CIVICUS World Assembly - A participant’s view (1)

Thursday, 3 July 2008 | posted by Matt_BC
General

Over 200 young people from every corner of the globe gathered for the Civicus Youth and World Assembly in Glasgow, starting Tuesday 16th June. We began with an inspiring speech from my, and many others, personal hero Kumi Naidoo, the Secretary General of Civicus and a courageous South African freedom fighter.

Over the next 2 days, we utilised many different participatory methods to discuss the issues of Poverty, Health, Equalities and Climate Change. Once such method was a tool called Open Space, where you can discuss whatever you want for as long as you like! It was disappointing however to see that all our hard work would barely be given a 2 minute slot at the World Assembly. As full delegates to that though, it was our responsibility to ensure that they did listen to us.

The problem was that the World Assembly failed to be the mechanism for engagement that the Youth Assembly was. The sessions were like lectures. It was sad to see an Assembly that began under the headline of People, Participation and Power marginalise the young people, dismiss effective participation tools and ensure the power remained squarely with those who had it already.