{"id":13367,"date":"2020-08-12T11:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/?post_type=news&p=13367"},"modified":"2020-08-12T11:00:48","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T09:00:48","slug":"engaging-young-people-for-global-action","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/news\/engaging-young-people-for-global-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging young people for global action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young people are the future \u2013 but they are often excluded from the decisions that will affect their lives. Their voices and concerns are frequently ignored by politicians and decision makers and they can struggle to fulfil their aspirations. August 12th marks the UN\u2019s International Youth Day \u2013 an opportunity to celebrate and mainstream young peoples\u2019 voices, actions and initiatives. This year\u2019s theme is \u201cYouth Engagement for Global Action\u201d \u2013 an apt choice in a year which has seen young people at the forefront of movements seeking to address global issues from racism to climate change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are marking International Youth Day with the second call-out in our 6-month campaign #<\/span>MyStoryForAStory<\/span>\u00a0(#<\/span>MijnStoryVoorEenStory<\/span>) which\u00a0<\/span>asks<\/span>\u00a0young people in the Netherlands to show solidarity with their peers in restrictive countries.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The campaign aims to encourage deeper engagement among young Dutch people with international development efforts, through creating awareness of the <\/span>efforts of young people in difficult situations to\u00a0<\/span>take action<\/span>\u00a0and bring about change for the better in their societies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Equality between communities
\n<\/strong>As the Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted, racism is embedded in societies and institutions in different ways around the world. R<\/span>acism is, at least in part, historically rooted in slavery which still exists in some parts of the world \u2013 including parts of Mali where \u2018slavery by descent\u2019 is a controversial issue. In a<\/span>\u00a0short campaign video being shared by Dutch<\/span>\u00a0influencers<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Kangaye<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Sangar\u00e9<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from our\u00a0<\/span>Benbere<\/span>\u00a0team in Mali calls on Dutch youth to share the story of their campaign\u00a0<\/span>\u201cMali Sans\u00a0<\/span>Esclave<\/span>\u201d<\/span> (Mali Without Slaves) for equality and social justice between communities\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yo<\/span>u\u2019ll find the\u00a0<\/span>video\u00a0<\/span>on the Instagram pages of \u00a0<\/span>Geraldine Kemper<\/a>, Sahil Amar\u00a0A\u00efssa<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Milou<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Deleen<\/span><\/a>, Linda de\u00a0Munck<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and Naomie Pieter<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018Slavery by descent\u2019<\/span>\u00a0has\u00a0<\/span>become an increasingly volatile issue<\/span>\u00a0in<\/span>\u00a0t<\/span>he\u202f\u00a0<\/span>Kayes\u00a0<\/span>\u202fregion\u202f\u00a0<\/span>of M<\/span>ali.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The region\u00a0<\/span>is on the dividing line between \u202fNorth Africa and sub-Saharan Africa \u202fand \u202fhas a\u202fcommunity \u202fof Tuareg and Arabic people \u202f(approximately 10 percent of Mali\u2019s total population) who regard themselves as \u202f\u2018white\u2019\u202fand \u202fother Malians as \u202f\u2018black\u2019. Tuaregs and Arabic people \u202fhistorically \u202fparticipated in the trans-Saharan slave trade, sometimes selling and enslaving \u202f\u2018blacks\u2019 \u202fwhen they could.\u202f\u00a0<\/span>For centuries, descent-based slavery \u2013 where slavery is passed down through the bloodline \u2013 has resulted in\u202f \u2018Black\u202f<\/span>Tamasheq<\/span>\u2019 \u202f(the Tuareg language) families in Mali’s north being used as slaves by nomadic Tuareg communities.\u202f<\/span>\u202f\u00a0<\/span>People born into descent-based slavery face a lifetime of exploitation, working without pay\u202fand are treated as property.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Complex situation
\n<\/strong>The situation on the ground though is complex, as\u202f\u00a0<\/span>Benbere\u00a0<\/span>\u202freports, and \u2018a thorn in the side of the authorities\u2019, \u202fwith tradition, \u202fculture and religion all playing a role in the conflicts around\u202fthe issue.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>There are\u202f<\/span>a number of<\/span>\u202flocal anti-slavery\u202f\u00a0<\/span>organisations\u00a0<\/span>\u202fbut there are \u202fdifferent opinions about the best way forward<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>(<\/span>You can read more ab<\/span>o<\/span>ut the situation here<\/a><\/span>.<\/span>)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Benbere<\/span>\u202f has published\u00a0<\/span>a number of<\/span>\u00a0articles on this issue which you can find in the\u202f dossier #<\/a><\/span>MaliSansEsclaves<\/a>.<\/span> \u202fPosts with the hashtag\u202fattracted <\/span>almost\u00a0<\/span>13,700 interactions (likes, comments and shares) on the\u202f\u00a0<\/span>Benbere\u00a0<\/span>\u202fFacebook page<\/a> <\/span>in the first six months of this year<\/span>.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Campaigning for change
\n<\/strong>Campaigns are an important tool to drive young people\u2019s engagement and\u00a0<\/span>encourage their participation in action that can bring about change<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The\u00a0<\/span>importance of s<\/span>ocial me<\/span>dia channels\u00a0<\/span>as a space where people connect with ideas and with\u00a0<\/span>each other\u00a0<\/span>makes them a<\/span>\u00a0highly effective\u00a0<\/span>medium for\u00a0<\/span>generating action. RNW Media\u2019s platforms and digital communities are active\u00a0<\/span>in many different contexts and the needs and concerns of our\u00a0<\/span>users<\/span>\u00a0inform the issues our country teams highlight<\/span>\u00a0with successful campaigns focusing\u00a0<\/span>on topics most relevant to the local context.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Burundi, for instance, has a youth unemployment rate of 65% so our Yaga Burundi platform implemented the #Bdiemploi campaign inviting young people to think about the structural problems that lead to high unemployment. Campaign content<\/a> reached over 835,000 people on Facebook and offline debates were organised in four universities across the country. As a result of the campaign, the relevant government ministry invited young people to participate in workshops to discuss structural employment challenges, especially the mismatch between what they learn in school and the job market. The campaign also succeeded in pushing officials from rhetoric to action when the Youth Investment Bank which had been promised by the government for two years, finally held its inaugural meeting. Read more about Yaga<\/a> and the #Bdiemploi campaign<\/a><\/p>\n

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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, our\u00a0<\/span>Habari<\/span>\u00a0RDC team was inspired to create the campaign #<\/span>Univsansharcelement<\/span> (Universities Without Harassment) after one of their monthly offline debates made clear that the problem of Sexually Transmitted Points – i.e. better grades in return for sex – was wide-spread in the country\u2019s universities <\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0little was being done to tackle it. As well as sharing the stories of survivors, objectives included establishing counselling services for students who are targets of harassment, and changes to the law to make these\u00a0<\/span>behaviours<\/span>\u00a0illegal. As a result of the campaign, the\u00a0<\/span>Habari<\/span>\u00a0team were invited to participate in the development of government<\/span>\u00a0g<\/span>uidelines for combating sexual harassment in universities and took part in associated advocacy activities.<\/span> Read more about Habari RDC<\/a> and the #Univsansharcelement campaign<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sexual harassment and gender-based violence (GBV) are also a concern<\/span>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>Yemen where\u00a0<\/span>GBV has increased by 63 percent since civil war broke out in 2015.<\/span>\u00a0The Manasati30 platform in Yemen addressed the issue with a campaign encouraging victims to seek help and to increase the visibility of the services available. Other activities targeted young Yemeni men by looking at GBV from the point of view of the harasser. Two videos created for the campaign were viewed more than 1.6 million times. Viewers on Facebook were asked: \u201cif you are a harasser, did this video convince you to stop harassment?”, of the 1,091 respondents, 83% said, “yes” and 17% said, “I will try”.\u00a0<\/span>Read more about Manasati30<\/a> and their GBV campaign<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can find more information about how young people engage in social issues via our\u00a0<\/span>global network of\u00a0<\/span>platforms\u00a0<\/span>at<\/span>\u00a0www.rnw.media<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is International Youth Day and we are responding with a call-out to\u00a0young people in the Netherlands to show solidarity with their peers in restrictive countries who are taking action for change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13367","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/13367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}