The Congress Times - Volume 2 - 3 August 2010

No 2

“All the News That‘s Fit to Print“

Istanbul, Tuesday, August 3, 2010 Free copy

The largest youth forum to date with over 1000 young delegates called World Youth Congress (WYC) began on Saturday the 31st of July.

The WYC is supported by the Ministry of State, e-Youth Association, Peace Child International and Istanbul Metro-politan Municipality Youth Council. It started at the Yildiz Technical University Davutpasa Campus with the participa-tion of Ministers of State Faruk Nafız Özak and Egemen Bağış, Istanbul Metro-politan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Sabri Dereli, District Governor of Esenler Nazım Madenoğlu, Yıldız Technical University President Dr. İsmail Yüksek and Esenler Mayor, Tevfik Göksu.

The WYC will be held until August 13th in Istanbul, the 2010 European Capitals of Culture, with the participa-tion of around 1400 youths from 147 countries

Minister Özak expressed his honor to host the 5th World Youth Congress, stressing that “İmece“ (Joint Action) is the main theme of the Congress.

‘The practice of İmece, which has existed for centuries in the Turkish Culture, contains the concepts that are globally emphasized and encouraged

like cooperation, volunteerism and togetherness,” he said.

Addressing the importance of İmece in this Congress’ organization, he said: “We have carried out and continue to display one of the most beautiful exa-mples of İmece in the preparation and execution of this Congress. If the World we are living is to become more livable, peaceful, developed and fair, it is to say this can come true with today‘s Youth.”

The Minister was filled with zeal and pride to dance Horon hand to hand with the World Youth. Participants enjoyed nostalgic moments with pre-sentations from the four former host countries and were then delighted with lively performances of various Turkish Folk dancers with the message of İmece and the importance of World Youth in making a difference being constantly reiterated.

While getting ready to assess various topics with more than 400 workshops in the first week the WYC will carry out sustainable action programs together with locals during the second week in 26 cities around Turkey at 50 different points as they are guided by theme of İmece.

WYC kicks off in IstanbulBy Fatih Muslu from Turkey

Faruk Nazıf Özak, Minister of State for Youth and Sport, and Ismail Yuksek, President of the Yildiz Technical University, were in attendance yesterday as the cultures from all over the world were on display in Istanbul. Imagine being able to access the many diverse cultures that 7

billion people share - all in one room. A World Exhibition allo-wed all participating delegates and NGOs to present their coun-tries, cultures and organizations. In addition to our special high profile guests, over 500 visitors were enthralled by the youth and all they had to display.

Five Continents, One Room

A CULTURAL EXTRAVAGANZA

2 No 2, Istanbul, Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Having folded up his sleeves to try to avoid perspiring further, he emphasizes that: “The best successes are in the coffee bar.“

Dodds reminds us that everyone is more likely to listen to what you have to say when they‘re relaxed and away from their fomal settings. So, for youth who just don‘t seem to be able to get some high ranking civil servant to listen to your idea,

buy them a cup of coffee and esta-blish a personal relationship.

You‘d be surprised how demea-nours can change when you both realize that you support the same football team. Taking the effort to get to know someone makes all the dif-ference, but when you‘re following him into the toilet, you know you‘ve gone too far!

People might have been falling

asleep elsewhere but Dodds‘ humo-rous anecdotes of a portly formidale woman forcing out an Egyptian Minister from the toilet with a large stick, to how sometimes, as unfortu-nate as it may be some people just won‘t like you because you look funny, had everyone enjoying the session.

If you had wandered in half-way through you might have been shocked when he went on about BINGOs, BONGOs, MONGOs and GONGOs but through the funny sounding acronyms everyone came to really understand the comple-xities of the NGO system without being overloaded with information.

To find ways to make waves around the world we need to look within ourselves for ideas and inspiration. Dodds gave us a few practical tips on how to translate our concepts into reality.

He essentially reminded us that if we take ourselves and our aims seriously, the people in power will have little choice but to listen.

More than 1000 have gathered in Istanbul and in the words of Kofi Annan “In today‘s world, we all depend on each other“- but the challenge remains, are you ready to engage the billions of others who aren‘t here?

Lobbying 101: An Afternoon with Felix Dodds

By Kartik Das from Singapore

AS NEARLY HALF THE CONGRESS ATTEMPTS TO GET INTO THE FIRST WORKSHOP ON UN EMPLOYMENT, A SMALLER GROUP

ENTERS A ROOM ASKING “IS THIS HOW TO LOBBY AT INTERNA-TIONAL EVENTS?“, TO WHICH FELIX DODDS OF STAKEHOLDER

FORUM CASUALLY REPLIES “I HOPE SO.”

HOW TO LOBBY EFFECTIVELY: A TO DO LISTBy Cécile Guezennec

1 - Know your objectives: you need a clear purpose and a rapid response mechanism.

2 - Know your country‘s and the UN officials: a photo booklet may be the perfect tool.

3 - Plan your action : when to lobby on a national, regi-onal and global level.

4 - Be practical : bring the right plug, find the UN phone directory....

5 - Buid a long-term trust relationship with your offi-cials : you can become an informer, an intermediary...

6 - Do not spend all your time with other NGOs!

3No 2, Istanbul, Tuesday, August 3, 2010

IMPRINT

General Media Coordinator Cemil Yücel

Editors in Chief Robert Schmidt, Germany

Natalia Bonila, Puerto Rico

Editor Assistant Gülserem Ölçüm, Germany

Layout Dumitru Iovu, Moldova

Proof Readers Kartik M. Das, Singapore Martine Boyer, Canada

Photo Editor Liza Smith, South Africa

PhotographersFaisal Akber, Bangladesh

Yeuheniya Leonava, Belarus Daniela Adela Ionita, Romania Li-Liam Ahls Kog Hou, Sweden

Andrea Arzaba, Mexico Gülserem Ölçüm, Germany

Facilitators Dumitru Iovu, Moldova Emre Çalışkan, Turkey

Fatih Muslu, Turkey Mühtan Sağlam, Turkey

For more articles and media go to: www.virtualwyc.net

Are you a journalist or just a participant?

Do you have a voice?

Do you have a story to tell?

Or you just want to say how you feel to everyone?

If Yes, then become our

SPECIAL REPORTER

Send your materials to: [email protected]

or better

bring them to:

house C on the mapLibrary 1st floor

Plese make sure your articles are signed with your

Name, Surname and Country

and we will make sure to find space for them in

The Congress Times

All articles do not necessarily repre-sent the opinions of the magazine.

REPORTERS WANTED

THE BIG DEAL

It is fair to be confused - we all were at first - but soon the pieces fell into place. It was part of the Leader-ship and Communication workshop yesterday run by Simona Popa from Romania, in which we learned much about having vision, direction, coo-peration and flexibility in our lives.

With only minimal instructions, at first we should find a way to com-municate as a human train, we later found out we would all be blind while the leader stood at the back. We could not talk. But that was the part of the point - the rules changed.

The message being: sometimes in life you have to be flexible.

So far this conference has not been without its frustrations, just as in the first few moments of blindly walking along in the train we were filled with uncertainty and perhaps skepticism.

Taking a wrong step hurts. But, just as the last person in the train had their eyes open, there is always a larger idea guiding the train‘s journey and a concrete idea of its purpose.

It is being on board that counts.

The leader could not steer the train without each ‘wagon’ commu-nicating effectively and participa-ting wholeheartedly. In a short time, strong bonds were formed and we were entirely dependent on each other for our own safety and the train‘s overall direction .

Similarly, at this conference the people are the driving force.

All of us and the relationships we form will propel us forward and determine the success we could have here at the 5th World Youth Congress for the next two weeks.

COMMENTARYMOST OF THEM have their eyes closed

By Ellie Harvey from Australia

STANDING IN A LINE OF FIVE PEOPLE WITH THEIR HANDS ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE PERSON IN FRONT, THEY DON‘T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE GOING. THEY HOPE THAT BASED SOLELY ON

THE SQUEEZE OF EITHER SHOULDER OR TWO TAPS ON THE BACK THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE SOME DIRECTION, THAT THEY MIGHT NOT WALK INTO A TREE. THEY ARE JUST ONE OF SEVERAL ‚TRAINS‘ OF PEOPLE STUMBLING AROUND IN THE GRASS OUTSIDE THE EXHIBITION CENTRE ALL TRYING TO

PICK UP THE ELUSIVE LEAVES TO COLLECT POINTS.


Ana from Mexico instinctively responded with the word “choice“ when asked about her thoughts on water. “When there is some water around you, you have the choice to be happy or sad at the same time. You can find water in the sea or in the mountains, wherever you want“, she said. While Carol from Brazil chose ‘silence’: “When I go to the seaside I like diving and listening to the silence under the water“.

Besides these philosophical concepts, water has become a primary concern in our modern context. Different countries have different water problems.

In Europe and the United States people don‘t really think about water difficulties in African or Asian countries. There is a ten-dency for these regions to use proportionally larger amount of water and as Angelo from Italy mentioned, there is unfortunate lack of understanding about this

issue. But the young people that have

come here for the Congress want to change that.

Mümün from Turkey is convin-ced that future generations must have equal opportunities and sought to emphasize that “it is fundamental to save water for the future, for the children“. A similar response was heard from Ashoka, a representative from the USA: “When I take a shower I usually think of people who can‘t have access to water“.

Young delegates debated about the strengths and the weaknesses of their countries in front of “Persé-ides“ video camera. “In Brazil there is a lot of water in the North but not in other parts of the country“, Carol said. “There is a lack of legis-lation even if there are projects to make the water more accessible,“ although “one of the major pro-blems is that some people who

live in the suburbs usually have access to water that has not been treated“, she continued.

The pollution problem is central in the USA: “The water is often con-taminated by chemical stuff such as Atrazene that is very dangerous for our life,“ Ashoka said, “and, at the same time, there is a overcon-sumption of water in cities like Las Vegas where, in the middle of the desert, there are plenty of huge water fountains!“. How wonderful.

The purification of water is an African problem as well. In Senegal for instance, people need to have access to treated water because, in many cases, the water that comes from the tap is highly contaminated with.

HOW CAN ONE HELP

Pollution and water access are not the only problems: one of the major concerns that are derived

from water consumption is the large amount of plastic bottles that affect our lives. “It is important to educate the population about this problem“, Mümün added.

In Mexico, for instance, many people usually buy plastic bottles because the regular flow of water is polluted but in other coun-tries like Italy or the USA, people would usually prefer buying pla-stic bottles of water because it is more...fashionable and cool!

Avoiding the waste that is cre-ated from over-usage of plastic bottles could be a good start to help our Planet. In some countries there is the possibility of filling bottles from a water cooler or, in a fortunate case; one has access to potable water from the tap.

Let‘s begin all together here, during the Congress: let‘s pick up a bottle and fill it with water.

Water, how are you?By Elena Roda from Italy

DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND DIFFE-RENT CONTINENTS ALL AGREE ON THIS: WATER IS A FUNDAMENTAL RESOURCE

FOR US, FOR OUR PLANET, FOR OUR LIFE. THE QUÉBEC DELEGATION‘S

WORKSHOP THINKS ABOUT WATER IN THE WORLD: PROBLEMS AND NEW WAYS

ON HOW TO SOLVE THEM. A GROUP OF DELEGATES FROM EUROPE, AMERICA

AND AFRICA WEREPART OF THIS ACTIVE DISCUSSION.


Youth -Catalyst for Combating Climate Change

By Faisal Akber from Bangladesh

“How you measure the impact and losses of these countries? It is not one kind of injustice!“ These were the words of Jeeban Panthi, a spea-ker from Nepal, as he spoke about the Post-Copenhagen Challenge during a round table discussion organized by Eugenia Capalbo. Panthi discussed interesting and uncomfortable facts to the parti-cipants.

“Ten years ago one laughed at the idea of having to buy drinking water but now we do just that. Simi-larly after ten years we might have to carry personal oxygen cylinders, though now it seems like a laughing matter“, noted a delegate from Bangladesh.

Joao Scarpelini, from Peace Child International, pointed out that “melting glaciers will cause a rise in the sea level and Mother Earth is loosing her cool. So we need to understand that especially at an individual level we play an important role in combating climate change like saving water, using public transport, switching off our vehicles at the traffic signals and raising awareness with colla-boration.“

Felix Dodds highlighted that the “Copenhagen Climate Change summit was a catastrophe. The role of the government and non-government sectors is to combat

climate change. Similarly youth also have to play the role of catalyst for change with their collaborations with government and NGOs.“

Vulam from Vietnam said that the 2009 Copenhagen Climate

Change Summit failed to intro-duce an integrated policy for all countries due to an inconsiderate mindset of developed nations. And also there is no absolute plan for a balanced environment.

Sarah Cameroon, a speaker from the UK, stated that we now are living in a crisis situation and that changes would be paramount for our survival.

THE GLACIERS OF MOUNT EVEREST ARE MELTING AT A RATE OF FIVE TO TEN METERS A YEAR. SO THE

SEA COAST OF BANGLADESH AND THE COASTAL AREAS OF ASIA HAVE

ALREADY DISAPPEARED UNDER WATER. DEVASTATING CYCLONES

LIKE SIDR, AILA AND NARGIS HAVE ENDANGERED THE LIVELIHOOD OF

SOUTH ASIA AS WELL.


A thousand young people have found new families in Istanbul. Don‘t worry participant, it absolutely doesn‘t mean that you have to forget your original ones who are waiting for you back home - it just means that you are extremely lucky and you have a chance to have a new one, so why not to use it?

All of the participants of the 5th World Youth Congress have been divided into groups which have been termed “AILE“s. Don‘t forget, we are in Turkey, where the notion of family is one of the most important aspects in life and every Turk can say that he has millions of brothers and sisters. As Turkish people regard themselves as extremely connected, maybe we should take this example from them. Don‘t you think?

The Congress program starts every morning with a 9 a.m. mee-ting with other family members which can sometimes take really crazy forms - what would you say about shouting together, meditating, playing different games and teasing other families? It‘s probably not how you usually conduct yourself with your normal families, but we are here to experience new things. Right? So enjoy it!

But what are these families called? The organizers and volunteers have shown a high level of creativity in giving the names to the families; some of which are really attractive and even tasty! Everyone would like to be a member of the Kebap family, or how about sweet Baklava or perhaps even Efes?

The only thing more diverse than the names of the families are the people they are made up of, which leads me to ask, what globalization is.

I think now you can give a definite answer - globalization is my Con-gress family! It absolutely doesn‘t matter where you come from, what colour your skin is, what language you speak, whether you wear a headscarf or not. Everyone is unique here but at the same time we are absolutely equal. This is one of the goals of this event - to spread this equality all over the World. Let‘s try together!

SWEET BACLAVA

My family‘s name is Baklava and the folks are really great there. My Tur-kish “mother‘s“ name is Pirce Altinok and she is trying her best to make our life here easier and more fun! I was very curious to find out why Turkish guys decided to become volunteers here, what motivated them and I decided to ask Pirce about that, I think it would be really interesting for you to read her answers!

TCT: PIRCE, HOW IMPORTANT ARE FAMILY CONNECTIONS IN TURKEY?Pirce: Family connections are very important, it is the key in the culture of the society, and there is a lot of soli-darity within the family. Internal thing is the respect for your father, mother, brothers and sisters. The family also includes the grandparents and very few of them stay in special centers in Turkey. Normally they live with the family and and well taken care of all the time.

TCT: WHAT MADE YOU BECOME A LEADER OF THE FAMILY?P: Well, I wanted to participate in some kind of social development activity and I heard about the Youth Congress, therefore I decided to apply to have

take on a position of responsibility and gain experience in the organization of such an event.

TCT: DO YOU BELIEVE THAT A FAMILY NAME CAN INFLUENCE THE MEM-BERS OF THE GROUP? IF YES, THEN IN WHICH WAY?P: Yes, I hope that my group, which is Baklava, is ‘gonna’ be a sweet group. However, the people there are older than me but I believe we will become one of the best ones!

TCT: WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO GAIN FROM THE PARTICIPATION IN THE CONGRESS?P: First I am trying to understand what is really important for people, I also want to gain some experience on how to be a leader even if it might only be

for few hours a day. TCT: YOUR WISH FOR ALL OF THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE EVENT: P: My wish for everyone, first of all - have fun, because this event is mostly like a festival, it is about music, cul-ture, dancing. But this is finely balan-ced with establishing connections between different nations, cultures and creating awareness about what is going on in the world. I would like to join Pirces‘s wishes and I hope you guys enjoy this event as much as possible as, believe me, you will never forget this time! But don‘t worry. Devam edecek - to be continued.

Adopting the WorldBy Yeuheniya Leonava from Belarus


Several Pictures, Blogs, Videos and Radio Podcasts are already available on the platform.

If you can manage to find an Internet connectıon somewhere, the team of the Virtual Congress would be happy if you could upload your photos, videos, PowerPoints or Outcomes of your Workshops or whatever that is related to our Congress. Moreover we would be thrilled if

you could write a little blog post yourself or comment on the posts of others.

If you can’t manage to find Internet our doors are open. Find us in the Jumanji something building, (you might know it as C) in room number D214 on the ground floor where we have several computers that are connected to the Internet.

So get started and check out the Virtual Congress @ www.virtualwyc.net or write to us @ [email protected]

Being a journalist at the WYCBy Nikola Skondric

THE VIRTUAL CONGRESS IS GETTING STARTED!

As an event, the 5th World Youth Congress involves the exchange of thoughts, ideas and experiences through formal channels like work-shops, panel discussions and of course the informal socializing.

This year, Istanbul becomes the host city for the WYC 2010; a fitting choice as it is a place where the East and the West meet to create a home for many different cultures.

Being a Young Journalist at the

WYC is a responsibility-charged and fulfilling job. As we are both journa-lists and participants at the Congress, we are truly in a position to address all the issues that are important to the other delegates.

We are also in a position to display the amazing spirit of this Congress to the World, the sense of togetherness, solidarity and cooperation, with the latter being emphasized through the theme of the event in Turkish -Imece.

We are here to document the mee-ting of cultures and the exchange of ideas, thoughts and experiences. We are able to inform the rest of the world of the discussions held here, about the most important issues from development, ecology, inter-national relations, management to arts and culture.

We are also privileged to report about the collective mood and spirit of the youth, especially with regards

to the organizational problems and the overwhelming enthusiasm that has been present in the Congress so far. Moreover, we are witnessing many friendships that are being made during these 14 days, and these will continue and flourish even after the event has finished.

We are truly voice of the people.And we will do our best to per-

form this honorable duty as best as we can.


“I hope that I can gain more skills related to my role (as a young jour-nalist) and I want to expand my net-work to include

people from all around the world. Another ver y important thing would be to work together in order to become a part of the change as we offer solutions to world’s biggest problems.”

Febi Purnamarasi, Indonesia19 years oldYoung Journalist

“Well, I am an environmenta-list. My biggest expectations are making new friendships, forming new networks, and collaborating

with people from all over the world. I also hope to learn new ideas from the workshops and gain a deeper understanding of

Istanbul.”

Edvin Pacara, Albania27 years oldActivist

“My first expecta-tion is to make new contacts that I can connect to youth in Germany so as to involve more people in a bid to

develop more projects in my home town. For myself, I would like to get

more concrete ideas about what I want to do with my life. I have already met so many interesting people who are doing amazing things.”

Friederike Pöschl, Germany22 years oldActivist

W h a t I f o u n d necessar y is to understand other cul tures and to help foreign people assimilate to Istan-bul as I am a family

leader. I attended this Congress as a volunteer and I would like to facilitate things for everyone. My most important expectation is to make new friendships that will create lasting memories.”

Selin Akbay, Turkey26 years oldFamily leader

“I organize cultural festivals in my hometown. We create a space for people to develop themselves and talk about what is important to them. I would like to experience what it would be like to work with people from other countries during this Congress. Another thing I would like to do is stay in touch with them, to be a part of a network after the Congress.”

Andres Fernando Martínez, Ecuador21 years oldActivist

By Andrea Arzaba from Mexico

By Gülseren Ölcüm from Germany

What are your expectations for the Wold Youth Congress 2010?

In the interview with The Congress Times he explains how they were willing to go as far as a hunger strike - such was their steadfast belief in their vision.

THE CONGRESS TIMES: BOULLY, WHY ARE YOU AT THE 5TH WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS?

Boully: I came here as a young leader of the Student’s Union of the University Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar (UCAD) from Senegal. More than

25.000 students are represented by this Students Union.

TCT: WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES THAT THE STUDENT’S UNION IS FACING AND WHAT KIND OF INFLU-ENCE DOES IT HAVE?

Boully: The Union helps the stu-dents with several kinds of issues. It is basically their voice. Since the Union is protected by the constitu-tion, it has a lot of influence with the government and can be seen

as the bridge between politics and the student body. However, the Union was closed two years ago and since then, we have been working on re-opening it. We even went on a four day hunger strike to express our outrage and disappointment about the closure. In April 2010 we achieved the recognition of our Union and we will once again have elections in November.

TCT: WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OF THE 5TH WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS?

THE STUDENTS UNION OF THE UNIVERSITY CHEIKH ANTA DIOP DAKAR SEE THEMSELVES AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN POLITICIANS AND STUDENTS. BOULLY GALISSA, 29, IS THE LEADER OF THIS GROUP IN SENEGAL. HE HAS EMBODIES THE SPIRIT OF GROUND

UP YOUTH LEADERSHIP.

“We expect but don‘t act!“

Boully: It is the first time I have atten-ded an international conference of this level so I am very excited about the people I will meet. I am curious about the networking possibilities and about the friendships and pos-sible international projects that will arise from this. I hope I am going to learn more about youth-led develop-ment and that this will lead me to be a better leader of the Student’s Union.

TCT: WHAT IS YOUR IMPRESSION SO FAR FROM THE CONGRESS?

Boully: So far I have met many amazing people and have had plenty of discussions which have made me more realistic about what to expect. In Senegal, for example, we always complain about our problems. We keep talking about what is going wrong and what we need. We always expect, especially from the govern-ment, but don’t act! I realize that the time has come to be active and make a change. If you don’t believe in your country and in yourself, nothing is going to change!

The Congress Times - Volume 2 - 3 August 2010

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Transcript of The Congress Times - Volume 2 - 3 August 2010