Agree to Differ

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The role of youth in

promoting cultural diversity

Ediola Pashollari, Secretary General, World Assembly of Youth

umankind has occupied every corner of the world

for centuries, as groups of individuals worked and

lived together and developed distinctive cultures.

Together the cultures of the world create a rich and

various tapestry. This results in cultural diversity which

expands choices, encourages a variety of skills and human

values, and provides knowledge from the past to enlighten

the future.

Culture is the totality of the ways in which a society conserves,

identifies, classifies, sustains and expresses itself.

The World

Assembly of Youth (WAY) is endowed with diverse cultural

heritage, comprising different young people from differ-

ent countries and cultures, each with their own exceptional

characteristics. Culture has the influence to change whole

societies, support local communities and create a sense of

personality and belonging for all age groups. As a path for

youth growth and civic engagement, culture plays a vital role

in promoting viable social issues for future generations.

Bridging the gap between cultures is urgent and necessary

in promoting peace, stability and intercultural understanding.

Cultural diversity is a dynamic force of progress, not only with

respect to economic growth, but also as a way of leading a more

satisfying intellectual, emotional and moral life.

‘Minorities of Europe the Branch for Baltic and Scandinavian

states’ organized a training called Youth in Action, which is

one of the main elements of its training programme.

This

course aimed to promote youth interactions as a tool to enable

young people to act as multipliers in their communities, and

to use the programme as an effective tool for their future activ-

ities in the field of cultural diversity. The objectives for the

training were to familiarize the youth with the commonly used

terminology and language of cultural diversity; to help young

people reflect on the competence needed for using different

approaches to address cultural diversity in their environment

and countries; to help them in understanding the interrela-

tion between cultural diversity and youth participation; and to

provide youth with a platform for exchange on best practices

in relation to youth work and cultural diversity.

Principles and views on how the world functions among

young people who are born and raised in different periods can

be somewhat diverse. Moreover, this could lead to challenging

relations among the youth. There are several ways to counter

this but the most vital one is giving a helping hand to young

people in order to promote cultural diversity. Research shows

that cultural diversity addresses all challenges by embracing

strategies to enhance the integration of culture into develop-

ment, and these strategies include the promotion of culture.

WAY is an international organization that contributes

actively towards the determination of youth-related concerns

and the coordination of national youth councils. WAY is

famous for its concern towards the well-being of youth. It is

an organization that closely engages with young people, and it

has focused on conducting research on the issues or problems

that arise and other relevant matters involving young people

around the world.

WAY holds international events each year that bring young

people together, to address major youth-related issues. The

focus of these events is to yield culturally inclusive results

for young people so as to have culturally sensitive behaviour

and activities, where differences are valued, respected and

explored. This enables youth to effect change in the develop-

ment of policies and strategies on issues that concern them.

The Melaka International Youth Dialogue (MIYD) is an

annual programme of WAY that brings together youth and

youth leaders with different cultures from around the world

to deliberate on youth issues. Since 2001, MIYD has convened

on a wide range of topical issues and it has witnessed an

escalating number of young participants who are willing to

participate in the decision-making process. With the outlook

of building a stronger partnership between the youth and

society, MIYD creates a declaration which works as a guide-

line for youth to tackle the selected issues.

WAY integrates culture into all development principles,

especially those related to youth issues as well as promot-

ing cultural diversity and mutual respect among different age

groups from all over the world.

The target of WAY is to enable participants to more success-

fully address issues of cultural diversity in a multicultural

youth work context. As the way forward in delivering these

activities, WAY has developed a strategic plan that acts as a

roadmap for its activities. The Millennium Plan of Action is

developed every year during the General Assembly.

The way forward

Let us pause and ask ourselves, how are we going to live

together? How do we promote tolerance and cultural diver-

sity? What is the role of the youth in promoting cultural

diversity in our globalized societies?

The world has

become a global community with the benefit of advanced

technology; hence it is inevitable that people of different

nationalities, races or religions cannot escape living and

gree

iffer