#YouthInAction – Day 1

#YouthInAction – videolog day 1

Videolog from our 1st day of our training course on how to promote active citizenship and democracy.International activity organised with Young European Socialists and hosted by Sozialistische Jugend Deutschlands – Die Falken.Supported by Council of Europe – European Youth Foundation.#YOUTHINACTION

Posted by IUSY on Thursday, June 1, 2017

Videolog from our 1st day of our training course on how to promote active citizenship and democracy.
International activity organised with Young European Socialists and hosted by Sozialistische Jugend Deutschlands – Die Falken.
Supported by Council of EuropeEuropean Youth Foundation.
#YOUTHINACTION

Training course on promoting active citizenship and democracy

The main aim of the project is to increase the engagement of young people in the policy debate on issues relevant to them, their influence on the outcomes of the decision-making and their active part in the democratic process.

Objectives of the course:

  • Organize a debate and learning program for young people and youth organizations to explore the reach of democratic participation and, in particular, their role in the society.

  • Discuss and outline the issues of particular concern to young people and their response and proposals for solutions.

  • Provide an opportunity for young people and youth organizations to cooperate and combine their efforts in order to be able to support each other in the struggle for their rights.

  • Explore the tools and mechanisms for young people and youth organizations to increase their presence in the society and their influence on the democratic process.

Participants profile

  • Grass root youth activists from IUSY/YES partner/member organizations
  • Interested in the topic of active citizenship and democracy
  • Interested in developing follow-up proposals on the topic

How to apply

To make sure that everyone has equal chance in participating, participants must apply via the online application form.

DEADLINE for the registration is May 15th, 2017.

The final confirmation will be sent to all participants within 2 days after the deadline of the registration.

Eligible member/partner organizations per country

Country

Number of participants

Albania

2

Armenia

1

Austria

1

Belarus

1

Belgium

1

Bosnia and Herzegovina

1

Croatia

1

France

2

Georgia

1

Germany

1

Hungary

2

Republic of Moldova

1

Montenegro

1

Netherlands

1

Norway

1

Poland

2

Serbia

1

Slovenia

1

Spain

2

Sweden

1

Turkey

2

Ukraine

1

United Kingdom

2

Costs

There is no participation fee for the project. Travel, accommodation, and food will be fully covered by the project.

Arrivals and Departures

Day of arrival for the activity is the 31st of May and day of departure is the 5th of June.

Please make your travel arrangements accordingly and do not forget that IUSY will not be able to cover accommodation or any other additional expenses for participants who need to stay additional nights.

Invitation letter and travel details (.pdf)

Application close on 15th of May

Documents approved by the IUSY World Council 2017

IUSY WORLD COUNCIL 2017 - Across borders - 23/26 March 2017 - Rosario, Argentina

Find below the documents approved by the IUSY World Council, hold in Rosario – Argentina, on March, 24th and 25th.


Resolutions by Member Organisations

Find below the resolutions presented by member organisation and voted by the IUSY World Council 2017.

RESOLUTION N. 1:

SJÖ and VSSTÖ (AUSTRIA): No socialism without feminism!

Amendment nº1 – presented by SJDFalken (approved)
Amendment nº2 – presented by SJDFalken (approved)
Amendment nº3 – presented by SJDFalken (approved)

The resolution is approved unanimously as modified by the amendments.

RESOLUTION N. 2:

UESARIO and UJSARIO (WESTERN SAHARA): Africa’s last colony

The resolution is approved (with 6 abstentions).

RESOLUTION N. 3:

SOCIETAS – NEW MOVEMENT (HUNGARY): IUSY stands against the mainstreaming of right-wing populism and fascism

Amendment nº1 – presented by SJDFalken (approved)
Amendment nº2 – presented by SJDFalken (approved)
Amendment nº3 – presented by SJDFalken (approved)
Amendment nº4 – presented by SJDFalken (approved)
Amendment nº5 – presented by SJDFalken (approved)

The resolution is approved unanimously.

RESOLUTION N. 4:

YOUNG SOCIAL DEMOCRATS – MALADAYA HRAMADA (Belarus): About the Regime of Lukashenka

The resolution is approved (with 6 abstentions).

RESOLUTION N. 5:

JUVENTUD SOCIALISTA (Argentina): No to lowering the age

The resolution is approved unanimously.


Resolutions by Regional Committees

Find below the resolutions presented by regional committees and voted by the IUSY World Council 2017.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE: Tackling Root Causes of Migration

Amendment nº1 – presented by SSU (approved)
Amendment nº2 – presented by SSU (approved)

The resolution is approved unanimously.


Urgent resolutions presented to the Council

CTP YOUTH (Cyprus): Restart negotiations now!

Amendment nº1 – presented by LYL (approved)

The resolution is approved (with 7 abstentions).


Resolutions presented by the Presidium

Swaziland democracy now!

The resolution is approved unanimously. 


 Other Documents presented to the Council and delivered to the floor

Political economy programme [EN]
Economic, social and political status in Argentina [EN]

The EU-Turkey agreement it’s not the migration policy that we need!

European Union - Turkey agreement it's not the Migration policy that we need!

Today, it is one year since the deal between the European Union and Turkey on relocation of refugees came into force.

In the absence of a functional relocation scheme within the European Union, a deal was forged that would effectively push back refugees to Turkey, deemed a safe third country. There are, however, numerous reports from leading human rights organisations that Turkey is not safe for refugees (source: HRW, Amnesty International).

The European Union – Turkey deal decreased the amount of crossings along the so called Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey to Greece. However, the number of migrants trying to reach Europe via the so called Central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy increased . The latter route is considerably more dangerous than the former, leading to new deadly records each year. More than 5000 migrants lost their lives in the Mediterranean in 2016  – more than any previous year. In the first two months of 2017, the death toll in the Mediterranean is already higher than in previous years. The vast majority of these victims were attempting to reach Italy (source: IOM).

One year later, we regret to note that the EU-Turkey deal has worsened the already dire situation of thousands of displaced persons. Furthermore, deals modeled on the EU-Turkey deal with even less stable countries, like Libya and several countries in North Africa, threaten to lock up vulnerable people in inhumane situations. We, therefore, demand the following:

1. The urgent implementation of a functional framework for the resettlement of refugees in the European Union. The size of the quotas must reflect the actual needs of protection of asylum seekers.

2. Sufficient support to countries of entry, in particular Greece and Italy, to ensure decent living conditions for refugees and the resources needed to expediently process asylum applications.

3. The abolishment of the Dublin-II regulation and an end to the nationalization of asylum policy in general.

4. The constitution of a European Agency for Asylum and Migration responsible for the examining of asylum applications. This agency has the responsibility to coordinate the national asylum agencies, increase the efficiency and grant for the rights of refugees by consistently applying existing European standards.

5. The creation of more legal channels of migration in order to save lives and reduce human trafficking by all EU Member States to commonly introducing a “humanitarian visa system” allowing refugees to enter the EU territory legally, and thus be able to seek asylum on humanitarian grounds upon arrival. The adoption of common criteria for these visas, and the enabling of asylum seekers to apply to all of the EU countries in any EU embassy by creating a common asylum policy at European level.

6. The revoking of the EU-Turkey deal and the halting of plans for other similar deals with third countries, such as with Libya, until there are guarantees that all agreements with third countries comply with the international humanitarian legal obligations of EU member states. The EU to work together to even out the differences in financial responsibility of member states in managing the external border in order to make sure that no country feel that it is necessary to outsource border control to non-EU countries.

7. The allocation of sufficient resources to the Asylum and Migration Fund, which will include the former asylum and refugee funds, in the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020. The EU to ensure that the EU external aid priorities and fundings are coherent with the ones of the Asylum and Migration fund.

Signatories:

EFAy – European Free Alliance Youth
IFLRY – International Federation of Liberal Youth
IUSY – International Union of Socialist Youth
JEF – Young European Federalists
LYMEC – European Liberal Youth
YDE – Young Democrats for Europe
YEL – Youth of the European Left
YES – Young European Socialists
FYEG – Federation of Young European Greens

2nd Working group on Political economy

2nd working group on Political economy of IUSY and YES

Dear Comrades,

we have the pleasure of inviting you to the forthcoming:

IUSY / YES 2ND WORKING GROUP ON POLITICAL ECONOMY

What’s left of the economy

Riga, Latvia

18/21 May 2017

Overview

What: 2nd Working group on Political economy – Organised by IUSY and YES
When: 18-21 May 2017
Where: Riga, Latvia
Age: up to 35 years

Number of participants:

for Europeans: The number of participants is not limited for the period of the registration, however please note that due to high interest no more that 4 participants will likely to be selected. All delegations must be gender balanced.

for non-Europeans: up to 2 participants for each non-European Regional Committee (Asia-Pacific, Africa, America and Mediterranean)

Please note that the working language of the seminar will be only English.

Deadline for registrations:

for Europeans: Friday 28 April 2017 (23:59 CET)
for non-Europeans: Friday 14 April 2017 (23:59 CET)

All the participants must apply via the online form. Apply now
Outline

During our 2nd Political economy Working group seminar, we are going to evaluate the work that has happened so far, engage in discussions on various economic issues and draft a first campaign.

Our work so far has happened decentralized and mostly online. We want to use this opportunity to bring everybody, who participated in the process and everybody, who is interested in the political economy, together.

Theme

At the center of our seminar in Riga are the multiplier workshops on Friday. In five full day workshops on topics, including Tax evasion, International Labor movements, Socialist Utopia, Financial regulations, trade and development economics we will discuss these issues and our positions in depth and provide you with the necessary literature and methodical tools to reproduce the workshop in your local organization.

We want to facilitate knowledge about the political economy in all our member organizations and engage as many people into the work of our group on these important issues.

On Saturday, there will be two panel discussions, one including the Mayor of Riga, Nils Usakovs on “Socially responsible cities” between we are heading to the streets with Restart Latvia.

On the last day, we will develop and outline an international campaign and our next steps as a working group.

For any questions or remarks please don’t hesitate to contact the IUSY Secretariat at iusy@iusy.org or the YES Secretariat at office@youngsocialists.eu

We are very much looking forward to seeing you!

With best regards,

Alessandro Pirisi IUSY Secretary General
Lucie SusovaYES Head of Office

APPLY THROUGH THE ONLINE FORM:

INVITATION LETTER, PROGRAMME AND TECHNICAL DETAILS (.pdf file)

African Committee ’16 Statement on the Region

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The Africa committee meeting convened in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 15th -18th December 2016. The AFC under the theme “Democracy in Africa: The Importance of Youth Participation in Building Social Democracy”, comes at an opportune time when Africa is facing a backlash on the gains of democracy. The challenges faced by our continent are enormous and we, as young activists within our individual countries, must actively take up the mantle of ensuring that through activism and political campaigns, we call on our leaders to address these challenges. The meeting focused on Students and Youth Activism as a Catalyst for Democracy, the Challenges and Prospects for Women Leadership in Pursuit of Social Democracy, and the Promotion and Protection of Minority Rights in Africa.

AFC-resolution 2016 [en]

American Committee ’16 Statement on the Region [EN & ES]

The American Committee Leadership Conference ’16 took place in Santiago, Chile from the 17 to the 20 of November. In the programme we had the opportunity to discuss important issues such as the difference conflicts active in the region, meet the President and other important political figures of the country and the region.

We also had the chance to discuss on the current state of the different countries and organisation on the region in a session facilitated by the Pool of Trainers in cooperation with the Vicepresidents of the region. Another of the main sessions was on the socialist vision of socialism in America.
At the end of the meeting a work plan was drafted so you will be hearing more news about the upcoming work in the region.

All this issues and more are reflected in the statement released by the committee, check it out!

dsc_0415

 

American Committee ’16 Statement


The American Committee of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) met from 17 to 20 November 2016 in the city of Santiago de Chile with the aim to reflect on the current situation in our region and the challenges of socialism in complex moments for the progressive proposals in our countries.

On a global stage of deepening of the capitalist economic system we see how in America the wave of conservative governments threatens the political and social transformations conquered. This is accompanied by a general discredit of traditional politics, deepening in individualizing story and an estrangement between parties and their social bases.

Worrying in turn is the growth of right-wing populist speeches that, showing racist positions, macho, xenophobic; they are the ultimate expression of the anti policy. Manifestation of this is the promise of construction of the wall that separates the United States of Mexico.

We oppose the violation of the guarantee of due process in the political judgment made to the Chairperson Dilma Rousseff and the use of the institutional channels by the groups in power for the dismissal of a Government legitimately elected by the people.

We note with concern the increase in the inequality, poverty and unemployment in Argentina that has increased since the last change of national government. It is, to all lights, a indisputable reality that this government of the new right, Argentina has accentuated the policies of exclusion, marked by the benefit to the privileged sectors at the expense of the work and the effort of the medium and low social sectors.

It is alarming the advance of organized crime in the region where the networks of drug trafficking and trafficking demand the coordination of policies, of international cooperation in the defence and guarantee of human rights. Special mention should be made of the situation in Mexico with thousands of women exploited and killed on a daily basis.

IUSY welcomes the announcement of the new agreements between the Government and the FARC, which constitutes a new opportunity for reconciliation between Colombians, configuring a crucial moment not only for Colombia, but also for the region. We hope that progress will be made soon on the ratification and implementation of the agreements, for the consolidation of a stable peace, lasting, to ensure the protection of human rights in order to achieve a more equitable nation.

We also insist that the dialog process in Venezuela needs to be plural and address the underlying problems that are the cause of the political crisis in the country today. The way out to this conflict must be through constitutionally established democratic processes, therefore we see with concern the deliberate lock in the recall process on the part of the government.

We believe it to be more than necessary to forge closer links with the grassroots social organizations, promote new forms of citizen participation that will contribute to the strengthening of institutions and the democratization of our societies. For all this is essential to consolidate the unity of the left movements throughout the continent.

The American Committee extends a greeting to host organizations for the activities organised, as well as many successes to electoral processes that are approaching in Ecuador and Chile. It also supports the candidacy of former President Fernando Lugo in Paraguay, driven by the front Guasú, with a view to the elections of 2018.

YES to peace in Colombia 2
Ni Una Menos!
Vivas nos queremos!
All Over The World to Change It!

 

IUSY American Committee ‘16, Santiago, Chile 19th November

AC Resolution [en]
Resolución CA [es]

 

 

IUSY reitera su llamado al diálogo plural en Venezuela

Please find attached the press release of IUSY VP’s and American Committee Coordinator Jesús Tapia:

Venezuela's flag with seven stars

Desde la Unión Internacional de Juventudes Socialistas – IUSY, por sus siglas en inglés- expresamos nuestra preocupación antes los últimos acontecimientos que se han producido en Venezuela, producto de la ausencia de espacios de diálogo y entendimiento entre los distintos actores del país.

La polarización y el conflicto se han incrementado en Venezuela de manera acelerada, lo que ha hecho más vigente la necesidad de un proceso de diálogo, negociación y acuerdos tendentes a la solución de la problemática política causante de las dificultades económicas y sociales que viven los venezolanos y venezolanas. Desde IUSY recomendamos que el proceso de diálogo venidero sea inclusivo y participativo, enfocando su esencia en los valores de la democracia y la solidaridad.

Como organización juvenil internacional, hemos estado presentes en diversos procesos políticos y sociales que ha enfrentado la sociedad global y es por ello que deseamos pueda en Venezuela darse espacio para el entendimiento y el diálogo,  donde sean estos las razones para que los distintos actores promuevan soluciones en beneficio de todos y todas.

 

25 de octubre de 2016