youth parliament project - International Debate Education Association

down to the few who hold positions of powerin a youth club or a youth group (this usuallybeing determined at a first meeting).The seminar conducted by IDEA in Kibuye(in western Rwanda on the lake Kivu) inDecember aimed at achieving 2 objectives:providing the participants with some practicaltools of how to approach young peopleand work with youth groups (e.g. throughdebates, discussions, team building activities)and providing them with an opportunity toreflect on their current work in the field ofyouth action and future strategies. The seminarbrought together over 30 participants from9 civil society organizations which have beenworking with young people or would like toinvolve young people in their activities.The seminar began with a series of exercisesexploring different group working techniques– which also allowed the participantsto get to know each other and shareideas about youth participation as well asexchange information about the activities oftheir respective organizations. On the sameday, the participants also worked in groups (members ofthe same organization working together) on developingmaps for their organizations: identifying the main stakeholdersand their interests, and identifying the main messagethat each organization would like to present to differentstake-holders. The seminar finished with a role-playexercise during which participants could practice the skillsdeveloped during the previous sessions and offer each otherfeedback on their performance.Although 2 days of training are not enough to cover all thecomplex issues related to youth participation, the seminardelivered by IDEA was a good start. In addition to thepractical information and knowledge and skills acquiredby the participants, one of the most valuable outcomes ofthe seminar was the sharing of ideas and reflection on thepast, current and future activities of the participants’ organizations.There was also another important product – ashared feeling that none of the participants is left alone inimplementing their organizations’ mission and objectivesand that networking and exchanging of ideas is crucial toachieving success in civil society.IDEA would like to thank the Norwegian People’s Aid(NPA) of Rwanda for their support in the organization ofthe seminar in Kibuye.International Debate Education Association |43