"Youth are the future". How often do we hear that line? So often that it loses its meaning? Or not often enough? And how well do we, as a Federation, value our young volunteers, and help them mature as youth's leaders?
August 12 is International Youth Day, a good time to reflect on who our youth are and what they have to offer the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. A time to acknowledge that youth are the present, as well as the future. The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has millions of young volunteers, who carry out vital services, offering time, energy and skills that are not available from more seasoned staff and volunteers. They offer energy and vibrancy, they have not yet learnt the art of cynicism, nor have they become hardened to injustice. They have time to spend thinking about human rights and human wrongs. Youth flowers intensely, but briefly, and while it can be a period of confusion, it is also a time of great opportunity. It is in these formative years that the Red Cross and Crescent leaders of tomorrow are formed. Our stars of tomorrow are still rising but are we giving them enough support to enable them to go on to become our leaders? These are questions we should, and must ask.
Youth are our front-line, mobilising thousands of mothers and children for immunisation days in Africa, spreading HIV protection messages in Asia, promoting tolerance in Europe, reaching downtrodden communities in the Americas. But they are more than foot soldiers. They go into Abidjan's toughest ghettos, giving first aid to street children injured in accidents and fights, promoting healthy lifestyles. They learn Braille and sign language in Japan, and interact with their deaf and blind peers. They use puppet shows and dance to create violence-free spaces in disadvantaged areas of Montevideo, use art to create tolerance and awareness in Bulgaria. They go out into Mozambique's minefields to spread information and treat victims. They bring hope to the marginalised on the mean streets of Ulan Bator.
Youth are also beneficiaries - both in the sense that they benefit directly from programmes and that they receive training and valuable life experience being a part of the Red Cross Red Crescent. In fact our organisation is often their first exposure to life's more difficult realities. At the same time, they are part of the communities were these realities are created: they have the strongest desire and motivation to build and improve their situation, to build a better tomorrow. They bring innovation, creativity, enthusiasm, energy, tolerance, respect for others, the desire to discover, question, listen and understand, to test, to try out, plan, redo and rebuild, and share their successes and their pain, with smiles or with tears. They dare to dream. In short, they do thing adults have lost the ability to do. How many of our adult leaders do we see rapping an anti-stigma message on the streets of Africa's capitals?
Certainly, the Red Cross is important to our young people. Why else would they offer their time and enthusiasm for no reward? But it's a two-way street. We can be proud of the opportunities the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement offers youth. They have a chance to build global friendships, to talk, organise, plan, mature and to know that their energy is being directly transformed into something of benefit for those in need.
As mentioned, the (all too few!) years of youth can be an emotional, intense roller coaster. It is the stage of life when elation soars highest and frustration swoops to its lowest arc. For this reason, we must remember that the enthusiasm of youth is a resource, and like all resources it is finite and should not be wasted. At times, our leaders must leave the floor open to youth, because that's the circle of life; handing over the baton is inevitable. But before we open a space, we must do one thing: we must thank the youth for their drive, their commitment. And as we face the gravest health threat the planet has seen, we must rely on the maturity of the generation behind us, the one dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, to protect themselves, to inform others, and to ensure the spread of the virus is halted. Already they have blazed a trail, embracing the challenge of passing on the truth about AIDS. When we launched the global action against stigma on May 8 it was the youth who took the message to the lanes of Antananarivo, and more recently to the canals of Amsterdam.
Young people may not have the same day-to-day obligations as those ten, twenty, thirty years their seniors, but the pressures of exams, relationships, employment - and indeed HIV/AIDS are all the more real to them as they face them for the first time. Youth must be able to get on with their lives, but always know that they have a home in the Red Cross.
The Federation has had a Youth Policy since 1991. It is aimed at helping all National Societies plan for the development of their youth, to use their motivation and idealism, their experience and skill for the benefit of the Movement. The policy says that youth have a key role to play in providing Red Cross Red Crescent services; that they are an important target group: have a role in the leadership and the management of the Movement of today; will lead the Movement tomorrow; and need support.
Strategy 2010 highlights the importance of the integration of youth in National Societies' programmes and of improving representation in decision-making positions. So on International Youth Day let's encourage them. Let's remember the challenges youth face in war or in peace, and say a strong word of thanks to all our young volunteers and staff. "You are our future, and we need you now".
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