Realisation at last?

I never thought the day would come when anything faintly resembling the shadow of a story regarding the situation of young people in modern society hit the headlines. This doesn't cover half the topic, but is at least a start.

In a speech to, surprise surprise, students, Charles Kennedy today levelled the criticism that Labour "neglects" youth. Speaking at the London School of Economics, the Liberal Democrat leader said "We want young people to be part of the system - not outside looking in," a very profound statement by the standards of modern politicians.

The youth of today are becoming disengaged from society, disillusioned with the system, apathetic about democracy and politics in general. Why? Because decision-makers at all levels simply don't care about the views of a social group in which the majority of people aren't of voting age.


This whole problem is a vicious circle, as the above diagram details. Its root lies in the unwillingness of politicians to engage with the youth population, mostly because many are under the age of 18 – young people's views don’t matter in the political arena because there’s nothing to gain from their support. This means they aren’t interested in voting and leads to shockingly low turnout figures*. The whole circular process then starts againafter elections because the politicians don’t see any point in making efforts with people who probably won’t vote in large enough numbers to make a difference the next time round.

Modern-day politicians are obsessed with the short-term. They only think as far into the future as the next polling day and every action is carefully pondered with electoral popularity in mind. Radical changes and major upheavals are preferred to letting things be, just to make it look like the government is doing something vaguely productive, even in situations when such extreme measures are blatantly unrequired.

The media plays a substantial part as well. Young people are subjected to a constant barrage of unfair negative portrayal, although these incidents result from the actions of a very small disruptive minority. If any other group within society were so inaccurately ridiculed as thugs, louts, yobs and hooligans day after day it would be deemed simply unacceptable. Young people do not all wear hoodies, skulk at street corners and lurk behind bus shelters awaiting hapless victims - any fool can tell you that.

Of course this particular problem concerning public portrayal is a side issue to the bad-news-obsessed media culture which seems to have taken control of the world. People are much more interested to hear or read about scandal and controversy than success or achievement.

Young people currently find it difficult wanting to remain part of this society. This is one major factor in the rising rates of youth anti-social behaviour and crime (the other being a perplexing legal system without clear definition of what exactly constitutes anti-social conduct). Everything is against them. But something has to change soon because, if the situation continues its recent evolution, a whole generation will be lost to the waves of disengagement, disillusionment and apathy sweeping Britain today.

*18-25 age range voter turnout: 2001 - 35%, 2005 - 37% (source: MORI)

How confidential?

Last week a new book was published, written by the UK's former Ambassador to Washington. Sir Christopher Meyer reportedly reveals a lot in his warts-and-all account, ridiculing government ministers and the way they acted in dealings with the White House - particularly concerning Iraq. Prominent cabinet members, including Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, are denounced as "pygmies" and an amusing episode in the bedroom of former Prime Minister John Major recounted. Here are a couple of extracts from a serialisation in The Guardian:

Hindsight usually follows failure. As I write, things looked bad in Iraq. At regular intervals over the last two years I have asked the same question of former colleagues in the British and American governments: in Iraq, is the glass half-empty or is it half-full? With one exception the answer has been "half-full". The exception was a trusted American friend and government official, who, after paying a recent visit to Iraq, returned to tell the White House: "We're f**ked."

Iraq ran like a toxic stream through my time in Washington. When I arrived in 1997, Saddam was already playing cat and mouse with the first generation of UN weapons inspectors. It was hugely embarrassing to President Bush, and more so to Tony Blair, because he had rested his case for war exclusively on the Iraqi leader's failure to disarm.

I had a handful of especially important contacts in the higher echelons of the US administration - people at the heart of planning for the Iraq campaign. I was told things that were highly sensitive. Absolute trust was the indispensable ingredient in our relationship. After each conversation, one of them would always say: "Don't get me burned." Sensitive information was not given to me because my friends liked the colour of my eyes. I had to give something in return.

*Taken from Guardian Unlimited Special Report.

Looks like an interesting read! One of the biggest questions being asked is exactly why the government allowed this book to be published. Relatively recently, the Foreign Office notoriously blocked the memoirs of Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the UK's last ambassador to the UN, because of the sensitive nature of content. Meyer's book, entitled DC Confidential (sounds like one of those crime drama TV programmes) was sent to the FCO and returned with "no comment". So is it really as sensationally controversial as everyone thinks?

Some sources would indicate it is, such as a recent leaked memo from Sir Michael Jay, head of the diplomatic service, warning ambassadors and other senior figures against publishing similar accounts. "Let me stress that we cannot serve ministers effectively unless they trust and confide in us, which they will only do if we respect that confidence - not just when doing our jobs, but afterwards too," he said. It's too late for the government to do anything about this book now, but many are predicting the instigation of strict new measures to prevent situations like this developing in the future.

However, one argument doing the rounds in response to this is that Meyer is simply giving the public information they need to have. People are always kept in the dark about backstage dealings; maybe the time has finally come to learn about some of them. The Iraq war was, and still is, a massively controversial issue and not easily forgotten in the cabinet - the revelations and allegations in DC Confidential may simply serve to reignite national debate about this tedious, over-discussed topic.

Maybe it will leave the public eye when the answers come out. Perhaps this whole thing will be a blessing in disguise for the Prime Minister, still struggling to escape accusations of lying to his electorate. The situation could develop over the next few months in either of these ways: Iraq will return to the forefront of political debate as more questions are asked and problems uncovered, or the opposite will happen and it will start to disappear completely, finally allowing this country to move on from discussing the endless whispering speculations we've become so used to hearing.

Back to reality

OK, here's to another richly clichéd title for a blog entry... But it really is a case of returning to normality after that frenzied stay across the pond. I think I've gotten over most of the withdrawal symptoms from NY, which had started to feel like home, by this stage - but of course everything's on a much smaller scale when I go out.

One thing I instantly noticed about my local area, as I travelled down the highstreet on the bus to meet a few friends and catch up, was how many shops have changed. I clocked at least ten new arrivals before losing count - in the space of just over a month this is quite incredible. Why there's such a huge turnover of property is a mystery to me. The depressing fact is that nearly every time something closes down, it's a coffeehouse which takes over. Starbucks is everywhere you look; I'm starting to resent the familiar green, white and black of its corporate logo.

In some ways it's good to be back. On Wednesday I had an enjoyable photography assignment in Cambridge, one of Britain's most attractive cities. We had perfect weather for taking pictures and I used the opportunity to visit one of my friends from school who's studying medicine at the prestigious university. It was great fun meeting new people in the bar that evening and made me look forward to when I go to uni even more. That's not for another eleven months, although I'm pretty sure the time will fly along. I was going to visit Oxford this week as well for the same purpose, but unfortunately that was cancelled.

Reach for the dust goggles!

During the time I was away, I forgot about what a terrible state my bedroom had been left in. Clothes and papers were everywhere, it was impossible to see the floor through a sea of wires, garments and random documents and the desk was unusable. So I've spent pretty much the last two days tidying up and banishing much of the accumulated detritis and it's much nicer now. I can't remember last time such a major operation has taken place and I'm going to try and keep things clean from now on.

Working my way through the room, it was really interesting to find lots of items which brought back particular memories. A letter from one of my old music teachers, pieces of work from primary school days and birthday cards from several years ago all turned up as well as pieces of paper with other things I'd drawn or written a while back. It was slightly worrying to see that at an early age I was thinking of ways to slyly plagiarise George Lucas and his multi-million dollar Star Wars concept!

DIY Disaster!

Another thing left for weeks during my absence was the fitting of a bathroom cupboard. Apart from a few minor mistakes and a hideously innacurate instruction booklet, it was easy enough to assemble. The real problem came when trying to attach it to the wall: we discovered an unexpected layer of solid brick blocking the way. The cupboard is still on the floor and holes all over the wall; I think hired help may have to be called in...

Ghana in need

Recently I've been in touch with young people in Ghana about helping out on a project being run by the Global Youth Action Network and the Student World Assembly. It's called Save the Rural Dweller and is designed to help achieve MDG number eight: a global partnership for development, among other things. I've pledged to try and help recruit volunteers who will go out there and particpate in the project, as well as advise on the creation of a Ghanaian youth parliament - very exciting! People have done lots of hard work to get the ball rolling and they deserve results, so if anyone's interested please drop me a line!

Here are some extracts from the project document:

Every day at the various entry points to Accra, the capital, and some of the other major cities in Ghana there is an influx of youth trooping in from the towns and villages in search of jobs. Some engage in prostitution and have been victims of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other hazardous diseases. Many others resort to armed robbery and other social malpractices to make ends meet.

Demographic studies show that some of these children, who engage in “kayayo” by carrying heavy loads for a meager charge or selling on the streets and roadsides, are surprisingly as young as 10 years old.

Information on the Upper Denkyira District:

The area falls under a forest – dissected plateau rising to about 250m above sea level. There are pockets of steep-sided hills alternating with flat bottom sided
valleys. The district also falls within the semi-equatorial zone, with a mean temperature of 29 degrees Celsius in the hottest months and 24 degrees in the coolest. The district has 2 rainfall regimes.

According to 2000 population and housing Census, the district has a population of 108444 - now projected to be 122,537 (2004), with a 3.1% annual growth rate. The district is made up of 53749 males and 54695 females (i.e. 98.3 males to 100 females). Of these 82,229 live in the rural area. Dunkwa-On-Offin is the District
capital with a population of 26,215.

Based on the 2000 population and housing census, of 108,444 people in the district, 45,546 (42%) were found to be living below the poverty line. This is higher than the national average of 39.5%. 15.182 (14%) people fall within the 'Hard Core Poverty' category. This situation calls for urgent intervention in the area of poverty reduction, taking cognizance of the fact that the current thrust of the government development policy
is reducing the level of poverty.

So, now you've read about it. Please get in touch if you'd like to help out.

Preparations...

Can't wait for my next trip, set to begin at the end of this month. First of all is the youth summit in Lithuania, then a couple of nights in Prague, the youth delegates' evaluation meeting in Geneva, visiting my aunt and uncle in Basel, down to Campobasso in Italy for the OBESSU students' conference and finally up to Trieste via Rome, Florence and Venice to visit a friend there. It's going to be 25 nights away in total - I'll return on December 24 in time for Christmas - and my arrangements are incredibly complicated! Lots of train tickets still need to be booked, but the whole thing is going to be an awesome experience. I'm really lucky to get these opportunities for more travel - I had thought there wouldn't be any more after the stay in New York.

Home at last

I am now back in London, after what can only be described as one of the best months of my life so far. Living in New York, working at the UN and meeting so many great people all combined to produce an experience I will never forget.

The last week was the least busiest, something I rather enjoyed. There were only five or six youth delegates left on Monday; that number had decreased to three on Friday, when I attended a roundtable discussion on youth and the MDGs at Columbia University. This involved giving a brief talk at the start, along with fellow youth reps from Georgia and Australia and a few other guests, before comments were invited from everyone else. The event was organised by the Earth Institute at Columbia and the UN Programme on Youth and I thought it went pretty well, with just about the right amount of people there. It was chaired by Gordon McCord, understudy to Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and a leading advisor at the UN.


Other events of the week included meeting team members of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa on a night out, a fascinating group of people from all over the world - including one from the area of London pretty much adjacent to where I live! - and going to a comedy show the next evening featuring five men improvising humorous sketches around random words suggested by the audience.

It was while having breakfast in the surreal surroundings of a New Jersey diner, during the small hours of Sunday morning with gospel music and a religious preacher ringing out in the background, that I realised just how fast time has flown by over the past few months. I can still remember all the summer days revising indoors, coping with boiling heat to try and learn historical happenings and political ideologies, like they were last week. And there I was, sitting on the other side of the world, none the wiser.

The time does seem to have gone incredibly quickly, but the good thing is I don't think it's been because I wasn't concentrating. Particularly during the UN main youth week, I was stressing to everyone not to lose focus: otherwise the days will be gone before you know it and you'll be going home without really having learnt anything or taken in the occasion. You can look back and think of many things you'd have done differently in retrospect. This can happen so easily when you get too caught up in something; thankfully I managed to avoid it.

I arrived back to the good news that I've been accepted to attend a youth conference in Lithuania at the end of the month. It looks like a fantastic event and I can't wait for the chance to discover another new country - I've been incredibly lucky recently with everywhere I've visited and will be sure to take a couple of days in Vilnius just to explore the town and learn about its culture.

After this will come the all-important youth delegates' evaluation meeting in Geneva. As I keep emphasising, the follow-up work we all do after leaving NYC is equally - if not more - important than everything we've done in the buildup to the UN and during it. The website idea needs to be developed and discussions are ongoing; hopefully something will be in place before the meeting. I also hope to have my documentary ready to show everyone in Switzerland; after the event at Columbia on Friday I paid a final visit to DCTV in Chinatown to pick up DVDs containing footage of the youth Roundtable and Plenary sessions from the WPAY review, which I'd had dubbed from VHS for easier editing. That was the last piece in the jigsaw as far as the documentary preparations are concerned: now I have to get down the the tricky business of writing, editing and producing the film itself.

Being back at home is anti-climactic after the hustle and bustle of living in Manhattan and everything I did there, but it had to happen eventually. Recently I was elected to the Board of the UK Youth Parliament to represent London and, no sooner had that happened, a bad financial situation came up in the region which we all have to work now to sort out. Also, I'm rather behind in hours with my job as Youth Participation Worker for Hounslow and this may take a few weeks to catch up. But I have the Lithuanian and Swiss events to look forward to and literally two minutes ago I had an email inviting me to another event in Italy happening the week after Geneva, which I will attend to represent the English Secondary Students' Association. What a day - and what a trip this will be!