Young Leaders Convene for Nonviolent Political Change

Ivo Thijssen, IFLRY Bureau Member, and Selyna Peiris, CALD Youth Chair, chaired the session. During the welcome remarks, Peiris reminded participants that the youth are no longer a future generation, but, she stated, “We are the present generation.” Thijssen opened the discussion by counting a snap vote of participants’ responses about whether a revolution can occur with youth leading the way. When asked to raise their hands, an overwhelming majority of delegates raised their hands in favor of the possibility of a youth-led revolution. Thijssen also encouraged participants to use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook during the meeting as well.

Mr. Moe Zaw Oo addressed the present-day challenges for youth movements in non-democracies by sharing the experience of Burmese youth in two major political movements: the 1988 Uprising and the Saffron Revolution of 2007. As a member of the Burmese youth, he participated in the 1988 Uprising which, he claimed, was largely initiated by impassioned students. The next major movement in Burma consisted of anti-government protests called the Saffron Revolution, which Moe Zaw Oo said was driven by modern technology and the courage of citizen journalists. During this revolution in 2007, the Burmese government tried to harness complete control over Internet and shut down access to email in the country. Internet communication still presents a dire threat to those who use it in Burma today. Moe Zaw Oo ended with a quotation from the Nobel Peace Prize-winning General Secretary of the NLD, Aung San Suu Kyi: “Please use your liberty to promote ours.”

The session proceeded with a discussion of the role of Filipino youth in politics as well as how to sustain the spirit of political activism among the younger generation. Hon. Chito Gascon designated college students as a key group for successful political activism because they have a time in life where they don’t have to work and are exposed to a lot of information. Their potential for people power is really high, he claimed. But Gascon stressed that youth cannot conduct a successful revolution on their own. “Social change, particularly nonviolent social change, must appeal to a broader segment of any given society,” he said.