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“Man himself has caused the degradation of the royal lineage of his own personality. The result has been the deterioration of a humanity that has lost his way. In general terms, this is the situation that the human being suffers in the society that he, himself, has constructed. Your mission, under the Universal Parliament, united in your intention, desire, and actions, is to restore the highest values, which have been torn away from the human being by the human being himself.” -Fernando Rielo Pardal,Founder Idente Youth
That was the vision of Fernando Rielo, the founder of the World Youth Parliament(WYP). He saw in the youth, what most others never saw, hope for a better future, a new civilization built of their own hopes and dreams, not on the ruins of an older civilization.
When I first signed up for the WYP I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The experience I’ve brought back with me is something I wouldn’t exchange for anything in the world.
But first, a brief history. The World Youth Parliament was born in 1981, following a lecture given by Fernando Rielo (1923-2004) in the United Nations Headquarters, New York. On that occasion, he spoke of the WYP as the “United Nations of Youth”. He dreamed that the voice of young people, free from prejudices and interests, could be heard around the world and make a decisive contribution on fundamental questions of social and spiritual life.
It was this dream that inspired youth from all over the world to take up the project of drafting a Magna Carta of Values for a New Civilization. This was a chance for us, as youth, to prove that we aren’t the self-obsessed, materialistic generation that people have labelled us. All of us, have at some point of time, heard our elders bemoaning that the current generation has lost all sense of morals and has absolutely no values. Young people have always been labelled as restless and impetuous. Most of the world tried convincing us that restlessness is evil. What they never realised, is that it is this very restlessness that can bring about change.
Fernando Rielo realised this, which is why he created the WYP as a forum for young people to come together. He believed that young people haven’t been “paralyzed” by educational, social and cultural prejudices which haunt the older generations. The lack of prejudice, coupled with an inherent goodness that is present in every one of us, can steer us to developing a world without economic, social or educational boundaries. A world where each person’s dignity is respected.
Critics and cynics might say that such lofty ideals aren’t practical. That these are only dreams, that we are still too young to understand what the world is; but the WYP has strengthened my belief that such a world is possible.
The entire experience at the WYP is too incredible to put into words. It gave me a platform to interact with youth from all over the world. And somewhere in the midst of all the cultural exchanges, I realised that all of us, no matter from which part of the world we were, wanted a world where all can live in harmony, irrespective of nationality, religion or creed.
The WYP session lasted from the 10th to the 13th of August 2010. On the first day, we were briefed about the draft of the Magna Carta which had been prepared at the previous session in Rome, 2009. During the course of the past year, this draft was studied by youth from all over the world and various amendments were proposed. These amendments were put forward for approval at the WYP 2010. The sessions of the WYP were held at the St. John’s University, Queens, NY. This is where we first met up with all the delegates. There were delegates from 20 countries present including Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Ecuador, Mexico, Germany, etc.
“The Magna Carta of Values for a New Civilization”, as the name implies are a set of values that have been drawn up by the youth, for the youth. This is our way of saying that we haven’t forgotten how to be human, that we will work for a better world. The uniqueness of this Carta is that it isn’t something that was thrown at us. We weren’t told to follow it. It is OUR decision to apply these values in our lives. The Carta is divided into ten sections, dealing with values relating to the person open to transcendence, family, interpersonal relationships, politics, society, work, economic relations, educational relations, communication networks and the environment.
On the second day, we were divided into various committees, one for each section to debate on the amendments proposed and to approve of the ones which needed a change. I was in the committee for economic relations. We had a pretty intense debate between us about what defines economic relations and which direction we need to follow. There were various opinions regarding the excesses of consumerism and how to reduce inequality among countries and people. The second session that day was the Parliament. All the delegates assembled in a common venue to vote on the amendments proposed. A two-thirds majority led to the approval of the amendments. There were quite a few exciting moments where people had different opinions about the amendments. After a long session that lasted over 3 hours, the final draft of the Magna Carta was completed. It was then up to the scientific committee who worked overnight to prepare the final version according to the format.
August 13th 2010 is a Red letter day for everyone who attended the conference. It was on this day that we made our way to United Nations Headquarters in New York to present our Magna Carta to the world. It was in the UN that the WYP was born, and nearly 30 years later, the dream finally bore fruit. In the exact place where Fernando Rielo gave his speech, the Magna Carta was presented to the world. All the delegates could barely control their excitement and happiness. The dream of so many had finally become a reality. It was a very happy bunch of delegates who returned back to the university, later that evening. To actually participate in a session at the UN is not something everyone can claim to have done, but we can.
The Magna Carta of values for a New Civilization has finally been completed. But for us, our work is just beginning. The preamble of the charter states,
“After two years of intense work on the topic, "Towards a Magna Carta of Values for a New
Civilization," we, youth from 20 countries who constitute the World Youth Parliament, present our
findings by means of this document to make our voice heard, as well as to make known our personal
commitment to living out these values that we consider to be fundamental for building a new civilization, a
new civilization which responds to our highest aspirations and which reflects in its every structure the
great dignity of human beings, as well as their potential for creating and restoring reality.”
The real work is just beginning and we know that it has to start with us. We cannot expect the rest of the world to embrace these values until we first live it ourselves. It was with the resolution to begin the change with ourselves that all of us returned back to our respective countries.
The WYP gave me an opportunity to take part in something much bigger than myself. I’ve noticed around me a lot of young people who wish to give back to society, who desire to make a change. We all believe that India has a lot of potential; its diversity is its biggest asset. It should make us stronger as a country and that is what we should work for. The dream, first of a better India and then of a better World.
Parting from all the new friends I made in New York wasn’t easy but we all knew that we shared a dream that will bind us together. Everyone keeps in touch through the internet where we discuss method to spread the world.
One man’s belief has given the youth a direction. Let’s hope that it spreads all over the world.
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