Global Youth ACTION
Network - “Concepts
and Programs”
South American
Regional Office, January 14, 2003
1. INTRODUCTION
The Global Youth ACTION Network South American regional
office was first created in January of 2002.
After one year of research and development it published the following
document of “Concepts and Programs.”
The Global Youth
ACTION Network – History
In 1996 17-year-old Benjamin Quinto
participated in a small discussion and networking session of international NGOs
at the United Nations Secretariat in New York City, USA. He was inspired to meet a room of people
whose lives were dedicated to global problem solving. At the same time, however, he was shocked to
learn that few young people were involved.
He read the UN Charter, observed its call for the participation of young
people, and set out to create a Global Youth Assembly within the UN. After three years of consultation with UN
bureaucrats, international organizations, and youth from all over the world he
concluded that the UN could not create a youth assembly without demand from its
member states. He also concluded that
young people around the world needed to get better organized to warrant the
creation of such an assembly.
In July of 1999, Quinto organized
a “United Youth Conference” with 20 young people from 12 different
countries. Together they founded the
Global Youth ACTION Network to encourage collaboration and help maximize the
collective impact of youth activism all around the world. GYAN hired full-time staff and set up its
global headquarters in January of 2000 becoming the only international youth
organization with an office near the UN Secretariat in New York City, USA.
Today GYAN has merged its website with Nation1 and
TakingITGlobal.org becoming the most active site on the Internet, in English,
for young leaders. GYAN acts as an
incubator of global partnerships among organizations as well as an information
distributor and conference organizer. It
has 300 member organizations and partnerships with national youth networks in
nearly 180 countries, making it one of the largest networks of youth networks
in the world. The Network is best known
for organizing two international projects: The International Youth in Action
Award and Global Youth Service Day. GYSD
is the world’s largest celebration of youth volunteerism and is developed in
partnership with Youth Service America (A USA based national youth
organization), six UN agencies, and twenty other international youth
organizations.
2. THE ORGANIZATION
Mission
The mission of the Global Youth ACTION Network is to
facilitate youth participation and inter-generational partnership in global
decision-making by supporting collaboration among diverse youth movements and
providing tools, resources, and recognition for positive youth action to change
the world.
Vision
The vision of the GYAN is a world of conscious citizens who live for democracy, transparency and the celebration of diversity. In this new world a permanent, democratic structure will facilitate youth influence on global decision-making. It will rest upon a network of networks and embrace diverse systems of youth organizing from local to global levels.
To reach this vision, GYAN proposes a 5-part conceptual model of youth organizing to help identify different realities and appropriately engage organizations. All components of the model work together with each level building on the work of the previous levels.
GYAN 5-level model of youth organizing:
1) Raising awareness of social and environmental problems
2) Action to solve problems
3) Network of information and resources
4) Collaboration of groups
5) Participation in formal, permanent structures of
decision-making
Objectives
• Connect
youth organizations to each other and de-fragment today’s global youth movement
• Elevate the
voice of youth and involve them in decision-making processes from local to
global levels - including the United Nations
• Recognize
and reward positive actions taken by young people in their local communities
and the world
• Build
meaningful, sustainable and cooperative youth-adult partnerships
• Establish a
global communications structure and information clearinghouse for today’s youth
movement
• Stand for
transparency, democracy, and the celebration of diversity
Principles and Values
Mohandas H. Gandhi often said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” With this wisdom in mind we uphold the values of:
- universal human rights
- economic and social justice
- environmental sustainability, and
- a lasting culture of peace
In addition to these values, the
Global Youth ACTION Network is based on the following principles:
- democracy, equity and balance in decision-making
- diversity, cultivation of the diverse expressions and cultures of humanity
- transparency, honesty and openness in all actions
- inclusion of all youth, especially from minority groups, indigenous groups and other traditionally excluded groups
- creativity, especially a commitment to remaining creative,
imaginative, fun and open-minded
- simplicity and sensitivity of language in communication
- flexibility in culture, work methodology, and organizational
structure
- respect and tolerance for the individual identity of each
organization and individual involved
Strategy
The GYAN mission and programs work on two fundamental
fronts:
GYAN provides support through the following three,
increasing levels of involvement:
1) Information Provider - making information available on
the Internet for education and support of youth movements
2) Network Articulator – creating opportunities for local, national, and international networks, organizing gatherings of diverse groups, and facilitating collaboration
3) Platform Developer – creating formal spaces and platforms for youth participation and influence in decision-making
All GYAN programs are designed and developed for operation
at four geographic levels:
3. PROGRAMS AND
RESOURCES
GYAN has many programs.
Those headquartered in New York City, USA include:
Those headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil include:
Those headquartered in Canada by GYAN’s partner organization, TakingITGlobal include:
Among these programs the unique strengths that GYAN has to offer to the global youth movement include:
All of these programs need to have greater outreach in order to impact youth on local levels. Without roots a tree will fall and in order to develop roots the South American Regional Office of GYAN is developing the following programs:
1. Informal Local Monthly Gatherings of Youth Activists and Allies - The mission of this project is to sustain the relationships of young activists in a local area and to provide a space for welcoming newcomers into the youth movement and the third sector.
2. Formal Local Youth Collaboration Meetings - The mission of this project is to guide youth organizers through the process of holding dialogues on collaboration.
3. Local Calendars of Youth Resources - The mission of the project is to build a stronger voice for young people in the movement for social and economic justice by 1)connecting groups and individuals, 2) sharing information and resources, and 3) helping organizations collaborate on projects and issues
4. Local Youth Summits and Platforms - The mission of the
Local Youth Platforms project is to elevate the solutions of young people,
motivate action, and establish permanent structures for youth participation in
decision-making.
5. Local Youth Websites of Events, Organizations, and other Resources – The mission of this project is 1) to create youth Internet portals for local communities and 2) to facilitate communication among youth locally and around the world.
4. CONCEPTS
The following concepts of GYAN were written by Jonah Wittkamper
in December 2002 to help strengthen the model of the organization and
facilitate the development of the South American Regional Office. The concepts are also intended to help guide
the development of other local, national and regional offices.
GYAN believes that one of the weakest features of youth
movements is their fragmentation. To
strengthen movements and their collective impact GYAN promotes the following
model of youth organizing and program components.
4.1 Model of Youth
Organizing
In order to combat fragmentation youth movements need
integration. There exist many youth
programs but they are disconnected and as a result most young people are
passive clients of “the system” instead of productive citizens. A comprehensive package of
youth programs are needed to fully mobilize youth – who are our greatest
untapped resource (according to the Union of International Organizations – www.uia.org ).
To understand the need for a comprehensive approach one must
understand all of the levels. They fit
together like a puzzle. Each level
cannot exist without the others. They
are completely interdependent and the absence of one compromises the whole. At the same time participation in one level
prepared the youngest for passage and effective participation in the next.
Most youth organizations act on just one of these
levels. One goal of GYAN is to help
organizations understand their “place in the model” and ability to plug youth
into other “levels” and therefore other organizations.
The 5 Levels
1) Awareness
The first phase is raising awareness of social and
environmental problems in order to inspire a sense of responsibility in young
people. Young people are very
flexible. They are swayed by both
progressive and conservative education.
It is important to help young people own identity. As
young people develop an identity within their community they to feel more
ownership. The problems of the community
become their problems as well and therefore they must act in order to solve
them.
2) Community Action
The second level of youth activation is action. With the will to act it is often difficult to
find a cause or develop an action plan.
Organizations operating on this level teach young people how to develop
projects and manage them. Young people
form sports clubs or music groups. They
get organized and act, solving social problems or doing cultural expression.
3) Part of a Movement - Part of a Network
The third level of youth activation is the network. After becoming aware, taking responsibility,
and acting one becomes aware of the landscape – of other actors dedicated to
the same cause. There are many diverse
movements and each of them is challenged by fragmentation. To “do more together” groups convene,
organize conferences, group protests, create independent media channels, and
much more. There are several kinds of
networks. The simplest form are those networks dedicated to sharing information and
building relationships. Organizations
that focus on this level develop databases and websites.
4) Collaboration and Large Scale Activities
The fourth level of youth activation is collaboration. After becoming aware of other actors and
organizations and learning about them everyone is faced by the challenge of
“what to do together” and how to get it done.
Groups that work on this level focus on organizing events, teaching
facilitation, or creating publications with content of many members.
5) Permanent and Formal Structures – Influence on
Decision-Making
The fifth level of youth activation is a formal structure
for youth participation in decision-making.
They might have a system for democratically representing students or
youth populations. Many organizations
that work at this level are led by adults and seek to honestly represent youth. Usually they are developed within government
bodies and controlled by political parties.
National Youth Councils are the classic examples.
Summary
All of these levels have their own identity. It is easy to take any group or organization
and see how it fits into the cycle. As
concepts they are recognizably separate from one another but if isolated they
are worthless. This is the greatest
shortcoming of the youth movement today.
Many organizations serve young people at one level but they fail to
inform their “alumni” or “clients” about organizations operating at the other
levels. Level five organizations are
meaningless if they do not have a constituency of “aware” and “active” young
people to represent. Level three
organizations will have little meaningful impact on national agendas if the do
not have a relationship with an institution responsible for carrying the
representative power of youth to the political arena.
The basic model is:
1) Young people educate other young people and raise
awareness. (Example: Cala
Boca Ja Morreu)
2) They form teams and take action to solve problems in
their communities. (Example: Gincana da Cidadania)
3) As self-recognized
citizens they become aware of their movement and plug into the network. (Example: Rede Jovem yahooGropus.com emailing list)
4) Organized groups work together for greater impact,
perhaps on larger scales. (Example:
World Social Forum International Youth Camp)
5) A formal, democratically organized institution brings
youth priorities to the political and social agenda. (Example: Paraná Centro de Protagonism Juvenil)
4.2 Essential
Components
At the same time the proper conditions must exist to provide
the necessary ongoing support and inspiration to motivate and perpetuate youth
engagement. Groups and organizations
will have the most effective impact on their members/participants if their
program touches on all of the following four activities. Organizations that neglect one of them will
fail to provide young people with a holistic experience that promises to
inspire social responsibility and “collective thinking” instead of “individual
thinking.”
Community – Most young people do not have identities without
relationships. As young people enter new
communities and interact with other people they discover who they are and form
their own identity. Communities are also
vital for providing support. It is very
difficult to successfully implement a project in isolation. Young people need a variety of supporters and
allies to sustain idealism, hope, and self esteem. Communities should have at least 25
participants
Ritual – Words only make up 10% of human communication. The religious, spiritual, and non-conceptual
qualities of youth activation are essential but cannot be adequately conveyed
through group conversations. Ritual
solves this problem. How? One simple example is song. No exercise helps people “hear” the voice of
their community better than a song. Sports
activities, religious prayers, dances, mime exercises, talent shows, etc. are
all different ways that people make ritual.
Ritual helps groups create an atmosphere of collective energy and
collective consciousness. Only through
such non-verbal communication and diverse exercises can people truly develop
trust. Ritual is also important because people
have many different ways of learning and participating. Few people can fully participate in a
community by just speaking. People who
are generally quiet in group discussions may be community leaders on the soccer
field or the dance hall.
Service – Youth programs that do not raise the consciousness
of young people create unconscious consumers instead of responsible
citizens. Service is the process of
bringing consciousness to action. Many
youth programs talk about the need to address social problems but take no
action in the wake of their conversations.
Taking action in the form of service shows young people three vital
things: 1) It is possible to make a difference. After cleaning trash from a dirty beach it is
rewarding to see that the beach is clean.
Positive feedback perpetuates positive action. 2) In
order to do service you must be “aware” and “organized.” You must choose an issue, recruit people, and
work as a team. Without having such
experiences, few young people will have the initiative and “awareness” to get
“organized” and do service.
Diversity – Alone none of us has all the answers but together
we do. When young people encounter other
young people who are very different from themselves they are usually
afraid. When such encounters happen
within safe environments the fear usually turns into love. Young people learn that they do not have to
be afraid of the “unknown,” that they can take risks, and as a result the world
opens up to them. Diversity means
“differences in unity.” Social change
happens when diverse social groups with different perspectives and interests
learn from one another and find new solutions to old problems. Unless we gather diverse groups for
discussion and problem solving they will remain in isolation and their efforts will
remain disconnected and un-integrated. Learning
to worship diversity (in terms of race, economics, decision-making processes
etc.) is the single greatest challenge of the 21st century in the
face of globalization as markets merge and cultures meet. There is a famous African proverb: “You
cannot pick up the stone with just one finger.”