World Festival of Youth and Students
World Festival of Youth and Students
In August 2001 the 15th World Festival of Youth and Students will be held in Algiers, up to 10,000 youth and students will gather under the slogan "Let's globalise the struggle for peace, solidarity and development against imperialism." The Festival is a unique opportunity for youth and students to come together from around the world and discuss their experiences in struggle. Over eight days, August 8-16, there will be a full programme with five discussion centres taking up the themes of:
Peace and Security Neo-liberal Globalization and Development Democracy, Human Rights and Social Justice Youth and Student Rights International Youth and Students' Movement
It will also feature an anti-imperialist tribunal and international solidarity forums. Regional clubs will be a focus for displays and discussion of those participating. Social group meetings will be an opportunity for people like young artists and writers or young parliamentarians or such to get together. Friendship sports tournaments, international cultural festivals and an international media centre all add to the programme. More details are available on the web site: www.wfys15.dz.
It is four years since the last festival in 1997 when 12,000 youth participated in Havana, Cuba. Participants in that festival were very enthusiastic about the way it assisted them to discuss their issues in a broader arena with a programme that addresses many of the key issues for youth today.
If you already have plans to participate in the World Conference on Racism in Durban it is possible to put together a programme to combine the two events.
Follows is the festival call and the festival programme.
For more details contact Annalucia Vermunt Tel: 03 3773834, email: annalucia@chn.quik.co.nz or fax: 03 365 6055
Program of the
15th World Festival of Youth
and Students
August 8-16, 2001, Algiers
I. Opening Ceremony
II. Thematical Discussion Centers (5)
Center No
1: Peace and Security
· Nuclear weapon-free world
·
Depleted -Uranium, chemical weapons, and weapon of mass
destruction
· Military alliances, military build-up, "
National Missile
Defense"-Program ,Plan Colombia, "NATO
expansion, and military
intervention
· Foreign
military bases
· "New World Order", and global
security
· World peace and international cooperation
·
The role of the United Nations and its democratization
·
Embargoes and blockades
· Prevention and Resolution of
regional, religious, and ethnic conflicts
· Culture of
Peace and mobilization for peace
· The role of religion
in peace-building
· National independence and
self-determination
· Foreign occupation and national
liberation
· Anti-imperialist solidarity and
struggle
Center No 2: Neo-liberal Globalization and Development
· Global trade deals
· Privatization and
its impact on society
· World economic order, World Trade
Organization, International Monetary
Fund, World Bank and
struggle of youth
· Corporate influence on global
institutions
· Financing development- Tobin Tax and
global economic reforms
· The role of the United Nations
in global social and economic
development
· Regional
economic cooperation and integration
· Foreign debts
·
Structural adjustment programs
· Right to natural
resources
· Science, technology, and development
·
Free movement of labor
· Food security
· Genetic
modified organism
· Drug-trafficking and
globalization
· Sustainable development, ecological
crisis, and climate change
· Conflict on water issues
and water security
· Environmental dumping, exploitation
of natural resources,
responsibility of TNC's, etc.
·
Control and concentration of capital, role of transnational
companies
· The case of Africa: crisis in access to
medication
· African Renaissance
· Brain drain
·
Poverty and the growing gap between the rich and the
poor
· Cultural hegemony and invasion
· South-South
cooperation, non-aligned movement
· Right to land,
resistance of exploited farmers and
agricultural
workers
· Crisis of capitalism and
alternative to it
Center No 3: Democracy, Human Right and Social Justice
· Refugees, the right of refugees to
asylum, education, employment and
return home
·
Migrant peoples, migrant workers Schengen Agreement
·
Sexual orientation,
· Penalization of struggle,
international and national mechanism of
surveylance
"Shengen Agreement "
· Death penalties
· Slavery and
human trafficking
· Repression against people's
struggle
· Gender equality, employment equity, violence
against and sexual abuse
of women
· Religious
fundamentalism
· Racial discrimination, neo-fascism,
xenophobia
· Ethnic minorities and marginalized
peoples
· Indigenous people
· Media and
democracy
Center No 4: Youth and student Rights
·
Rights to public , free and adequate education for all
·
Autonomy of educational institutions and democratic rights
of
academic community
· Young workers and their
rights
· Unemployment and its impact on youth
·
Youth, student's and children's involvement in armed
conflicts
· Night school students
· Youth health:
AIDS, drugs, sexual and reproductive rights
· Rural
youth, agricultural workers, and young farmers
·
Children's rights, child labor, child prostitution and war
-affected
children
· Child trafficking and child
abuse
· Student rights
· Youth and students political
participation, youth participation
in
decision-making
· Rights of youth and students to
their independent association
· Access to information and
communications technology
· Access to leisure, culture,
and sports
Center No 5: International Youth and Students' Movement
· International students' meeting
· Meeting of
the International Union of Students and others
student
organizations
· Strengthening the Festival
Movement - the 16th WFYS
· Meeting of Veterans of the
Festival Movement
· Youth and international year of
volunteers
· International Youth Day ( August 12)
·
Struggle of youth and students in Mediterranean region for
peace for
liberation and peace
· Networking for action
meetings of:
Young peasants and rural youth
Young
journalist
Young women
Young workers and trade
unionists
Young indigenous people
Young with
disabilities
Young discriminated against on the basis of
sexual orientation
· Youth struggles and new
technologies
· Youth and student exchange and
cooperation
· Youth and the United Nations
· Popular
ways of awareness building against imperialism
III.
Anti-imperialist tribunal (on crimes committed by
imperialism in
all its forms of expression against
humanity)
· War and military aggression
· Economic
blockades and embargoes
· Exploitation-main cause of
poverty and misery
· Environmental destruction
IV. International Solidarity Forums with people of:
Africa
· Angola
· Western Sahara
· Sudan
·
Somalia
· Great Lakes Region
America
· Cuba
·
Colombia
· Puerto Rico
· With the struggle of the
people of Venezuela against the North
American
agression.
Asia and Pacific
· Burma
· With the
struggle of Korean people for the independent and
peaceful
reunification
· Bhutan
· East
Timor
Europe
· Yugoslavia
· Cyprus
· Kurdish
people
Middle East
(With the following Arab
countries)
· Palestine
· Iraq
· Lebanon
·
Syria
· Sebta and Milia ( Morocco)
Algeria
V. Workshops on:
· Towards the independent state of
Palestine
· Problem of Western Sahara- the UN referendum
on self -determination
· Civil wars and resolutions of
conflicts in Africa
· Development and democracy in
Africa
· Problem of and struggle against terrorism
·
Religion extremism and violence
· "Plan Colombia" against
the anti- imperialist movement in Latin
America
VI.
Regional Clubs (6)
· America
· Asia and Pacific
·
Europe
· Middle East
· Africa
· Algeria
VII. Social Group Meetings
· Young Artists and Writers
·
Young Parliamentarians
· Young Believers
· Young
Professionals and Entrepreneurs
· Young Scientists
·
Young Athletes
· Young Volunteers
VIII. Friendship Sport Tournaments
· Solidarity Marathon
· Chess
·
Table Tennis
· Volleyball
· Football
·
Basketball
· Wheelchair basketball
·
Handball
IX. International Cultural Festivals
·
Festival of Political song
· Festival of Modern
Music
· Festival of Dance and Mime
· Festival of
Traditional Folklore
· Festival of Film-makers
X.
WFDY- UNESCO Conference on "the Role of Young Women in
promoting
culture of peace in Africa".
XI.
International Media Center
XII. Closing Ceremony
Themes of the Days
8th August -Opening
9th August
-Africa
10th August-Americas
11th August-Asia and
Pacific
12th August-Europe
13th August-Middle
East
14th August-Festival (Celebrating the Festival
Movement)
15th August-Algeria
16th
August-Closing
To the Youth and Students of the World!
The 20th century was marked by the glorious victory of peoples' struggle for national liberation. Humankind is entering the 21st century with new hopes and as-pirations. However, the turn of the century by itself does not change our lives for the better. It depends on our joint struggle.
World peace and security today are threatened by imperialist domination, in-tervention and conflicts. People's basic rights are deprived by neo-liberal policies. Exploitation and repression are world-wide. The global struggle of all democ-ratic, progressive and anti-imperialist forces is urgently needed. The struggle of youth and students in the world to face these challenges was encouraged and strengthened by the success of the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students held in Havana, Cuba in 1997. In recent years this strug-gle, especially in denouncing capitalist globalisation and imperialist aggression, is spreading in all parts of the world.
To further widen and strengthen the unity of youth and students all over the world in anti-imperialist struggle, we call for the 15th World Festival of Youth and Students to be held in Algeria in August, 2001.
The Festival will be an open forum for young people to exchange experiences, work together for alternative solutions, and establish joint programs of action on issues such as peace, solidarity, disar-mament, a nuclear-free world, the "new world order", NATO and military alliances, conflicts and instability, occupations, blockades and embargoes, displacement of people, neo-liberal globalisation, sci-ence and technology, culture and media, eradication of racism, gender equality, education, employment, poverty, human and youth rights, environment, HIV/AIDS, drug abuse.
The World Festival of Youth and Stu-dents, to be held for the first time on the African continent, in the Arab region, will be an opportunity for world youth and students to express their solidarity with the Algerian people and with the struggle of all African and Arab peoples for na-tional and economic independence, sov-ereignty, self-determination, peace, de-velopment and social progress. We call upon all youth and students to join us in this struggle, and to work actively to prepare for and participate in the 15th World Festival of Youth and Stu-dents under the slogan:
Let's globalise the struggle for Peace, Solidarity, Development, against imperialism! The struggle continues! Together we will win! See you in Algiers!
(Appeal calling the 15th World Youth Fes-tival, adopted in Havana, Cuba, June 2000.)