New

LIBERTAS

EDITION

Here we are... at the beginning of year 2011, reading

the first special issue of Libertas+. The topic for January is on young people and their rights. Have you ever thought about what rights you have and which are the most important in your opinion? Is it easy to defend your rights in your country or do young people fight for them? Education, employment, housing, safe environment, participating in the decision-making process and so on. And do you know the Declaration of Youth Rights and Duties? Lots of contributors from various European

countries want to share their thoughts and ideas. Let's enjoy this moment and travel in your mind with Libertas+ across Europe. I wish you many beautiful moments while reading our magazine and a Happy New Year!

Editorial

Vladimira Bravkova - Czech RepublicEditorial

Project and funding Dragan Atanasov, Macedonia

Lina Vosyliute - Lithuania

p. 2

p. 4

p. 3

p. 6

The biggest ignorant in the worldTiberiu Lacomi - Romania

Philosoph

Ivana Galapceva - Macedoniap. 12 Young people rights

Nevena Smileveska - Macedonia

p. 12 Rights that Every Young Individual Should Have

Charlie Delhumeau - Francep. 14 Studies in France

p. 20 Book review : Do androids dream of electric sheep

Daniel John Carter - United Kingdom

p. 22 Essay : As a young person I have the right too...

Dragan Atanasov - Macedoniap. 18 Interview with Washington Katena

Boyan Tabutov - Bulgaria

p. 10As a young person I have the right to effectively participate in thedecision-making process

Filip Ilievski

Vladmíra Brávková, coordinator

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Seeing the potential that this kind of independent youth magazine has, we decided to propose coop-eration with the European Youth Foundation (EYF) of the Council of Europe. Our application for funding was approved and Libertas+ was born – as an additional European issue of the magazine. With the financial support of the European Youth Foundation, Libertas is now able to offer a space for young Europeans to share their thoughts on topics important to European society, and particu-larly to them as young European citizens. Thus, every 15th of the month, from January to June, you will discover the new Libertas+, published as usual on our web page www.magazinelibertas.com and distributed by e-mail to anyone interested.

We fully believe that by publishing a continental version of Libertas, we are not losing our global approach. On the contrary, we believe that this way we have more direct contact with young people from different countries, and we can address their needs and interests more precisely. We hope to launch more regional and even national versions of Libertas in the future, while still keeping our main worldwide issue that unites young people of the world in a unique way.

Projet and funding It is more than a year since we started using

the label “Libertas” to collect and publish the ideas of young people from around the world. Since September 2009, Libertas has been gathering the brave and honest thoughts of youth on issues that matter to them, and making them available for free to anyone interested. Readers from more than 70

countries from all continents have read the monthly issues of Libertas until now.

This launch of a regional issue of Libertas was made available thanks to the European Youth Foun-dation, which funds hundreds of youth projects in Europe throughout the year. If you have an idea for a youth project that you want to implement, feel free to check their web page; EYF provides grants for a wide range of projects, from publications, through semi-nars, trainings and other types of youth gatherings, to innovative pilot projects. More information is avail-able at www.eyf.coe.int/fey.

And that is enough explanation – it is time for action. Read us, write for us, and spread the word about Libertas: the unique magazine by youth, for youth.

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Dragan Atanasov, Macedonia

THE BIGGEST IGNORANT IN THE WORLD

I admit it. I have no right to write this article. I know nothing about human rights, youth rights or children’s rights. Even after the most thorough research, I cannot – I couldn’t – tell you that I completely know and understand my rights as a young person. But I know this thing for sure: as a young person, I have the right to read,

to hear and to know my rights and thus, to spread them to all youth across the world.

This can only be done, though, through the hundreds of youth associations for human rights, through the international conferences and summits on youth that establish new bases for work in the field, through the extraordinary workshops and trainings, textbooks and manuals that teach young people how to teach their fellow young people about their rights.

Thus, I admit it to you. I am the biggest ignorant in the world. But if you give me a little of your time, a minute of undivided attention and your full passion for good, I want to tell you that as a young person, I have the right to praise those who made it possible for me, for us to say that as a young person, “I have the right to”.Since we should be like brothers, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights said in 1949 (maybe a little too late but who says it’s too late to remember human rights?), I am entering the room of your mind and asking your permission to play with your toys : your values and principles. Do you need new ones? Do you need better ones – repaired, improved, upgraded ones? Since 1949, everybody says so. The European Union has put forward its Convention on Human Rights; conventions on torture and genocide have also been signed and agreed; the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been, since 1989, legally enforced in more than 190 countries all over the world. All of these international documents outline the fact that as the world changes, categories of people and their corresponding rights (along with their opinions, ideas and voices) are changing and amplifying.

As a volunteer for Save the Children Romania, I got the chance to learn about the World Summit for Children, Voices of Youth at UNICEF, Youth for Human Rights International and Millennium Development Goals. I got the chance to participate in a series of international conferences where topics such as the immigration policy and the right to work for children and youth were discussed within new and specific frameworks. I got the chance to read manuals like Compass or Domino (created by European specialists), experience training techniques for human rights learning and take part in what could be the research conclusions for the next handbooks on human rights. I am privileged for that. But most importantly, I got the chance to understand that as a young person, I have the right to envision new rights according to the new realities.

++

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+

Tiberiu Iacomi, Romania

Children still die. Young people still die. At early ages. Because of diseases. Because of wars. Sometimes, children and young people become soldiers and even kill other people. Children and young people around the world are seldom told about the freedom of thought, speech or choice of religion. Generations are still deprived of education and thus, of understanding, peace and ultimately, of survival. As a young person, I had the right to read Orwell, to remember that even if we are all born free and equal, some people are more equal than others. I gave up this right because it is too painful.

And I shouldn’t even have the right to write this article. In the last 30 minutes of keypad texting, I could have done a lot more for youth rights than writing about them. Maybe this will convince you not to read less and blindly act more, but let yourself be touched by what you read about human rights breaches across the world and do what your good hearts and minds tell you to.As for me, I still remain the biggest ignorant in the world. And hopefully, one day, the biggest liar.

+“I have the

right to read, to hear and to know my rights and

thus, to spread them to all youth across the world.”

“Children and young people around the world are

seldom told about the

freedom of thought,

speech or choice of religion.”

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Right to be the owner of your life I would like to develop the last idea above, because I think it is extremely important for a young person to understand and exercise this right. So what does it mean to own your own your life? It does not imply total freedom but it goes with responsibility for your deliberate actions. Therein is the trick: when and how are our actions deliberate? We live in a society full of constraints, taboos, roles and stereotypes and whether we want or not, we are influenced by them.For example, these social constructs tell you how to plan your life, what “good goals” are, what the “right” lifestyle is, and what “success” means. Thus, answers differ from one social context to another. Let’s say in the Far East communal life is given priority, whereas in the western world it’s individualism.

Universality of dignity However, there is a noticeable counter-trend in the current age of globalisation. It strengthens universally accepted claims for

personal development. One of the most influential and well-known human rights documents, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights cites the clauses of dignity and free development of the personality as one of the aims and man-ners in which the declaration should be implemented. However, this declaration is non-enforceable, and has been made primarily for educational purposes even though it raised understanding of human rights within all signatory countries. From the Kantian approach it could be said that the abovementioned clauses oblige states to see people as objectives, not merely a means to reach economic, political or security goals. It shows the respect for human dignity with which we are endowed since birth.

Expectations In the current socio-political context it

Today I am a young person studying human rights in Central European University; however my article will be more philosophical than legal. I would like to share my personal understanding of young people’s rights, gained from a course with visiting professor Wiktor Osiatynski. His insights on human

and individual rights irreversibly changed my way of thinking. Despite his age, he raised crucial points for

young people of today and tomorrow. One such point was the existence of somewhat “non-enforceable” rights like the right to peace, the right of a child to be loved and the right to be the owner of one’s life.

The Rights of the Young Person : From the philosophical prism

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Lina Vosyliute - Lithuania

seems that we tend to forget about the diver-sity of ways towards personal development. Our governments want us to be primarily patriotic citizens, economies - human capital and justice systems - compliers with the letter of the law. In our social and private lives, we are also pressured with expecta-tions: to be powerful, beautiful, rich, suc-cessful – whatever that means. Thus, one is expected to be the first and best in compari-son with others. But how often are you asked whether you want all this, or what you really want? I do not deny that we need all the abovemen-tioned things, but there should be some space left for you to decide, for example, for an adolescent, what kind of studies to choose. I know many examples of young people who study what their parents want, considering it “a guarantee of a prosperous future”. And ultimately, they hate these stud-ies. Therefore, I would add one more right: the right to make mistakes. We are so pres-sured into well-known, “good” decisions, that

we are discouraged from experimenting, finding new and alternative goals, lifestyles and profes-sions. The Romans had a saying “errare huma-num est” (“to err is human”), but is it still valid nowadays?

Disappointments and discoveries I know young people who have “good” jobs and make a lot of money in high positions. And they live from weekend to weekend, and in between undergo the pain called “work”. Some of them don’t have weekends, so they end up not having time to spend the bloody money. As well, I know people who are the opposite: doing things considered “time-wasting”, such as creat-ing art, going to vote, socialising, volunteering or just travelling. But these other ways of self-expression may be crucial. In fact, they may make our lives full; even if they’re not perfect according to some merchandised criterion of “quality of life”, where “what you are” depends on “what you have”. So, in order to enforce this right of personal development, the seminal question for all of us is, “Who I am to know what

“We are so pressured into well-known, “good” decisions, that we

are discouraged from experimenting, finding new and alternative

goals, lifestyles and professions.”

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you need?” The fuzzy concept of dignity tells me that my understanding cannot dominate over yours, if we are speaking about your life and choices. It tells me that I am not some supreme being who knows what’s best for you; therefore I need to ask and accept what I hear. This is the path to everyone’s personal development and, in the end, a way of peaceful coexistence.

Limitations on choices All the abovementioned ideas seem quite acceptable, but another “funky” thing is how much of a real choice we have. Society consists of rich and poor, black and white, citizens and migrants, men and women and so on, so do we really have the same starting point? Stereo-types and misconceptions create obstacles for some but not for others and are destructive for the person in question: whether the girl is chosen for the top job, or the migrant estab-lishes a meaningful life in a new country, or the poor person enters the prestigious university. I would suggest then to refer back to my studies: according to legal mechanisms of human rights, our states have positive obligations towards us to help in these vulnerable situations. Also, we

maintain human rights as a shield from govern-ment interfering with our freedom. But as my professor emphasised, our happiness mainly depends on our relationships with others, within our social and private lives. If we want to benefit from the latter two, we must take away our shields of “human rights claims” and keep them for moments of abuse. In our private lives, we can receive most not by claiming rights, but by asking. But here a vicious circle arises, because only those who have high self-esteem dare to ask. Thus we should encourage and empower those in need and teach how to ask: for help, for friendship, for advice, for support. The nicest thing is that there is an endless list of things which can be received simply by sharing.

The sources of happiness and self-limitations If we look to the state, budgets are limited; our own bank account (if we are lucky enough to have one) also has a limit. However, there are many unlimited sources of happiness. In our social life it could be social participation; in

“It shows the respectfor human dignitywith which we are endowed since birth.”

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private spheres, relationships with others, with a supreme being or with nature. It can happen that watching a sunset or sunrise can make you feel so full, so present in the here and now, as can a chat with a good friend, a prayer (if you are a believer) or a kiss from a loved one. How much sense does it make in your life? If it makes some, you have every chance of being happy, because these sources are unlimited. However, there is the risk of turning unlimited sources of happiness into hedonism or fanaticism; therefore balance is advisable in all situations. According to my professor, one thing always makes us happy and our life meaning-ful: the limits we put on our rights and actions of our own free will. Thus, the happiest people are those devoted to a goal. Have you ever seen the shining eyes of the volunteer who has devoted his life to others ? Or the human rights or environmental activist opposing state officials ? Or the traveller who has exchanged the safety and comfort of home for challenge and uncertainty ? When people limit their own

freedom, comfort or ego they are happiest, because they feel they are making some sense of their lives. As Winston Churchill once said, “The kites raise highest against the wind, not with it!” Thus a young person should not follow the crowd just because it is easier, but look for his/her own path.

“The happiest people are those devoted to a goal.”

Instead of conclusions… wishes ! All in all, in this New Year “Libertas” edition I would like to inspire you to consider these rights, of such importance in the life of a young person. Be positive, be critical, be determined in your aims and dare to go against the wind ! These are the keys to personal devel-opment and becoming the true owner of your life. In the end, it is a guarantee for a better society with less pres-sure and more creativity. So, what about starting together to enforce these unenforceable rights in our little, or big, personal choices from 2011 ?

“Stereotypes and misconceptions create obstacles.”

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Lina Vosyliute - Lithuania

Since a right defines what you may do without the permission of others and erects a moral and legal barrier across which they may not cross, then we can acknowledge the rights that young people have when it comes to areas such as health, welfare, family and education. Nonetheless, the words of 14-year old Rebecca Tilsen are a powerful reminder why there is no greater insight into the future than if we also officially recognise the unalienable right of young people to be effectively involved at all stages of the policy-making process :

“If 16-year-olds are old enough to drink the water polluted by the industries that you regulate, if 16-year-olds are old enough to breathe the air ruined by garbage burners that government built, if 16-year-olds are old enough to walk on the streets made unsafe by terrible drugs and crime policies, if 16-year-olds are old enough to live in poverty in the richest country in the world, if 16-year-olds are old enough to get sick in a country with the worst public health-care programs in the world, and if 16-year-olds are old enough to attend school districts that you underfund, than 16-year-olds are old enough to play a part in making them better.”

Governments throughout Europe have recognised and accepted responsibility for trying to ensure the involvement of youth in the political process at local, national and international levels. National strategies, action plans and many other policy papers have been produced in order to increase the opportunities available to young people striving to be effective members of their communities. One of the most

Regardless of the multi-level efforts and cooperation, this is simply not sufficient to guarantee that the voice of youth is being heard in the policy-making process. Young people still appear to be systematically ignored by many public agencies, or where they are consulted it is too often tokenistic. On top of that, major barriers to youth participation in formal politics remain; so too do the signs of the problem. For instance, the results from the Eurobarometer survey “Youth in Europe #202” demonstrate that one of the most defining characteristics of young people across Europe is that they feel disillusioned and taken aback

As a young person I have the right to effectively participate in thedecision-making process

“Young people still appear to be systematically ignored by many public agencies, or where they are consulted is too often tokenistic”

prominent documents promoting youth participation in Europe is the Revised European Charter on the participation of young people in local and regional life, adopted by the Council of Europe. EU programmes like “Youth in Action” claim to involve a great deal of young people in projects attempting to promote participation. Various international institutions, mainly the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations, work closely with the European Youth Forum in order to support the active engagement of youth in the construction of a common Europe.

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with formal politics. This is not only the age group abstaining most from voting at general and local elec-tions, but they are also those who refrain most from engaging with traditional political organisations.

As the policy-making process remains within the realm of traditional politics, such a tendency generates reasons for concern both about the empowerment of young people and the future of democracy itself. Clearly, adopting the right to effective political participa-tion will not only legitimise the problem, but it will create momentum and willingness to deal with it. It will also be sound to believe that it will help young people recognise some of the benefits associated with political participation, such as: enhancing the relation-ship between young people and adults, challenging negative stereotypes of young people and contributing to effective policy making. Thus, it becomes logical that the most effective way to promote the interests of youth and improve its prospects in life is to make it possible for them to genuinely influence the policy-making process. Only through this can they feel they are able to make a positive contribution to their community and become active members. This is the essence of the right of a young person to effectively engage with the policy-making process: the one that our society should embrace, commit and fight for.

There is no greater insight into the future than if we also officially recognise the unalienable right of young people to be effectively involved at all stages of the policy-making process.

Boyan Tabutov - Bulgaria

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Young peoples’ rights

1)The right to a healthy nutrition sufficient to be able to think, study, work and communicate; the right to a healthy and comfortable home where youths can live in a dignified manner;

2) The right to freedom of religion, thought, speech, information, association and movement and the duty to respect and defend such freedom;

3) The duty to respect religions, nationalities, races, ethnic groups and cultures different from one's own and the right to defend one' s religious, ethnical and national appurtenance;

4) The right to an education and the duty to apply oneself in one's studies in order to be able to develop one's creative resources for the individual and social well-being;

5) The right to work and the duty to commit oneself with honour and justice so as to build the necessary resources to create and maintain the work;

6) The right to use every means of communication in order to promote and defend freedom, truth, justice, peace, life and solidarity, within individual and social well-being;

7) The duty to maintain one's own state of health by avoiding and obstructing within one's environment, any means or behaviour which could damage one's own or another person's health;

8) The right to have medical aid and care when in a state of illness;

9) The duty to aid, within one's possibilities, people of

every age who are in a state of human and social disad-vantage;

10) The right and duty to respect and defend one's own life and that of every human being from conception until death;

11)The duty to aid and respect one's own parents and the right to be aided and respected by them;

12) The right to marry and to procreate, by constituting a family without cultural, familiar, social and religious

conditioning;

13) The duty to responsibly provide, along with one's spouse, for a family environment

which is serene and full of love, for the education and the development of the affective, cognitive, moral and religious resources, for a home, for the nutrition, for

the children's care, by building and receiv-ing all the necessary support needed;

14) The duty to promote, conserve and respect works of intelligence and human civilization; the duty to promote, respect and defend the natural environment's life;

15) The duty to promote, conserve and defend liberty, justice, brotherhood and universal peace among persons, people and nations, with cooperation, commit-ment, moral and intellectual courage, work, in the spirit of eternal and Universal Love.

Ivana Galapceva, Macedonia

As a young person, I want to have the basic human rights with extended and specific opportuni-ties for young people: educational, vocational and work-related. What about you?

What about young peoples’ rights ? What are the general rights all young people have in common? I tried to do some research for my country, looking through certain legal regulations and what I found is that young people are covered with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. There is no special legislation referring to young people in Macedonia, but depending on the specific area, certain matters are included in separate laws.v

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13

French student’s rightsFrench student’s rights

A young person is not allowed to work before the age of 16, and has to go to school until this age. Registration for public university costs from €174 for a bachelor to €360 to a doctorate. In regard to families with financial difficulties, students can get a monthly grant from the government for their studies which includes the cost of registration.

There are also in France around 160,000 places in student accommodation, usually at lower prices than ordinary accommodation. Much of this financial help does not exist in many other countries, but it has to be said that the number of French students in poverty is increasing every year. This a real threat to the right of access to higher education. Many students also have to work as grants are not high enough to live in good conditions. Also, some

people cannot get the grant anymore because their parents are not poor enough to obtain this financial help... Needless to say the student with less money will have difficulty in being competitive with the richer one (who, by the way, can also pay for private university in which conditions for studies are often better). The current financial crisis has also decreased the quality of life for young students by making it harder to get even a student job. It's hard to know where the limit is between rights and equality; I think we have the right to be equal, but it is not for today. We can also ask ourselves if this right of access to high education is not totally disrespected when it comes to foreigners. What about the rights of young illegal immigrants? For the last few years in France, their rights have been totally taken

As a young person, I have the right to choose my studies, which will pretty much condition my future. This also means not being forced to work by the need to survive, by parents or by any other authority, for example religious or political, and not being forced to leave the place where I live against my will. As a young person, I have the right to express myself and have the same chances as other young people to integrate into the society in which I live, which includes quality of education. Now, I'm gonna talk to you about what's going on in France about the right of access to education.

away by the government and immigration laws. There are many young students who have lived in France almost all their lives and who, at the age of 18 (when not legally considered children anymore) are forced to quit their school and lives to be sent back to the country of which they are considered nationals – and where many of them have never been before. It happens that because they do not possess a long term visa, these illegal immigrant students cannot even enter university. Usually, the people in charge in the administration are not competent enough to make these decisions, but they always have the power to make them. The right to be considered a human being instead of a case would probably cost too much money for this bureaucratic society.

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Thankfully, there are some associations which fight against this discrimination, for example the Network of Universities without Frontiers (Réseau des Universités sans Frontières). In 2000 a new authority, independent from the state, was created with the purpose to defend the rights of child, called Défenseur des enfants, (‘Defender of Children’). People can contact it for get legal help in cases of children in danger, child criminality, rights of

families and of foreigners, and international and European rights.

The rights of students and young people have to be defended by citizens; we should not forget that people have fought for it before us. The least we can do is be aware that it is our responsibility to protect them, because they protect us!

Many students also have to work as grants are not high enough to live in good condi-tions.

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Charlie Delhumeau - France

Rights that Every Young Individual Should Have

If we define youth as the period

between childhood and adulthood,

we must acknowledge that this is a

period in which the individual devel-

ops his/her own identity and

personal system of values. At this

stage of life the young person not

only has rights, but also responsibili-

ties and should participate in society

– maturing, but also changing and

influencing it. In order to be able to

do any of this, the young person

must be provided with several condi-

tions, such as the right to autonomy,

education, civic and political partici-

pation, decent employment, decent

and affordable housing, but also the

right to freedom from discrimination,

to choose a partner and to found a

family or not, and lastly, a healthy,

safe and sustainable environment to

adulthood in the education process,

not only through studying, but also

through working in the real world, as

interns, volunteers or employees.

Any way of learning is good as long

as one is prepared to learn, and is

capable of learning, from the experi-

ence.

At home, young people should

live in a supporting and loving envi-

ronment where they are encour-

aged to learn and try new things

because that is how one develops

into a successful, open-minded

person with a purpose in life. This is

what young people should strive to

become.

live in.

These are basic rights that

every young individual in every

country should have.

However, aside from these I believe

there are other rights that each

young individual should be entitled

to, such as the freedom to have

different opinions and political views

and express them wherever and

whenever it’s politically correct. Also,

in order for young people to make

the changes in the world that society

needs them to make so that it can

develop, they must have the right to

socio-political initiative, access to

institutions and the opportunity to

make themselves heard.

I also believe that young people

have the right to be prepared for

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Nevena Smilevska, Macedonia

As a young individual of 30 years of

age, throughout my youth and adulthood

I have had to choose in various situations

whether to continue with my college

education with none of the benefits

employment brings (health or social

insurance, salary and so on) or work

full-time with benefits. In my case, neither

the education system nor employers

were flexible enough to make finishing

education and working full-time at the

same time possible. And basic rights of

people, young people included, tell me

that there should be a way for working

and educating oneself at the same time.

This is only one example, and there

are many more. There is a lot to be done

in my country to improve the rights of

young people. I hope to find like-minded

people who are willing to help me work on

improving this situation.

At this stage of life the young person not only has rights, but

also responsibilities and should participate in society.

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INTERVIEW with

Washington Katema

Born 27 years ago, Washington

Katema is a frontline human rights

defender in Zimbabwe. My roots as

a human rights defender (HRD)

are located in my past experiences

as a student leader in an authori-

tarian state of Zimbabwe.

Who is

in few words?

The operation environment was driven with many landmines to the extent that as the national student leader, I had to lead for the front in our struggles in defense of our academic freedoms. As a badge ofhonor, I have been arrested on more than 13 times, deregistered from the University of Zimbabwe on several occasions due to my leading role both as a HRD and student leader in an environment that is alien to democratic ethos, principles and practice.

Are you satisfied with what you have achieved in relation to respecting human rights in Zimbabwe/Africa? In reality, how much can young people do in this field?

Be that as it may, I am satisfied with my role as a HRD in Zimbabwe and Africa. It is our generational duty and obligation to make sure that humanity finds a common destiny in our life time by cultivating and fostering a

culture of human rights in closed societies such as Zimbabwe, Sudan, Guinea, only to mention just three. We are the future and the future began yesterday. Respect for human rights separate us from anarchy or according to approximation of Thomas Hobbes characterisation of a state of nature where life is ‘solitary, brute, short and nasty’.

From 2005 to 2006 you have acted as a General Councilor of All Africa Students Union. Africa is quite big and diverse continent. Is it difficult for young people from all over Africa to be organized on a continental level? Do young people from the whole continent share the same challenges in life?

Despite a historiography of brutality and violent disregard of human rights in some African countries, my experience as a General Councilor of the All Africa Student Union taught me that young Africans have the potential to

You declare yourself as a human rights defender (HRD). What does this practically mean? What does it mean when you act as a human rights defender in Africa?

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liberate Africa. If we mobilize, in our respective communities, universities, villages and social circles we can change the face of Africa. And as young people, united, we can do better in the field of promoting and defending human rights in Africa. We are key building blocks for the future Africa and Africa of the future. Exactly that.

Are there any international educational programs or opportunities available for the African young people, which you could share now?

I have also tried to create safety nets for the victimised student leaders and activists in Zimbabwe through the Royal Dutch Government. They availed more than 35 scholarships under the Libertas Scholarship scheme and today, we have around 34 former student leaders in Zimbabwe studying in various Universities and College Universities in the Netherlands. I did my masters in developing studies specialising in Human Rights, Development and Social Justice at the Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2007 and 2008.

“Aluta continua, Victoria acerta,

Little by little freedom is coming.”

How is the situation regarding human rights in Zimbabwe nowadays? What is the life of young people like?

Currently I am working for a policy institute in Zimbabwe, which is providing knowledge-based technical advice and evidence-based strategic advice to democratic actors and reform-minded institutionsin the transitioning state of Zimbabwe. The human rights situation is still fragile, so is the inclusive government which was born-out of a negotiated political settlement amongst the three political parties with a representation in parliament. However, thereis still hope after all. Aluta continua, Victoria acerta,Little by little freedom is coming.

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Dragan Atanasov - Macedonia

BOOK review

Science fiction novels have always been regarded as special. For some people, they are just a way to kill time, whereas others regard them as shelter from a cruel reality. There are, however, certain people who can see society through sci-fi. Set in 2021, ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ depicts Planet Earth a couple of years after the World War Terminal, which has resulted in com-plete devastation of the world we know, and extinc-tion of animals because of the radioactive fallout. ‘Emigrate or disintegrate!’, ‘Come to Mars, and get yourself a free android!’ People are continuously urged to leave Planet Earth and re-start life some-where in the Galaxy. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter: he ‘retires’ androids for a certain sum as an employee of the San Francisco Police Department. Happily married, he lives in San Francisco, where like everywhere around the world, the laws of entropy and kipple (‘useless objects, like junk mail or match folders after you use the last match or gum wrappers of yesterday's homeopape’) rule.Now, a group of eight brand-new Nexus 6 androids has escaped from Mars because they couldn’t stand the exploitation and slavery there. Rick must find them and retire them as soon as possible. However,

Philip K. Dick

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“Should we play Creator? How far can we go? Do we need to go that far?”

there is a problem: androids are made of human cells and tissue and consist of no metal parts. They can love, hate, feel sad and show empathy, can’t they? And they have already killed once, and won’t hesitate to do it again, if their lives are endangered. Rick doesn’t have the slightest idea that his life is going to change completely, if he manages to survive the hunt…‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ was written in 1968, by one of the most prominent American science fiction writers, Phillip K. Dick. Known as PKD, he was a strong believer in the existence of parallel worlds and greatly condemned violence and war throughout his life. He was keen on hallucinat-ing and often used various types of drugs to reach this state. It is believed that parts of this book were written while he was hallucinating. A classic sci-fi novel at first glance, one should thoroughly analyze the world around, and will easily cotton on that this ‘straight-face satire of contempo-rary society’ hasn’t lost any relevance, and still satirizes the same situation even 40 years later. Greed, violence, egoism, fall of moral values and other vices we have accumulated through our exis-tence, have turned a world of harmony and utopia

into one superficial reality and a dystopia.The book raises many ethical and religious issues. Should we play Creator? How far can we go? Do we need to go that far? What do we believe in? What if there wasn’t anything to be believed in? All these questions are just a drop in the sea that is found behind all the symbols used by PKD. The book also criticizes ‘the creators’ of our time, urging them to take the responsibility for their creations, the same responsibility they have ‘accidently forgotten.’ With a duration of only 24 hours, permeated with disappointment, pessi-mism and moral helplessness, the author shows us the way we are going, and sends one strong and desperate call for us to be saved from ourselves. I strongly recommend this book to everyone, because it shows the serious consequences of our perpetual mistakes, and makes one reflect on the issue of whether we’re heading towards a brighter future of development, or to a dark chaos of destruction.

Filip Ilievski

This novel inspired the famous science fiction

movie “Blade Runner” - Ridley Scott

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First of all, what is the ‘official’ definition of young people’s rights? In my personal opinion it is difficult to establish a universally applied definition because of the cultural differences between coun-tries. A young person’s rights are often hard to pinpoint and difficult obtain an accurate description for, young people aren’t often aware of their rights as they can be sometimes be difficult to understand and to interpret. An example of this includes the United Nations (UN) Children’s rights convention, as there is an overwhelming amount of information about this convention, which takes time to research and comprehend. The convention came about In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because “people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not”; this led to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 1990. It became the most widely accepted human rights treaty in history.

these rights are not met means there can be dif-ferent levels of under-standing or commitment within a nation, as well as different coun-tries interpreting how to follow these rights in different ways. Even in such a union as the

Essay As a young person

I have the right too...

As a young person I feel that I should have the right to be lawfully assigned basic human rights just like any other human being. In my view, this means that I have the right to be treated equally with others, socially, intellectually and politically, and receive a fair hearing when things go wrong. I also feel that as a young person I need help to make the transition through childhood into informed and responsible adult citizenship. I would go so far as to expect my right to a safe and secure passage with all my basic needs fully met and life chances provided for. So, let me consider whether this expectation is realistic in terms of conditions for young people in Europe and specifi-cally in my own country, Wales, in the United Kingdom, as well as elsewhere in the world. How do we define, young peoples’ rights globally and how do we apply them? How also do we ensure young people know what their rights are?

This convention gave rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols, yet these rights are techni-cally not an obligation, they are optional. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) upholds the Con-vention on the Rights of the Child and they advocate that, “States parties to the Convention are obliged to develop and undertake all actions and policies in the light of the best interests of the child”. Yet no interna-tional prosecution will occur if these rights are not met. UNICEF asks that if a nation is signed up to the convention, they will “hold themselves accountable for this commitment”. Every nation signed up to the conventions agreements except for The United States of America and Somalia.

The fact that there are not any major repercussions if these rights are not met means there can be different levels of understanding or commitment within a nation, as well as different countries interpreting how to follow these rights in different ways. Even in such a union as the European Union, the rights of a young person differ on massive scales, especially from East to West.

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these rights are not met means there can be dif-ferent levels of under-standing or commitment within a nation, as well as different coun-tries interpreting how to follow these rights in different ways. Even in such a union as the To take it a level deeper, within the United Kingdom the rights of a young person change on certain levels between the different countries that make up that kingdom. I am a Youth Worker in Cardiff, Wales; my understanding of young people’s rights will be based around those rights upheld in Wales itself. In my role as a youth worker, I try to compare those rights to those within Europe, as well as a small look at young people’s rights on a global level, to further my understanding on young people’s rights.

On the 20 November 1989, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 193 Nations signed the agreement; it provided a guideline for the basic standards for children’s well-being at different stages of their development and is the first univer-sal, legally binding code of child rights in history.

The rights are stated in 54 articles, UNICEF has attempted to describe these articles in a more people friendly form, away from the government

jargon of the UN General Assembly. The UNICEF website answers crucial questions for young people, especially in the “Are you old enough?” section. This area answers youth related questions on topics such on war, work, sex, voting, and most perhaps most importantly, young people’s right to be heard. There is also a section of the website for youth reading around how to take action when a young person believes that some of these rights are being infringed on and contains a downloadable guide to action. The guide’s suggestions, like the 54 articles, are all based around the CRC's four core principles of non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, survival, development, protection and participation.

UNICEF provides much on information on the CRC in a format suitable for young people, but how effec-tively is it distributed? It has only been 5 years since I left high school in the UK and I was clueless about what CRC was until I became a youth worker. I find frequently that a lot more adults know about the CRC and it articles rather than the young people

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What is the ‘official’

definition of young

people’s rights?

that they effect, and that this information is not regularly transferred to the young people. The lack of information available to young people regarding CRC seems to infringe on one of the major core principles of the convention; participa-tion. There are a number of organisations that are trying to educate and inform young people about their rights, but frustratingly not nearly enough. Recently, in Willows High School, Cardiff, where I am based, the children's charity Save the Children, have been running a project with the young people which discusses the CRC and runs campaigns to try and ensure that these articles are followed. I felt this was a fantastic way to educate young people about their rights as the young people were not obligated to do the project and chose to do this in their own time and on their terms. The young people participating then used the time they had spent on this project as part of the 'volunteering' section of a UK based qualification called the 'Duke of Edinburgh Award'. This meant that the project based around the CRC was participative, for the young people’s development and in the best inter-ests of the young people. In keeping with CRC, any

young person could take part in this project, as there was no discrimination. This is a good example of a project based around the CRC reaching the four core principles.Within Europe now, there are a large number of organisations ensuring that the information from the CRC is accessible to young people. Article 12 Scot-land is one such organisation, making the informa-tion readily available, actively getting involved to improve the CRC and is a member of Rights of the Child UK (ROCK), who are a coalition working for the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law. Article 12 Scotland is outstanding at providing information on the UNCRC at a Scottish level, British level and international level. On their website young people can download the Scottish Government’s most recent report on the UN committee on the rights of the child, (UNCRC), in 3 alternative formats as well as a copy of the UN committees report on the UK and the Scottish response to this report. The organi-sation is also involved in a campaign to improve the UNCRC by introducing a complaints mechanism. “The UNCRC is the only international human rights treaty with a mandatory reporting procedure which

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The rights of a young person differ on massive scales.

does not have, in addition, an existing or draft communica-tions procedure. This is a serious matter of discrimination against children”. Scotland has shown itself to have a great range of NGOs providing fantastic information for young people about their rights nationally and internationally and how they can get involved.

This is similar in other European countries, for example Mace-donia (F.Y.R.O), Slovakia, Latvia, Northern Ireland and Czech Republic all have a number of NGOs working in this field, but why is it the NGOs and not the government themselves providing such high quality levels of information?

Daniel John Carter - United KingdomWith input from Portia Nicholson

Sources

www.unicef.orgwww.article12.org The Youth Work Curriculum Statement for Waleswww.nolabel.czwww.cid.mkwww.youngwrexham.co.uk www.globallovetrust.org.uk www.assemblywales.orgwww.estyn.gov.uk www.thealternativeschool.co.uk www.iaw.org.ukwww.mnch.gov.pk www.funkydragon.orgwww.paulofreire.org

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To be continued on.... www.magazinelibertas.com/as-a-young-person-i-have-the-right-to/

is additional European issue of the digital youth magazine LIBERTAS, published every 15th in the month with support from the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe.

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Charlie Delhumeau

Vladimira Bravkova

Dragan Atanasov

Charlie Delhumeau

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Daniel Nunes

Team

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Vladimira Bravkova, Czech RepublicDragan Atanasov, MacedoniaTiberiu Iacomi, RomaniaLina Vosyliute, LithuaniaIvana Galapceva, Macedonia Boyan Tabutov, Bulgaria Filip Ilievski Charlie Delhumeau, France Tamara Vasilkovska, MacedoniaDaniel John Carter, United KingdomDragan Atanasov, Macedonia

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