Return from Marly-le-Roi

tim.rauschan@googlemail.com

I have now finally reached my home in Berlin again. Looking back at the Meeting in Marly-le-Roi it has been better than it seemed to be, when i was there.
Beside all the problems of structure and content, it has been my first conference with African participants at all, although they "only" have been part of the African Diasporra living in Europe. Therefore I am grateful, that I have been a part of it. And I hope the other regional consultation meetings in Africa will be better prepared and organised. I encourage all of our green fellows in Africa to try to be a part of this process, I think the idea of an african-european partnership on youth level is necessary. And I think regarding Europe's responsibility towards climate change and towards Africa, the colonial history and the ongoing abuse of ressources, there has been a broad consensus in my working groups. Intercultural exchange and mutual understanding has brought the European youth together, and therefore should be able to bring our both continents together.

In the Steering Comittee and in our own countries it is our responsibility as young green politicians to support this development and to put our topics on the agenda.

Back to Berlin I will try to do so within our German National Youth Council and maybe use my new contacts within African diasporra in Germany to create a cooperation between them and the Green Youth in Germany.

To see so many young greens in Marly-le-Roi made me believe that we are the political force which is at the most international, not only are our topics nearly without exception globally also our understanding as persons. To feel as a European or African instead of only national identities is a first step towards a world citizen.

Go Ryuhei! - Global Young Green activist wins election in Japan

TOKYO, July 30 KYODO

Activist Kawada set to win seat in upper house. Ryuhei Kawada, an
activist known for his fight against the state and a pharmaceutical
comp...

Ryuhei Kawada, an activist known for launching a lawsuit against the
state and a pharmaceutical company over tainted blood products given to

hemophiliacs like himself, won a seat in the House of Councillors in
Sunday's election, final returns showed Monday.

Kawada, 31, was infected with HIV, which causes AIDS, through a blood
product approved by the health ministry and given to him during
treatment when he was a child.

''Many individuals took action,'' Kawada said after his victory was
projected. ''I would like to work on issues related to the Ministry of
Health, Labor and Welfare.''

Best wishes to Ryuhei and his whole campaign team.

Marie, janna, christine and sarah

sarah, janna, tim, rogier and rit

sarah and janna

Impressions from Paris

As it is often the case, the talks at the sidelines of the conferenceare the most interesting. Most striking were the discussions withAfrican participants over the question raised by many of them whetherWestern democracy works in Africa and whether it would not be betterto return/incorporate traditional ways of ruling. After a heateddebate fuelled by a delicious cup of ice cream (on my side) and somewine (on the side of my African interlocutors), I was given a copy ofKenyattas famous book "Mount Kenya" describing traditional ways ofliving in one of Kenyas tribe. While the reading was interesting froma antroprological point of view, I'm wondering whether the majority ofKenians really wants to return to a way of life which very strictlydefines everybodies role and leaves very few individual freedoms.
Another interesting debate unfold with a representative of thePan-African Youthforum. While not yet completely grey as otherrepresentatives of this organisation, it became clear that he seeshimself rather as government servant then servant of youthorganisations. Declaring that he does not believe in civil society, heset out to explain that the president of his country of origine,Senegal, while being more than 80 years old, would have excellentplans for the development of youth in his country. At the same time,the brave man had never heard the term "Economic PartnershipAgreements", free trade agreements currently negotiated which willmost probably have an enourmous impact on the future economicdevelopment and thus prospects of youth in Africa.
I was most impressed by talks with representatives of the Africandisaspora and some - mostly female - young Africans. Many Africansliving in Europe for a long time know both realities very well and arebetter than others equipped to analyse the problems of Africa and findinnovative approaches for solutions. After having talked with some ofthem, I'm convinced they could play a vital role as bridge andmediator between both continents. However, their potential seems to mestill underexploited by politicians and NGOs of both sides.
These are some first impressions from the conference. We will soonsend a more detailed report and most important the draft conclusionsorginiating from the consultations to the mailing list. I'm very muchlooking forward to your comments on them.
Janna