Projects
Presently, YIMD aims at incorporating youth in the projects of NIMD in three countries, two of which in Africa, and one in Latin America; Ghana, Kenya, and Guatemala.
Ghana
At the end of October 2006, YIMD hosted its first fact-finding mission in Ghana. Three YIMD members attended a conference with the Youth Wings of the political parties in Ghana.
The Youth Wings
The four Parties in Parliament are the main parties with credible youth wings in Ghana. The youth wings of the Parties are officially recognized in the constitutions of the parties and have an office in the National Headquarters of the Parties. The leader of the Youth Wing of each party, the National Youth Organiser is also a member of the National Executives of the Party. The Youth of the Party are the backbone of the party as they monitor the registration of voters, spearhead campaigns, monitor elections and constitute the main driving force in internal party elections as well. Nationally, the definition of the Youth is citizens aged 15-30 years. Political Parties however maintain a more flexible definition of youth. Most of the Parties define Youth as members up to the age of 40; the NPP has no age limit at all.
NPP
The NPP Youth Organiser is elected by the National Congress of the NPP Mother Party. The National Youth Organiser is a member of the National Executive Committee of the Party responsible for directing and overseeing the operations of the activities of the Party. The Youth Wing has its own National Regional and Constituency officers. It operates from the premises of the National, Regional and Constituency branches of the Party. The NPP stated that the Youth is very much involved in policy-making as the National Youth Organiser is a member of the National Executive Committee. However, it is noted that the Youth Organiser is not elected from or by the Youth.
NDC
The NDC sees its Youth Wing as an integral and autonomous organ of the Party. The National Youth Organiser is a member of the National Executives of the Party. The Youth Wing has its own National, Regional and Constituency officers. It operates from the premises of the National, Regional and Constituency branches of the Party. The Youth Organiser is elected by youth representatives at the Youth National Congress. He is not elected 'from' the youth representatives.
CPP
The constitution of the CPP guarantees the establishment of a vibrant Youth Wing with the responsibility for educating and mobilising the Youth in support of Party Programmes. The National Youth Organiser is elected by a committee at the National Congress of the CPP. The CPP states that at the moment, it does not have Youth Officers at the regional level due to financial difficulties.
PNC
The National Youth Organiser of the PNC is appointed by the leader of the party in consultation with the National Standing Committee. The youth committee is selected by the youth itself. There is a regional youth organiser in each region and constituency. The National Youth Organiser is responsible for ensuring that youth wings in all structures of the party are well organised and functioning well.
The conference in October 2006
The conference in Akosombo was the first activity in which members of the four youth wings participated together. By organising this conference the IEA has brought them together to exchange experiences and to discuss the role of the youth for the future of Ghana's multiparty democracy. They discussed the importance of party philosophy, the youth as future party leaders and the role of the youth in conflict prevention. The YIMD delegates participated actively in the conference and held a presentation about the relations between political youth organizations and their mother parties in the Netherlands. The YIMD delegates identified the differences between the Youth Wings in Ghana and the Youth Wings in The Netherlands where parties receive funding earmarked for youth organizations from the government. The presentation resulted in the adoption of a resolution by the Ghana’s youth in which they demand government funding for political youth organizations in Ghana. The resolution was supported by two members of parliament representing Ghana’s two largest parties at the congress. Next to a resolution, the conference resulted in a meeting held the first day after the conference, for the four youth organisers who have now started their own platform, similar to the Platform of Secretary Generals. They will meet regularly to discuss youth issues and the involvement of youth in politics. The youth organisers have also given their commitment to establish a national youth agenda.
The political context
In December 2004, President Mr. John Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was re-elected as president of the Republic of Ghana. Within parliament the NPP has 128 seats. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) holds 94 seats. The People's National Convention (PNC) and Convention People's Party (CPP) respectively have 4 and 3 seats in parliament.
The four Parties in Parliament are the main parties with credible youth wings in Ghana. The leader of the Youth Wing of each party, the National Youth Organiser, is also a member of the National Executives of the Party. Nationally, the definition of Youth is citizens aged 15-30 years. Political Parties however maintain a more flexible definition of youth. Most of the Parties define Youth as members up to the age of 40; the NPP youth has no age limit at all.
Kenya
While a YIMD working group is actively gathering knowledge of the Kenyan situation, as of yet no on the ground work has been conducted there by YIMD. The prospect is to start around February/March 2007. In the meantime however, contact is being made and intensified between YIMD and the NIMD counterpart in Kenya.
Guatemala
Up till now, YIMD has hosted two fact-finding missions in Guatemala, both by two YIMD members and in cooperation with NIMD. The first in April 2006, the second in October 2006, both were short (around 8 days) missions that aimed to gain an understanding of the role of Guatemalan youth in politics and within their political parties. This has been attained through meetings with Guatemalan youth, cooperation in a seminar, meetings with involved NGOs and UNDP, and talks with members of the Foro and political parties.
The main goal of the second YIMD mission to Guatemala was to identify the areas in which YIMD could have a future role. In order to accomplish this, three kind of activities have been undertaken. Firstly, a Dutch delegation has participated in a youth seminar on political youth participation. This gave not only the opportunity to experience a youth capacity-building activity in a Guatemalan context, but also facilitated the possibility to exchange experiences with the participation in politics of Guatemalan youngsters. Secondly, a meeting has been organized twice with the youth from Foro. This resulted in a discussion on possible future projects, as well as the interchange of experiences. Thirdly, a study has been conducted on the state of development of political parties, including its formal structures, resource possibilities, and the level of participation of minorities. Together, these three kind of activities have resulted in this report, including the following recommendations on future projects. Below, three themes will be elaborated, resulting from discussion with the Foro. These three themes are involved with the creation of developed and conscious youth that face possibilities to participate in politics.
The political context
Guatemala has a violent political history. After a Civil War of 36 years, a peace treaty was signed in 1996. A national reforendum in 1999 – with a participation of only 18 percent of registered voters – voted down constitutional reforms that were meant to regulate the rights of indiginas, to add checks and balances to the executive office, retool the national security apparatus, and introduce a fiscal reform, meaning higher taxes esential for financing the implementations of the Peace Accords. In the same year presidential elections were won by Alfonso Portillo of the conservative Frente Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG). Portillo was seen as the front man of General Efraín Ríos Montt, responsible for the scorched-earth terror campaign in the 1980s. Since the elections of 2003 President Oscar Berger from the Gran Alianza Nacional (GANA) is the Head of State as well as the Head of Government. There is a large variety of political parties in Guatemala, some large ones such as the conservative FRG and the more left-wing Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) with a social democratic ideology. Besides these bigger parties, some smaller parties include the right-wing Partido de Avanzada Nacional (PAN), the Partido Patriota, and Unionista. The political spectrum shows, however, a large fluidity, meaning that since the elections of 2004 some major shifts have occurred in the political landscape. Regarding the social situation in Guatemala, not that many positive announcements have been made by international orgnizations. The United Nations’ Human Development Index (2002), for instance, ranked Guatemala 120th of the world. Poverty, illiteracy, lack of education, and poor medical facilities are widely spread, especially in the rural areas were the Maya population is concetrated. Many other international organizations have criticized the human rights situation in Guatemala, including the Euopean Parliament and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The social and political exclusion of indiginas remains an important issue until now. The same holds for the situation of women and youth. These three groups remain marginalized, although they consist of the majority of Guatemalan population. Although many political parties claim to attach high importance to the inclusion of these groups, the exclusion remains highly present.