International Youth Day - Global Action 2020

This year the theme for the International Youth Day is Youth Engagement for Global Action. I wasn’t planning to write anything today, I posted on my birthday, I have to prepare an article for DEIS’s 10 years anniversary on August 19, 2020, and I will write about the Romanian author I’ve been reading. But this is my chance to talk about globalisation - a topic I absolutely love.

I am a young person, a youth worker, a volunteer, and a writer. My energy and passion are split between the UK and Romania. I’ve been asked many times if I want to return and my answer is always no. Instead, I want to create a bridge between the two countries - this is my way of engaging in global action.

We live in a world where in just 3 hours I can fly from London to Cluj. It takes more for me get from Cluj to Baia Mare, but that is a completely different issue. If Romania’s cities would be connected better, I could just get up in the morning, be at an event in Baia Mare by noon, and sleep in my London house at night. Like that, I can find the support I need in the UK and offer my support to those who need it in Romania. At the same time, I can find another type of support in Romania and offer it to those who need it in the UK. The two countries are so different in so many beautiful ways.

Youth Work and projects in Romania are, in my opinion, of better quality than those in the UK. Involving young people directly and spending time with them is something that seems to be totally missing from the UK. Youth has the power to create for youth, they just need support. Nobody knows their needs better than themselves and nobody can guide them better than youth workers. I know I learned to find the best solutions for my own problems thanks to youth workers. On the other hand, the UK has this multicultural component that’s totally missing from Romania. People of all colours, religions, sexual orientations etc are working together without caring about all those differences between them.

I’ve said this about London before and I’ll say it again - London is a multicultural city and that’s what makes it beautiful. I can’t help but imagine how beautiful it would be to have a multicultural world where everyone embraces their differences and learns from each other. That world would be built on solidarity and respect. It would be a society just like DEIS and I envision it - based on love, where young people are listened to, valued and respected.

We still have to imagine a truly globalised society, but parts of it are becoming a reality. If something goes wrong in one country, all the others respond and act. And that happens because right now, wherever you are, you have a friend or a friend of a friend who is somehow linked directly to the cause. What gives me hope is that most of these world-wide movements are lead by youth.

Some people say that globalisation is a bad thing, that it will erase genuine traditions and there will be no more individuality. I couldn’t disagree more with this statement. After what I’ve seen in almost one year in London, I believe globalisation will make us more unique than ever because we will create these puzzle communities and we will learn and share our culture. Sharing your identity will never make you lose it, but it will help others understand you better.

My desire for ‘puzzle communities’ (I really like this expression now, I will use it more) is one of the reasons I support programmes such as European Youth Capital and Baia Mare’s bid for the title in 2023. We need to create connections and learn from others. Let the youth engage in global action!