay on the streets. Politicians and governments that have succeeded so far (inthe last 20 years) have no connection with the people who should they govern,don't represent them and don't resemble as mentality. It is excluded the phraseinterest for the good of the nation. It's strange because normally a politician or agovernor should know that politicians or governors from all countries of theworld are interested in the world around them and have the necessary levers to seethe reality in the field beyond the official reports.

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Therefore as not to cause economic crisis politicians from other countries when theycommit a mistake that divulge their incompetence, they resign. A political crisis saves froman economic crisis or can trigger an economic crisis. It's better to provoke a political crisisthat demonstrates the seriousness and honorability of the politicians than to trigger a

nationwide economic crisis. In representative democracy citizens choose the officials whotake political decisions, formulate laws and administer realistic programs for the publicwelfare. In a democratic society there are and function thousands of private organizations,local or national. They assume roles that aren't in governmental forums responsibility.

NGO's offer individuals the opportunity to exercise their rights and responsibility of citizensdefenders of the democratic society's interests.

The governors and politicians support and finance in democratic societyorganizations that are attacking mistakes and come up with concrete proposals

to deal with the problems that appear in the community. In what is hiding underthe name of totalitarianism democracy, nongovernmental organizations arecontrolled and supervised by governmental forums through preferentialfunding. NGO's that are of the government parties have money without doingnothing because they support without question everything that governors say ordo. Totalitarianism always hides behind the phrase: civil society organizationslegitimize the right decisions of our governments. In conclusion, what could Itell more, as a representative of the civil society for over 23 years after I

presented transcripts of text that highlight the elementary differences betweentotalitarianism and democracy? The reality is that at least in our country all the

organizations of the active independent civil society would disappear if it hadnot been for the responsible professionals from Council of Europe and EuropeanCommission interested in the promotion and appliance of the real democracy.

Morel Bolea,

EuroDEMOS President

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E Democracy

Web Portal


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Biljana Stojceska,

Youth Alliance KrusevoFYRO Macedonia

Introducing the E-Democracy web portal is a response to the need for introducing anew modern method of public hearing. It is expected to allow more common and moreaccessible way for citizens' participation in policy creation with support of moderninformation and communication technologies.Having in mind the fact that democratic processes in the Republic of Macedonia havebeen supported by the information technology benefits over the past years,introducing of the E-Democracy web portal should be understood as some kind ofcontinuity.

This portal solution should allow citizens of the Republic of Macedonia to present theirviews on draft documents of the Government in a simple and easy accessible way andbe actively involved in decision making process.

The Portal will provide the following contents:

Legislation in preparation a part directly connected with contents of the ElectronicRegister of regulations of the Republic of Macedonia..Strategic documents review of all strategic documents of the Government, bothfinal (work program, policies, strategies, action plans, decrees, etc.) and draft-documents (draft-programs, draft-strategies, etc.). It will give citizens the possibility

for general and advanced searching and sorting, as well as for makingcomments/suggestions to certain documents.Forum (Thematic debates) a part intended to portal users for having thematicdebates.Blog a part intended to advanced portal users (nongovernmental organizations,economic chambers and other groups of citizens) with possibility for placing articles,posts and comments.Administrative barrier elimination (Suggest) a part where any citizen can makedirect comments, views and suggestions that will contribute to more e f f i c i e n tfunctioning of the public administration and to administrative barriers elimination.Registration

(Plug in) a part allowing physical and legal subjects to register in the web portal andprovide a two-way communication between administration and citizens. Registeredusers can make a pick from different offered fields/categories for getting notificationson their e-mail addresses about published new documents or new topics on the portal,etc.Provide an idea a part where citizens can submit a brief elaborate of their ideas.

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Individual freedom and

democratic governance

I believe in the power of self-education and valuable

relationships I built over the course of years in my

young life, which provided me with well-grounded

pillars to become a leader for many young people in

Azerbaijan.

We, human beings strive to compete for better resources in order to meet our life

important expectations. Whether it is western political freedom or eastern economic

equality, the individual freedom (without socially constructed mindset) has no barriers

in itself for the manifestation of human potentials. However, the extent of our self-

exploration in everyday community interaction is mostly defined by our character andrelationships with one another. Self-education plays a great role in the development of

personal qualities and recognition of differences, which eventually reflect our attitudes

toward ourselves and other individuals. Thus, the nature of democratic governance is

defined by personalities, who believe in their own power and trust others to collaborate,

rather than to compete. As a result of trainings and self-awareness, leaders are shaped to

build up instruments, which will encourage self-expression, recognition of differences,

equal opportunities and equal treatment in the democratic governance.

Vali Huseynov

Fulbright Alumnus

EuroDemos Azerbaijan

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Representative Democracy

Lyudmil Hubanov,

Business Club - Sofia University St Kliment OhridskiBulgaria8

Although it sounds really simple, I found out that a lot of young people in Bulgaria don't

understand this concept. They don't believe in it, they have no faith in it, nor do they trust it. I found outthat the best way to truly understand something is through practice. Last year we had a simulation aboutthe negotiations over the adhesion of a country in the European Union. Since I'm studying Europeanstudies at university, I had studied and I knew all the theory there is. Yet after the simulation I felt that Inow know much more about the whole process, I saw all of the opportunities for defending your own (orthe state's) interests. That's something you can't think of while reading the book.

The goal of the simulations is not only to teach the young people how the process works. It issupposed to provoke them, to encourage them to look for means of participating, so that they can defendtheir own interests.

The role of the civil society is crucial. During these simulations the participants must understandhow the civil society functions and how does it supervise the government.

Representative democracy is based on defending someone else's interests. Let's take forexample the farmers they organize themselves and choose a person, most often a leader bycharacter, who represents their interests in front of the representatives of the other organizedgroups, such as workers, ecologists, businessmen etc.

I believe that a series of simulations would improve the young people's knowledge of the processand would also provoke a certain amount of curiosity. The mechanics of the decision-making process is

hard to understand, so a simulation that divides the people according to their interests, full of debateswould be really useful for the youth. Seeing the process, achieving an accord with so many interests toconsider will help the young people to better understand how democracy functions. It worked for me.Once I got curious I couldn't stop looking for more information and opportunities.

The Bulgarian Foreign ministry had organized a simulation of negotiations on an internationallevel. Everybody could participate and there were a lot of people that weren't members of anyorganization that participated in the simulation. That is an example that the other institutions should takeinto consideration.


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DEMOCRACY FOR EVERYONE

BUT HOW?

The other situation that has taken place recently in Turkey is the process of Kurdish initiative. We havestruggling since the beginning of 1980's and thousands of martyrize that away and from now on, unattemptedmethod will be applied. A new process was initialized for them by AKP. They have a voice in our democracy and insteadof fighting they can speak after this. This way is the last way untried and everything will come to an end or maybe wewill find ourselves in a different situation democratically.

For many years, while we are trying to study and develop democracy, we suddenly find ourselves in adifferent dimension. Our application to European Union in 1959 contributes us in terms of the developmentprocess of democracy most. In this process, our position towards human rights has developed and get better.

Today, there is less case in Court of Human Rights in Turkey. Progress in this case, is not the thing we can doourselves. Our democracy has become higher order with the contribution of European Union. Making acomment like that will be not wrong: European Union make a democratic country in the middle east but thiscountry has a strong economy and maybe this reality make them to think: We did something wrong.

Turkey's noviciate come to an end in terms of democratic development process and stepin semiskilled rating right now. That is, Turkey, for the first time met with democratic and civilianconstitution, and still go on its work. In the process of making constitution, all ideas from all layer istaken and it demonstrates that Turkey has no totalitarian regime anymore. If Turkey's constitutionbecomes a part of an activity with functions, the structure will be much stronger and moredynamic in a national and international area.

Once and for all, these initiatives, explanations will beeffective to some extent, and what will happen after this? Theother ethnic groups or the people in minority status maybe want

new rights and how democracy will be worked upon them? If wefind the answers, we could ensure the democracy to everyone withthe same rights.

Ahmet Furkan zyakar,

Konya Metropolitan Municipality Klarslan Youth Center

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Example of Transnistria


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Power of civil society

After civil war in Transnistria started a very dangerous political process of subversion ofdemocracy and democratic processes. They start to build a kind of dictatorship with mafia's interferences,Transnistrian region became in this way one of the darkest part of European continent. Since 1992 to 2000there didn't exist a strong and real opposition, maybe because of their electoral procedures for parliamentthat promote people not political parties.

The main goal of this article is not to discuss political situation in Transnistria or relationshipbetween Moldova and separatist region, the main goal is to see how powerful can be civil society even infront of an authoritarian political regime. Renewal movement is a very good example of collaboration

between business sector and civil society, and also building of a strong and operational political opposition.

Moldova is an eastern European country that gained its independence in 1991. In 1992 youngMoldavian democracy was disturbed by civil war. The eastern part of country, that is situated on the left

bank of Dniester river claimed independence. After that war Republic of Moldova was actually divided intwo parts: a big part that is still administrated by Chisinau administration, and a separatist part Transnistria, that actually acts like a different state.

But at parliamentary election of 2000, a small group of business men that were chosen like deputies

in their electoral districts started a non formal group and after a civic-political movement namedRenewal. They started as a civil society organization because any possible political enemy of presidentpolitical party was constrained to give up their ambitions in different ways, especially in non-democraticones. After election of 2005 they gained more places in Transnistrian parliament, and with stronger powerthey transformed civic-political movement in a de jure political party. In 2010 political opposition becamestronger and they succeeded in 2011 to change the president of separatist region.

Dictatorships or authoritarian regimes are static and very strong in military and police structures,this is the reason why it is very hard to fight with them in classical violent and armed way. Is moresuccessful to use the soft power, even if it takes more time, but it takes less human victims and results aremore sustainable.

Ciorchina Ilie,

Kasta Morrely

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Youth Participation in

Democratic Greek Institutions

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The truth is that both the Greek Government and the European Union cooperate in an effort to

provide Young Greek people with useful institutions. First of all, the Local Youth Councils were

founded on March, 2008 in order to promote the problems and concern young people face to

the municipal boards. This process initially faced difficulties as various factors contributed

negatively. Later on, the Greek government imposed a law which covered the empty space of

these Councils and gave them the necessary fund to become an effective instrument.

Democracy is a form of government which enables citizens of a country to participate in

social, economic and cultural events freely and equally. The term is coined from two Greek

words,and . means people and means power. So, people show

their power by electing representatives who form the Government and meet within the

building of the Parliament. In Greece, this hasn't always been the case since in the 1830's

only men of a particular age could vote and the women started to cast their vote in 1934.Things were very difficult those days whereas today all people above the age of 18 have the

right to participate in the National and Municipal Elections which are held every four years.

Although young people have a very powerful tool in their hands, they refuse to use

it. It is very important to mention that the rate of abstinence among young people

is high considering that 60% of them refuse to participate in any political process.

Unreliability of the political parties, lack of meritocracy, progressive

marginalisation of different social layers, and decline in the level of education are a

few of the reasons why people aged between 15 and 29 refrain from any political

behaviour. However, the most important deterrent is the belief that their voice is

not going to be heard.

One of the most important institutions is The Greek Youth Parliament, which started in 1995.

It aims to cultivate positive attitudes, raise awareness on the principles, values and rules and

the function of democracy. Young people are given the opportunity to use constructive

dialogue, solidarity and mutual understanding in order to make their voice be heard and

discuss extensively critical current issues. Each year, the Building of the Greek Parliament

accommodates 350 teens from all around Greece and 25 teens from Cyprus, 25 teens from

the Greeks that live abroad and 12 state deputies for one week. The procedure which is

followed is the regular procedure that the Greek Government follows during its meetings.


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In Greece the number of the non voluntary organisations has raised during the last decade.

According to recent surveys, there are about 1,200 already registered organisation and 400 of them

are active. These organisations offer help and support to people in disadvantageous situations like

immigrants, mentally and physically disabled, orphans and old people. At the same time, they work

on various projects based on social issues such as environmental pollution, discrimination, racism,

homelessness and unemployment.

Voluntary Services offer young people the opportunity to deal with local issues which affect themone way or another. Nowadays, young people feel the urge to go out of their houses and try to help

the community by offering their services in every possible way. This tendency is increasing

especially for the people aged 15 to 29, and based on a survey held by the 'Volunteer Expression'

magazine, 55.7% of young people are willing to offer time for volunteering. Lead by feelings like

altruism, solidarity and love they learn how to develop skills by helping vulnerable social groups. In

this way, they enhance abilities and conquer experiences of a life time, raising awareness towards

social problems. Finally, the voluntarism of young people is enhanced by European Mobility

Programs. Every day a large number of your people have the chance to participate in this type of

programmes and work voluntarily in other countries.

Although there are many increasing efforts done towards the participation of young people in

public matters, the percentage of involvement is still low and young people should be given more

incentives to act freely within a democratic environment. All of us together, have to work with a

view to accomplishing greater achievements, for a better future.

Labrini Kouriti,

Hellenic Youth Participation

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Youth Participation

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The situation in Albania / How Youth Activism is in Albania?

Youth Activism in Albania is still in the beginning, but is moving at very good rates. Many people have thedesire and willingness to engage in something and if we notice there are many organizations and youth groupswhich forces every day trying to organize their activity, to do something, despite the lack of proper support.We can mention some very motivating initiatives, which have given a tremendous boost Youth Activism,which as a group of young squad overactive, such is the "Eco-Movement", the such student groups, sportsand cultural organizations, as well as many other organizations that work with tremendous energy and havemanaged to offer something no matter how small, but very positive effect with regard to youth Activism.

Youth participation is the active engagement of young people throughout their communities.Youth participation, also called youth involvement, has been used by government agencies, researchers,educators, and others to define and examine the active engagement of young people in schools, sports,government, community development and economic activity. Youth empowerment is an attitudinal,structural, and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to makedecisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including youth and adults.

Youth empowerment is often addressed as a gateway to intergenerational equity, civic engagement anddemocracy building. Many local, state, provincial, regional, national, and international governmentagencies and non-profit community-based organizations provide programs centred on youthempowerment. Activities involved therein may focus on youth-led media, youth rights, youthcouncils, youth activism, youth involvement in community decision-making and other methods.

Many politicians and party leaders in Albania have not yet convinced that theinvolvement of young people in citizenship and community activities plays a key role inachieving the best results. Therefore, in Albania the right of young people to participatein the question remains just yet. Experience to date indicates that this lack of active

participation, damaging the interests of young people and make their voicesnonexistent. As we see all Albanian youth lack access to most decision-making

processes, have no political support and institutional little access to media, very fewyouth organizations and centres that work to help young people.

If we see that the new generations change and has changed the way many of the youth organization. Forexample if sometimes youth organizations were structured, with the support of the state, functioning culture

centres, holiday camps for young people, encampments for various actions, etc., unfortunately today we havea Minister of Youth that de facto there is no budget for youth, we have a Minister of Education, who does nothave a political and not a fund for extramural education, (very important, for the activation of the youth, forcultural activities, sports, etc.), have a Director of culture, near City Hall where there is no access ormunicipality itself, and is an endless calvary to develop an activity entirely lacking infrastructure for youthactivities, and moreover there is no policy to encourage these kinds of organizations. Therefore, withoutsupport, Albanian youth have shown that they desire to be organized.


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There are also some individuals part of the Youth in Albania that organized according to theirvolunteering work, different activities in the capital city, social activities. Such activities that are focusedon individuals that have social problems and in the general problems of the community: for example oneday in the week to clean the city or rural parts of it. Organize some small protest for their rights and claimfor participation etc. Also by volunteering they help some groups with special needs in somenongovernmental organizations in Albania.

The main fields of community activities include:

Providing housing for families in need. Providing food for families in need. Providing clothing for families in need. Organizing special days, anniversaries different environmental days, days of children, the elderly,

including holidays or specific days for each neighbourhood. Cultural activities, concerts, cinema, talks with writers and art personalities, activities that

somehow enliven social and cultural life of our community Sports activities such as mini-football tournament, volleyball or basketball that attract people to

each - other and help create a sense of community. Voluntary Actions for cleaning and keeping clean neighbourhood facilities, planting trees and

disposition of common areas. Activities for various problems they may encounter residents of a neighbourhood to continue to

address the problem to its solution. Entertainment activities to bring people to each other, as screenings for kids cartoons or films made

with the neighbourhood kids. Fundraising activities and infrastructure in your neighbourhood. Activities for the prevention of natural disasters, multiple precipitations, storms, snow, etc. Educational activities for children of your neighbourhood, for example, to be familiar with traffic

rules, conditions of hygiene, etc. Information dissemination activities, aiming to inform neighbourhood residents about a new law or

regulation.

Activities awareness about energy saving and its efficient use, about the latest techniques forsaving, etc. Join activities with municipalities or municipalities for infrastructure and common areas. Activities awareness about health education and health needs.

As you read from this article the youth desire in Albania to participate in youth activities or youthpromoting is a great desire! But for the moment it is only a big desire without so many things to do..Because in ALBANIA for the moment youth is only part of the politic and the govern see them only inthis part of involvement. They don't like to create a social youth involvement, because of this kind ofinvolvement they maybe are not able anymore to survive in the top of the state!Because a strong youth is a big threat for their governance!!!

Jetmira Zhuri,

Walk Together

Albania14


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Walk Together in Democracy

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It is very important for us to make young people get engaged and be more active in building

democracy and human rights. In this regard, we think that we should do more trainings and

meetings, with students and youth in general, on democracy in order to increase the efforts and

initiatives of the young people. To take them more seriously and help them on keeping on trying,

participating more actively, becoming progressive leaders and advocates of freedom, democracy and

human rights. It is also crucial to teach them democratic values and provide them with tools they can

use to strengthen democracy. At the end of the training it would be good to conclude by an essay

contest on youth and democracy.

Edison Frangu,

Walk Together

Albania

Walk Together Organization is a youth movement

in which ideas and energies of our youth are themost valid capital. Being a youth movement wepay a particular attention to youth on democracyand human rights.

Probably every country claims that it is democratic, but some still have human rights violations, andwe believe that youth can play a vital role in reducing the number of these violations and bringing

about peaceful cooperation and co-existence.

Democracy has been practiced in different waysand in different contexts. Even though we live indifferent cultures, speak different languages, andeat different food we believe that we share thesame universal values and aspirations, whichtranscend our differences.

We are particularly focused on combating racial discrimination. Roma community is one of our main focuses.

hey face persistent discrimination, social exclusion and a very high risk of poverty and unemployment. We are

n the process of writing a project which aims the inclusion of Roma through education, employment and socialervices, to help them to get involved better in the society. The main activities will include identification,

election and dissemination of best practices in the anti-racist field, conferences, workshops and campaigns,

which will eventually bring the following outputs: publications, handbooks, info leaflets, etc.We think that youth has all the possibilities to be a great promoter of democracy and human rights. Young

eople are very active on social networks, and the new technology should be used to attract them to democraticrocesses and to encourage them to participate in decision making processes.

Lack of democracy brings the violation of human rights which is still nowadays a very important and

sensitive issue in the world. Organizing roundtables, seminars, trainings, conferences, simulation

games, ect, for young people from different countries would give the opportunity to them and to the

world to inform them about human rights issues. In this way the young generation would

understand the concern regarding human rights and be able to play a key role on promoting human

rights in their countries. Providing human rights educational materials for the participants and for

interested people in order to spread across the world the message.


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No. 01 / 2013Be brave

and embrace Volunteering"

After this little project I decided then in 2010 to be an EVS volunteer (European Volunteer Service) which isanother EU opportunity for youngsters, and here I was volunteering in 4 schools in the Latvian countryside,organizing Italian lessons and guitar lessons. And then I participated in many other projects from 2010 till

now, either abroad either in the local community.

My experience as volunteer started very randomly,It all began in 2010 when I was looking for a travel in some Russian speaker places so I could improve mylanguage skills and also to have the opportunity to meet people and have something constructive for mypersonal professional side; so I've got to know my organization called TDM2000 from Cagliari whichoffered me a youth exchange in Latvia and I decided to go.

It was the experience which changed my life and my personal course; thanks to this experience I discoveredthe Youth in Action projects and all the actions that the European Union is giving to the youth people fromEurope and you can get contacts with people from all over the world, you can have your say in democraticenvironments, sharing your opinion about thousand of different themes ( democracy, environment,human rights, healthy life style, European awareness and so on) with other youth participants and ofcourse, start new friendships that are going to be a personal treasure.

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WE WANT ACTION

People in positions of authority are either ignorant or indifferent towards the benefits of youthparticipation.Public institutions are not leading by example, and there is a lack of transparency and merit in accessing

political participation.There is a lack of leadership skills, know-how and access points for participating in decision-making.Political processes are inaccessible to those who have a lower socioeconomic status.

The world begins the process to define a development agenda for the years to come after 2015.

Most people just don't care about voices of young people what they think, what they see and what theywant to change. It's time that the voices of youth around the world are heard and taken into account. That iswhat this article about.What I'll present now I collected from Armenian youth, through a series of conversations and discussions atthe School for Young Leaders, of which I'm a member. I will summarize some of the ideas of young peoplefrom Armenia who are ready to take the necessary steps to have a positive impact on their reality.

There are several challenges to the political inclusion of youth. These need to be overcome if we wantyouth to effectively exercise their right to participate in policy- and decision-making:The legal, regulatory and policy frameworks are weak or inadequate.There is a lack of support and commitment towards young people, including support to youth branches of

political organizations.

First, I would like to point out what we children and youth have identified as priority issues that directly

affect us:

The lack of civic skills and awareness of rights and responsibilities. We want an education for global

citizenship that emphasizes ethical global responsibilities.The lack of trust between youth and government institutions and political parties.

Inequalities, including issues related to wealth distribution; access to services, information and

opportunities; and discrimination.

The lack of adequate access to information and communication technologies.

The rights of non-citizen or migrant people.

We are aware of these challenges and we areready to take action. For example, we propose: To promote global, regional, and nationalyouth volunteering programmes to engageyouth. To develop i-Government or e-Government

platforms as formal channels for solicitingfeedback and developing policy.

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What do we propose to address these inequalities and their impact on the lives of children and youth?Include youth employment targets in employment policies and national development frameworks.Provide or improve training and vocational education in the classroom and in the workplace, such asinternships, volunteering and on-the-job training.Support and develop financial incentives for employers to hire youth and provide them with trainingand work experience.Provide protection for vulnerable youth, including migrants, pregnant women, youth withdisabilities, and indigenous youth.

To address these challenges we propose:To promote non-formal and informal education, by emphasizing its recognition and funding.To make education more affordable, and abolish school fees for primary and secondary education.To develop and agreater access to distance learning and e-learning opportunities.

To provide information and education about health behaviors and conditions, as well as where toaccess health services.To provide opportunities for adequate nutrition and physical exercise on school premises.

Furthermore, there are important challenges regarding education: The lack of availability and recognition of vocational training and education.

The lack of relevant guidance, counselling services and information. The lack of education and information on health issues that affect the ability of young people toperform and participate. The prejudice against the education of girls and young women.

Inequalities are of particular concern to children and young people. These inequalities are based onage, disabilities, national origin, membership to a particular social group, and sexual preferences.Political processes are inaccessible to those who have a lower socioeconomic status.

To develop transversal public policies on youth, strengthening opportunities for developing skills andcivic engagement. To strengthen or establish democratic and representative mechanisms of youth participation atnational and sub-national levels, for example through youth councils.

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Liana Enli Manusajyan,

Global Youth Union Foundation

Armenia

What should be done to promote and protect of rights of youth?

Increase awareness about human rights, and improve access to youth friendly information about

rights and how to exercise them.

Counter violence among and against youth, including trafficking and gender-based violence,

focusing on prevention and promotion of rights.

Establish or strengthen the mechanisms to enforce human rights legislation that relates to young

people.

Youth are also concerned about the protection of their rights, and the state of human rights in the world.These are the most important issues for us:The lack of awareness about human rights.Violence towards and amongst youth, including gender-based violence.Poverty.Conflict and war.Trafficking of youth, especially girls and young women.Restrictions on the right to information, expression, communication and the right to assembly.Discrimination.

What will be the input of youth in this on-going process to formulate the next development agenda?When we/ Youth want, there is nothing that can prevent us from connecting and communicating. We areabove language and geographic barriers.So does it mean that Armenian youth, Romanian youth or Italian youth have common issues? Yes, it does.

I will try to continue learning about concerns of youth and listening to their voices.Youth have something to contribute and you can count on us. We like not only theory, but also actions. Weare full of energy waiting to be transformed into action.I'm asking you to open your borders for youth, because we need your help and promise to give you ourhelp in return.

We want action!


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Since its foundation there were developed over 25 national and internationalprojects under its aegis on themes such as: democracy, youth participation,human rights, active citizenship, European citizenship, sustainabledevelopment, intercultural learning, arts, traditions and culture, volunteeringand others. The network webpage was accesses all over the world ensuring aglobal visibility of youth active participation.

Civic and political participation of young people is relatively low. Most of them declarethat they don't participate at activities of civic or political interest because they don'tknow the opportunities opened by this type of activity. The proportion of young peoplethat are part of an association is maintained at a low level. The young people expectfrom associations possibilities of personal affirmation and the offering of the frameworkfor pleasant spending of free time but most are oriented toward the informal group offriends as a form of association. Majority of young people aren't willing to participate asvolunteers of some nongovernmental organizations; some of young people manifest

their availability for volunteering activities, meanwhile just a small part of those actuallyparticipate in actions made by NGO's. In most cases, youth express a big lack of interesttowards the political life, both speaking of it in the local level, and at national orEuropean level through the attitude of non involvement in no sorts of manifestationconnected to this political domain.

Involved Youth Coalitionis a European Network to Promote Youth Involvementin the Decision-Making Process.The network was founded in 2008 within the international project Youth in thedecision-making process developed by EuroDEMOS Association in Iasi-Romaniawith the financial support of European Youth Foundation of the Council ofEurope.

Participants at the project were 21 young leaders from 12 Council ofEurope countries: Romania, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, France, Italy,Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova and Turkey.

Where have we started from?

Involved Youth Coalition

InvolvedYouth Coalition

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For more details we invite you to contact us on:

To create and develop a European network of youth leaders trained and preparedto contribute to the youth involvement in the decision making process.

A very important conclusion that EuroDEMOS Association reached in 23 years ofactivity, after analyzing the results of the activities of youth involvement in thedecision-making process is the fact that the involvement raises the level of socialresponsibility and respect towards the democratic values. Also the increasing of youthinvolvement in the decision-making process is well received in order to develop thecommunities. Unfortunately, youth ado not know the advantages and necessity of theirinvolvement in the decision-making process and they are not enough encouraged bytheir communities to get involved.

What have we noticed?

Purpose of the network:

To develop and increase the successful active involvement of youth in the decisionmaking process at local, national and European level, in all the social spheres.

Mission of the network:

- To encourage and directly facilitate the active involvement of youth in all level of

decision making process through concrete projects and activities

- To train and involve youth leaders and youth workers as active factors to increase youth

involvement in the decision making process

- To contribute to the education and training of young people to be able to get involved

efficiently and successfully in the decision making process

- To promote among youth a clear and positive image about what involvement means,

about the opportunities, advantages and benefits of volunteer civic participation

- To develop partnerships and collaborations with all the important social factors for theactive involvement in supporting youth in the decision making process

- To facilitate the communication, sharing and transfer at European and international

level of the knowledge and expertise level of the partners needed to develop youth

involvement

Objectives of the network:

Mihaela Clincu,

Coordinator of the Involved Youth Coalition

Email:Fax: 004 0332803634Phone: 004 0742 256 654

[email protected]

www.involved-youth-coalition.com

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Newsletter promoted by: ylpYouth

Leaders PlatformInvolved

Youth Coalition

International Newsletter realized within the project

ACTMeans of DEMOCRACY

by Knowing the

Web project: www.involved-youth-coalition.com/act_knowing_democracy.html

Iasi, 20 Pacurari street,Phone/fax:+40 332 803634, Mobile: +40 742 256 654,

E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.eurodemos.org

EuroDEMOSAssociation

project developed by EuroDEMOS Association and funded with support of the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe

Act in Democracy, EuroDEMOS International Newsletter

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Transcript of Act in Democracy, EuroDEMOS International Newsletter