As youth and cooperativists, we want to take advantage of this date, recommended by the United Nations, to insist on the need to think about our role in today´s world. This year, the UN proposes the theme “Youth Civic Engagement” because that is one of the main principles of the Programme of Action for Youth.
We believe in the fundamental need to reassert our rights regarding basic living conditions: identity, education, information, health, employment, among others, as well as the right to have real options and opportunities to inhabit the public space, produce and access culture, engage in politics and collectively imagine possible present and future times.
These days, many youth around the world are deprived of their rights and face serious difficulties to get a decent job. That is why we demand to have the opportunities and the necessary conditions to make proposals and take part in the decisions that involve us in all aspects of life, with independence, liberty and responsibility.
As the youth of the cooperative movement, we highlight the educational importance of our organizations, as spaces where we can form citizens who are engaged in today´s social problems, and where we can foster the culture of participation, solidarity and transformation.
Picture: Ms Gaby Buffa, Alliance Youth Network President
