International Day of Democracy: Democracy Education
Statement from the Federation of Young African Greens, Federation of Young European Greens and the Global Young Greens
On this occasion of the International Day of Democracy, the Federation of Young African Greens, the Federation of Young European Greens and the Global Young Greens reaffirm the words of Abraham Lincoln that democracy is the embodiment of a government “of the people by the people and for the people”. We stress that in any representation of democracy as a political principle, the people, their needs and rights must at all times be held sacred. Parliamentary and government authority must always emanate from the people. The people must therefore be fully made aware of their rights and responsibilities.
Democracy is a universal value that is embedded in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights through the succinct provision that the will of the people shall be the basis of government authority. However this is a principle that has been abused and disregarded by many governments mainly because most people do not understand that they are the sovereign authority upon whose will all government action must be based.
We reiterate the vision and commitment embedded in the Global Greens Charter that young people should be given a voice by being actively supported through education and encouraged to participate in every aspect of political action.Equal political participation has been one of the major demands of the youth. Young people continually refuse to be ignored in decision making processes. Without a fair share of the power in a society young people can never be emancipated. The past has shown that abolishing legal restrictions is not the only action needed, but that we also need to fight structural discrimination in order to combat these inequalities and to empower young people in politics through civic education.
