STOCKHOLM - "Be the change you want to see in the world," Mahatma Gandhi once said. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character," said Martin Luther King in his famous speech in 1963. "We are overthrowing a dictatorship, we are proud and this is only the beginning," were the challenging words written on the T-shirt of a young Egyptian who was demonstrating in Al Tahrir Square last January. The famous comments made by Gandhi and Luther were displayed on a large screen in the Swedish Parliament as part of a workshop, held during the visit of young Egyptian and Swedish political activists to Stockholm on June 13. Under the title of ‘The Role of Youth in Politics and Community Development', the Swedish Institute in Alexandria (SwedAlex), in co-operation with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, has this year initiated a new programme that focuses on the role of youth in building democracy. The first phase of this programme, which happened in Alexandria on April 8-9, created a platform for young Egyptian and Swedish representatives of political parties to discuss the role of young people in politics, and to determine how to promote political awareness and youth participation. The second phase of the programme was held from June 13-15, in Stockholm, Sweden. "The transition from autocracy to democracy in Egypt nowadays is challenging and the Egyptian revolution has opened up new possibilities for youth participation in politics and community development. “Activists have the chance to succeed today," said Ambassador Birgitta Holst-Alani, the director of the Swedish Institute in Alexandria, during a welcome speech in the first day of the workshop last Monday. The first day of the programme in Stockholm included a visit to the Swedish Parliament, where the co-founders of Vision Takeoff, Helena Timander and Marie Alani, held a workshop entitled ‘Vision Takeoff'. The workshop dealt with vision in politics, stressing that every person should have his own vision and try to achieve it through rational thinking. "To have a good vision you should ask Why?" said Marie. "For example, concerning participation in the demonstrations in Al Tahrir Square, the details here are not important. What is more important is the Why?," she stressed. "Of course, you should think of the What? [what kind of society we want to create] and the How? [how we can do this]. But you should focus on the core which is the Why?” To have a good vision, we have to be aware of seven basic criteria. "The vision has to be engaging, visual [you should be able to see yourself], clear, challenging, desirable, long term [at least five or 10 years] and alive [communicated all the time to all audiences]," said Marie. The workshop also dealt with the term democracy. "Democracy is the ultimate vision. It's also a set of possibilities and sets that ultimately leads to freedom," said Helena. "About 36.5 per cent of the world's population is ruled by autocrats. Egypt was an autocracy until recently," she added. "Egypt is on level 9 [according to an ‘international values map'], while Sweden is on level 4 as it has reached democracy and freedom. "For a society to reach happiness it should have freedom of choice and tolerance, while life satisfaction is related to the economy.” The workshop suggested how people can inspire each other. First of all, people should understand each other, as understanding is the foundation of human development and progress. "Democracy is a universal human aspiration," stressed Helena. There was also some time for young Egyptians to discuss political issues with young Swedes. The discussion stressed that political participation among youth is generally low in both Sweden and Egypt, yet the momentum caused by the revolution in Egypt has emphasised the role of young people in building a democratic society, based on the principles of dignity and human rights. During the discussion, Egyptian expressed their fears of the Islamists coming to power. They said that religion shouldn't be involved in politics, adding that the main obstacles facing Egypt nowadays are the repercussions of Mubarak's regime, especially illiteracy and unemployment. While Swedes are quite upset about the lack of political participation in their country, they believe that gathering people and encouraging them to learn more about politics may help raise awareness of this issue. The first day of the programme also included a guided tour of Parliament and a group meeting with MPs, who spoke about their work. The first day also included a visit to the Moderate Youth Affiliation, which was established in 1904, and a guided tour of the old city of Gamla Stan and sightseeing by boat. Earlier in the day, Birgitta Ohlsson, the minister of EU Affairs meeting with the Egyptian delegation on the sidelines of the Youth in Politics workshop, that has been held in Stockholm. The meeting was held at the Rosenbad Building (which contains the Prime Minister's Office and the Government Chancellery). During the meeting, the Minister expressed her appreciation of the Egyptian people and their great revolution. "EU is arranging now a new neighbouring policy. This policy concerns the Middle East as a whole not just Egypt," The Minister said. "This policy includes increasing trade in the Middle East. We also support freedom of press and freedom of speech," she added. The Minister also displayed a black-and-white photo for her grandmother, then said "I know you will ask now why am I displaying a picture for my grandmother ," laughed the Minister. "That's because her story is much related to many people in your country or other countries," she added. "My grandmother was born in 1919. At that time Sweden was a poor country and it suffered from poor economic performance since the beginning of the 1970s. She didn't get well education and she had to work to offer her own money at the age of 10, so she was a child labour at a very young age," she narrated. "We were a poor country suffering from starvation, that's why I believe that my grandma was so much like many poor people in many developing countries. But every things now had changed," she added. "Look at South Africa, look at many other countries, which suffered for and struggled to have their rights and live in democracy. It only takes time," she mentioned.
