Fun lovin’ activists get serious
Young activists from up and down the country have demanded increased political and social rights from the government.
| To come to a place like this and be surrounded by young people who are all trying to make a difference is fantastic. |
More than seven hundred young people and youth workers have joined forces to press politicians into lowering the voting age and creating a new government department for youth affairs.
The participants at the Fun Lovin' Activists conference presented their joint statement to government minister Ivan Lewis at Warwick University.
Receiving the nine-point declaration, the minister for young people and learning said: "All politicians have a responsibility to make sure young people are heard. This can only be done by introducing an honest and two-way dialogue. Our policies need to reflect the opinions of young people."
Despite guaranteeing that the proposals would receive a specific response from government, he dashed some of the delegates' hopes when he said: "The government is not committed to reducing the voting age, but will participate in a debate. We have no plans for a single ministry for youth, but have a commitment to a strategy for getting young people heard."
 Ivan Lewis MP was among the guests at the Fun Lovin' Activists conference. Photo by Steve Charnock | |
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Organised by the UK Youth Work Alliance, the two-day event encouraged young people to discuss citizenship, rights and community action.
Members of organisations as diverse as the UK Youth Parliament, the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Ireland and the Cardiff Black Youth Network gave speeches, presented workshops and shared their experiences with other delegates.
Among the workshops on offer were "Global citizenship – what's it got to do with me?", "Dreams and how to make them reality," and "Manipulating the media: young people talk back."
Conference patron Professor Bernard Crick, the driving force behind the introduction of citizenship education into the National Curriculum, told delegates: "One of the problems with life in Britain at the moment is that there is a big disaffiliation of young people in party politics and public affairs generally.
"What excites me most about this conference is hearing about all the work that young people have been doing at both a local and national level."
Fellow keynote speaker Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of international rights group, CIVICUS, delivered a similarly motivating address to delegates.
Mr Naidoo said: "I passionately believe that young people should be fully involved in decision making about issues that affect their lives. Simply just having young people involved in large numbers does not mean that their cause has been advanced. To fail to bring them on board in leadership is a strategic error."
Delegates taking part in the conference echoed this opinion. For Margaret Gibney, 16, Belfast-based UNICEF young ambassador for peace, it was an inspirational experience.
"It's a brilliant idea. I'm always surrounded by adults in the work I do," she said. "To come to a place like this and be surrounded by young people who are all going out there and trying to make a difference is fantastic"
UK Youth Parliament member Ashley Sweetland, 17, challenged the politicians to match the delegates' ambitions. "I'm hoping to look at the issues that come out of this and see how decision makers can respond to the needs of young people in the 21st century," he said.
Kevin Munday, 23, spokesman for the UK Youth Work Allliance said: " This was the first opportunity young people have had in the UK to come together on this issue and put our points across to policy makers. We really hope what we've said will be listened to and acted upon and that there will be more opportunities like this in the future."
About the team
This article was produced by editors Senab Adekunle, Abeyna Jones and Rupal Patel, 18 (all from London) and Tom Willshire, 17 (from Birmingham). It was published in Young People Now magazine.
