#YouthPower: Why we ought to keep on hoping

By participant Ke Rafitoson from Madagascar

I spent an amazing week, full of discoveries, in Berlin, in the end of June. A mind-blowing stay in a country I only knew from the distance, through TV (the Inspector Derrick being one of my favorite characters as a child), from history manuals, and through the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) whom I’ve worked with for more than 10 years. I was there for a clear purpose: representing Madagascar during the International Week of Justice, with the commitment to learn from others and share as much as possible what is happening within the country. A very serious mission then, but which didn’t prevent me from appreciating each piece of architecture, each garden and each drop of this summertime, far from my cold and cloudy wintered Antananarivo.

Along with a stunning group of international young activists and politicians, I discovered the Reichstag palace and the German parliamentarian system (far more accountable and efficient than ours) and met the founders of Kleiner Fünf which fights against the extreme right-wing’s hate policy. We then had a passionate fishbowl discussion around the theme of “Youth Mobilized: Protest-twittering and Influencing”. Mohammed, Paulina and Jeannette respectively talked about their personal experience in Libya, Colombia and Germany while I did the same about Wake Up Madagascar and Liberty 32. We found ourselves agreeing on the fact that without the involvement of “real” people from the grassroots level, no revolution – be it digital or not – would happen.

But beyond these talks, I was really looking forward to participating to the Youth Lab organized by FES and where new youngsters joined us for “Shaping our Future” together. The first thing that stroke me was the very loose but powerful facilitation methods applied by the excellent Björn Kulp who let us fully express our imagination and feelings. We decided to discuss about topics which really matter, not only in our respective regional contexts, but for the whole humanity: human rights of course (safe abortion, employment, education…), but also the migration crisis, development (the role of aid, its link to poverty, its sustainability…), corruption, conflict resolution, leadership, democracy and post-colonialism in developing countries. We could feel during that very day, that our lab was a wealth of ideas and creativity and that we were all ready to fight, to build together a better world. Youth Power really fulfilled the room and even if we were talking about depressing facts and cruel realities, we also felt hope rising from each of our boards.

In my sense, three main resolutions (backed by our shared needs) have emerged from the Youth lab. First, we have to learn from the others i.e. open our eyes to what is happening in other corners of the globe in order to break insulation and become more powerful (remember: Information + Knowledge = Power).

Secondly, we need to work together and build a coalition of young minds ready to shake up the tree and bring a sustainable change to this world. This coalition has to rely on a digital platform where all of us can share our stories and call for support when needed, but has also to be backed by a non-virtual network of real persons working together on real issues: advocating, drafting international statements, holding our leaders accountable, etc.

Finally, we have to adopt a revolutionary state of mind, telling ourselves that everything is possible provided we unite our forces and walk together towards our common dreams and goals. Young people are not the world’s future, they are its PRESENT and revolution has to start NOW, not tomorrow. If we want to defeat corruption, indifference, discrimination, greed, selfishness, bad governance, dictators, conflicts and all kinds of curses that threaten our lives and our world, we have to be speak the same language: the language of HOPE.

And when I remember Mavis, Job, Dennys, Sabrina, Kiapa, Samir, Nqo, Rhoda, Shenna, Alex, Kayle, and all the others, HOPE blossoms in my heart. When I remember that call for a joint revolution that we drafted during the Youth Lab, HOPE shines in my eyes. The game is not over yet!

La lucha continua, wherever you are!!