these are our aims:

Short-term

• find new contacts and enlarge the network especially to the arab countries; also to find new partners from our own political family
• exchange information in general and about our work, working methods and experience, the situation in our countries
• learn and discuss about topics such as current conflicts and migration and find out what we have in common
• to focus on a limited number of issues and activities

Long-term

• learn about different cultures
• organise common projects
• promote the participation of young people in politics and decision-making
• promote peace, Human Rights as written down in the UN HR Charta and democracy

Over 2005 and 2006, political youth organisations gathered in a network for political youth organisations from both sides of the Mediterranean. As a founding meeting, we organised a Contact Making Seminar in Berlin from 4^th to 8^th of December 2006. At this meeting, the following was decided about the network:

Aims:

Short-term

• find new contacts and enlarge the network especially to the arab countries; also to find new partners from our own political family
• exchange information in general and about our work, working methods and experience, the situation in our countries
• learn and discuss about topics such as current conflicts and migration and find out what we have in common
• to focus on a limited number of issues and activities

Long-term

• learn about different cultures
• organise common projects
• promote the participation of young people in politics and decision-making
• promote peace, Human Rights as written down in the UN HR Charta and democracy

Target group:

We want to involve political youth organisations from both sides of the Mediterranean. As “political” we define “policies” rather than “politics”. Meaning: you don’t have to be a youth wing of a party in order to fall under our target group, as long as you do policies. We also welcome individuals to join our network: they can play an active role although the network defines itself as a network of organisations.

What are we doing?

The FALAFEL network was only recently. We are now creating a website and will try to get new members in the next month. We will work on issues that are of interest for us all; for example peace, migration, Human Rights, environment, gender issues, trafficking, cultural exchange, xenophobia and above all, the participation of young people in democratic procedures. This topics will be discussed on seminars and over the internet (e.mail, chat, web forum, wiki..). When possible, common actions such as joint press releases and street actions can be taken. The first seminar will be about peace and stability and is planned to happen in August in Turkey. We will furthermore cooperate with other actors on the field, such as the Youth Forum and the Euromed Platform and we will facilitate contacts and cooperation between our member organisations. We are fully aware that all of us come from different political families and have very different opinions on various topics but we want to cooperate in areas that are of importance for all of us, for instance youth participation. It is in our all interest, that young people have the possibility to are politically active, to make their voice heard and to have an impact on society. Joining forces will help us to reach our aim!

The network is coordinated by two organisations. This is done in rotation, so that the coordinators will change every year.

If you are interested in joining, please contact:

Shay Even shay.even@gmail.com (Young MERETZ)

Ska Keller ska@fyeg.org (Federation of Young European Greens)