1-3 August 2005. Jakarta, Indonesia

In recognition of the significance of the 6th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Hong Kong in December 2005, a 3rd YPSEA conference was organized in Manila to discuss globalization issues from the perspective of young progressives. This meeting provided venue for young people to exchange experiences on effectively engaging political processes in each country and discuss alternative engagements for young people in processes and procedures within the WTO. The Hongkong WTO ministerial meeting underscored the necessity to advance knowledge of young people in the WTO for purposes of a more informed critical engagement. The seminar geared towards the discussion of issues that concern not only the young, but also of Southeast Asia as a regional entity. Sharing of information and experiences as to how to equip the young progressives in their encounters with multilateral institutions, specifically, the World Trade Organization and thematic discourses on trade of goods, in services, education, and labor and interventions where young progressives can play a part in were also undertaken. The seminar organized workshops to involve the young progressives in the crafting of alternatives to what the current system has to offer. At the end of the activity, young activists were better equipped in contributing to the reshaping of the current globalization process.

8-10 June 2006, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

After the subsequent regional conferences in Jakarta and Manila, the group has continually define and refine their thrusts, aims and directions. In 2006, the YPSEA, as a group and a venue, worked on regular regional exchange of experiences on how youth participation can be made more meaningful and relevant and continued to identify and share strategies for networking and regional coordination among young people involved in areas to make politics more progressive, as opposed to politics which is traditional, conservative and exclusive.

The overarching context, since the very first meeting in 2004, is the recognition that political participation of and among young people cannot be de-linked from the dynamics of democratization in the five countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines) and the role that progressive young people play in events that affect these democracies. The 4th regional seminar in Cambodia was designed for the network members - which include individual activists and members of social movements, political organizations and progressive parties - to discuss and plan in more detail how to promote the spirit and practice of genuine democracy in the so-called "fragile democracies" in the Southeast Asian region.

The list of priority areas for the YPSEA plan of action is outlined as follows:

1) Magna Carta for Young People: Draft and lobby for a National Youth Policy or a Magna Carta for Young People (starting at national but aiming at regional level)

2) Political Participation: Conduct capability building training-seminars on political participation skills for young people's organizations; also, leadership/ capacity training

3) Human Rights and the Burma Campaign:Provide human rights education among youth organizations; Campaign against gross human rights violations, especially the case of Burma

4) Electoral Reform: Participate actively in voters' education programs;

Participate in training activities (via country exchange, internship, exposure trips)

5) Education: Research on the state of education (national and regional levels); Conduct training activities on political education

6) Employment: Work with trade unions to push for pro-youth employment policies; Educate young peoples' groups on the situation of youth unemployment

 

16- 19 June 2007, Malaysia

This regional workshop is part of the continuing efforts of FES to link the experiences of progressive young people in Southeast Asia, highlight critical issues related to democratization and political participation in the region, and define the role of young people in these issues. FES partnership with the YPSEA network, which was started in Manila in 2004, provided the welcome momentum to surface the perspectives of young progressives on the varied issues that beset the democratization process in different countries in the region. In the 4th regional seminar in Phnom Penh, the need to enhance the political participation of young people was highly affirmed and the arenas for the meaningful participation of young progressives in their own countries and in the region were identified. The 5th regional seminar arimed to affirm the commitment of the YPSEA, since its inception, to promote and exhaustively discuss gender equality and gender-responsiveness among young progressives in the region.

 

Influencing policies, strengthening solidarity among young people's networks, pushing for reforms in society, developing progressive discourse, building constituencies---these are daunting tasks that progressive young people's groups often confront and engage with. Effective engagements in these areas, however, require strong organizations, a problem for many young people's groups in the region. Many progressive young people's organizations, whether they are membership-based mass organizations, social movements, student or campus-based organizations, community-based groups, have serious problems in terms of increasing membership and consolidating their constituencies due to a variety of reasons.

In the five-country report "Go! Young Progressives in Southeast Asia" published by FES Philippines in 2005, many young leaders cited some of the reasons that hinder full participation of young people in organizations and political activities, among which are: the lack of interest among young people in sectoral and political issues, the limitations set by the legal and political systems of the respective countries, lack of skills of young people in influencing and mobilizing young people for political campaigns and lobbying, lack of focus or direction of specific campaigns, and lack of follow-through for campaigns initiated. A significant outcome of the YPSEA 2008 Regional Conference in Bandung has been the review of past YPSEA action plans and to target realistic activities to be initiated, within the identified parameters of the network. Based on the region's changing context and on a re-reading of past action plans, three main clusters have been identified, namely: (1) Human Rights, (2) National Youth Policy (NYP) and working towards a Regional Policy on Youth, and (3) engaging the ASEAN process of "deeper integration."

 

25-27 February 2008, Manila, Philippines