Young NIMD

Although DWARS is the youth organisation of GroenLinks, it is politically independent, meaning that it has our own political statement which differs from GroenLinks and that in some cases, DWARS (strongly) disagrees with our mother party. Most of our members are between the ages of 16 and 28, although we have no formal age boundaries. The total membership lays around 1,000. The headquarters are based in the city of Utrecht, near the office of GroenLinks.  

For only a couple of years now DWARS has a national board. Before that, it was organized according to a radical democratic principle, meaning that it did not have any hierarchy within the organization. Instead of a national board it was organized in different working groups. Currently there is a national board of nine members, as well as several local chapters throughout the country, like Amsterdam, Groningen, The Hague and Maastricht. On a national level DWARS has several working groups focusing on a wide variety of topics like international affairs, the environment and education. Twice a year it organizes a Congress during which members can present resolutions on the political statement or statutes, choose members of the national board, discuss green and leftish politics and decide on what DWARS should or should not do. DWARS also has an Advisory Council, made up of members of all local chapters who follow the activities of the national board and who may criticize the national board and alter the course of DWARS if wrong decisions are made. 

On an international level DWARS is member of the FYEG, the Federation of Young European Greens. This is a European organization made up of almost 40 Green youth organizations throughout Europe, of Green youth groups from within as well as from outside of the European Union. Every year the FYEG organizes several seminars in which DWARS participates. Seminars are held throughout Europe, from Helsinki to Belgrade. Once a year the FYEG organizes a General Assembly in which all members participate. Within the FYEG structures, DWARS also participates in partnerships with young Greens from a specific country, like the Turkish young Greens and the German and Belgian (Flemish and Walloon) young Greens. Furthermore DWARS is also affiliated to the Global Young Greens, a fairly new Green structure.

DWARS was one of the founders of the Young NIMD, and has been active in it ever since. Because DWARS has democracy as one of its core principles, as well as an international outlook, the idea of the Young NIMD has a solid backing within DWARS. However, one should always be careful that democratization is not enforced, but is done in co-operation with the transition countries in which the NIMD and the Young NIMD is active. Democracy is something which has to grow, and which has to be supported by the entire society. DWARS stands for an ideal of democracy in which every citizen of a country can participate in the democratic structures of its society.

Representative of Dwars:
Rick Meulensteen
E-mail: rick@dwars.org