Young NIMD
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CDJA is the Dutch abbreviation for the Christian Democratic Youth Appeal. We are a political youth organisation which is independent of, but linked to, the Christian Democrats in the Netherlands (CDA). CDJA was established in 1981 and has members from around the Netherlands and every walk of life. Members belong to local departments that meet to discuss politics, to influence local political decisions or just to have a good time. Members meet eachother during debates, our half yearly congresses, in working groups or during international trips. As a founding member of the Youth of the European People's Party (YEPP) we align ourselves with christian democratic, conservative and other centre-right friends in Europe.
The basis for our christian democrats ideology is the Gospel and its Christian view of humanity. This view gives every person a unique, inviolable and intrinsic value. The Christian view of humanity states that everyone is of value, irrespective of sex, ethnic background, social background, disability or sexual preferences. In practice this means that we choose to be an open organisation of which anyone, who shares our political principles, can become a member. It also means we are internationalists. Open to the challenges of the world community, of which we all are a part. Being active within YIMD is part of our effort to contribute to international development. Next to this we have our own projects in the field of international aid, sustainable development and environmental consciousness.
Four principles guide our policies: solidarity, stewardship, shared responsability and public justice. We emphasize that people are best served by a government that supports communities such as the family, religious organisations, companies or other associations. This principle of shared responsability seperates christian democratic thinking from collective or individualistic thinking amongst socialists and liberals. But with youngsters from all walks of political life, we support YIMD in its valuable work to support growing democracies around te world. It is a human right to be responsible and free. Democracy is not the perfect, but nevertheless the best form of goverment to promote this right. We hope to deliver a modest contribution to fostering a new young generation of active democrats around the world.
Representative of CDJA:
Jorik ter Horst
E-mail: jorikterhorst@gmail.com
