Table Of Content

6th YPFDJ CONFERENCE April 1 -5, 2010 BERLIN REPORT 6th YPFDJ Conference in Berlin Report Page 2 Contents Introduction......................................................................3 Opening Ceremony ............................................................3 Annual Work Presentation.................................................3 Lectures and Panel discussion .............................................4 Bitsay Yemane Ghebreab Opening Speech............................4 Bitsay Wolde-Michael Abraha (Minster of Transport and Communication) Speech....................................................5 Bitsay Sultan Saeed Speech................................................6 National Interest: Bitsay Yemane Ghebreab.........................6 Panel discussion with Minister Wolde-michael Abraha and Ambassador Petros Tseggai..................................................9 Bitsay Tesfamichael Gerahtu lecture on History of Eritrea.....9 Bitseyti Sophia Tesfamariam presentation on UN Sanctions ainst Eritrea......................................................................9 Current Affairs by Bitsay Yemane......................................10 Questions asked during the conference...............................10 YPFDJ Strategy and Annual Work plan............................11 Workshops, Discussions and Debates.................................12 Drama, Music and Entertainment....................................13 DVD, Exhibition, Book Fare and paraphernalia ..............14 Page 3 April 1 - 5, 2010 6th YPFDJ Conference in Berlin April 1-5, 2010 Report Introduction The 6th annual YPFDJ conference took place from April 1 – 5, 2010 in Berlin Germany. The conference was attended by about 600 Eritrean youth who reside in Eritrea, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, UK, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Kenya. As previous conferences, the 6th YPFDJ conference in Berlin was a platform where serious discussions, effectual debates, annual work presentations, useful lectures, networking, meeting Eritrean youth, interaction with our leaders, entertainment… and other similar activities took place. The 6th conference which is taking place after 5 years of the first YPFDJ conference in Bielefeld, Germany was used to asses and reflect the status of the YPFDJ youth movement and take the youth movement to a higher level of organisation and achievement of its goals. The conference was also held on the occasion of the 40th year anniversary of the formation of ‘Eritreans for Freedom’ whose 1st conference was held in Munich in 1970. Opening Ceremony The opening ceremony of the conference was held in the morning of Friday 2nd of April and started in the open ground of the conference venue with one minute silence of remembrance of our martyrs and the singing of national anthem. The conference attendees proceeded to the conference hall where the programme continued with the welcoming speeches by the chairwoman of the organising committee bitseyti Ruth Fuzum, Bitsay Berhane Zere the Head of Public and Community Affairs in Frankfurt and Bitsay Petros Tseggai Ambassador of Eritrea to Germany. A drama prepared and presented by YPFDJ Germany in the opening ceremony of the conference focused at the early stages of the youth movement in Diaspora and the internal and external struggle faced by the members when forming the organisation in the early seventies. Annual Work Presentations Most of the first day of the conference was allocated to the presentations of the Coordinating Committee, the six Euro-wide committees and annual report of all YPFDJ chapters across the world that submitted their work. 6th YPFDJ Conference in Berlin Report Page 4 This session is the time where all YPFDJ chapters present their annual work in a concise and summarised way. Almost all the chapters submitted their presentation in an audio-visual clip to ensure all their work is presented in the exact time allocated for each country. It was noted that the content and presentation of some chapters was of high quality. Each presentation was followed by a question and comment session with a panel, to reflect on the issues presented in the respective chapter reports. The NUEYS representatives from Eritrea also presented a summarised report of their activities and were followed by half hour question and answer session. Lectures and Panel Discussion Bitsay Yemane Ghebreab’s Opening Speech Bitsay Yemane Ghebreab, who opened his speech in Arabic, welcomed the participants and reminded delegates that this conference is unique in many ways. Not only do we have a strong youth representation from Eritrea and Saudi Arabia in this conference for the first time, but it is taking place in the 40th year of the formation of Eritreans for Freedom in Europe whose 1st conference took place in Munich, Germany. We are also privileged to have one of the founders and leaders of that conference Bitsay Woldemichael Abraha who is also the current Minister for Transport and Communication. The main topic that we explored at this conference was Eritrea’s National Interest and Security in the rapidly changing world. We can not ignore the rapid and almost revolutionary changes that are happening in the world, when we try to understand and formulate Eritrea’s national interest. It became a poignant reminder to us in Berlin, to look back 20 years, and look at the claims that were made when the Berlin wall fell. The powerful and victorious nations of the cold-war claimed that the world is entering the age of stability and the end of war and insecurity was declared. Hence the end of History was declared. Bitsay Yemane went on to pose questions like: Where are we today? Have we seen justice and prosperity? How come the world is facing deep financial and ecological crisis? why are the wars continuing? and If the cold war has ended, why are so many hot wars taking place? Why has Eritrea been sanctioned if the world we live in is in peace and stability? He reminded the conference to see Eritrea’s national interest in this rapidly and complex world dynamics. We also have to look into the huge technological advances that are having a huge effect on the relations and movement of the people of the world. Also when we talk about the national interest of Eritrea, we need to define what we mean by nation and whose interest we are referring to. When we Page 5 April 1 - 5, 2010 talk about the interest of Eritrean people today and tomorrow, we are talking about the interest of the youth of Eritrea. Therefore Bitsay Yemane Ghebreab underlined that the national interest of Eritrea is ultimately the interest of the Eritrean youth. These complex set of demands and ideas is what this conference need to explore and understand when building our youth movement. Forty years ago when the Eritrean youth formed their movement with the aim of liberating Eritrea which was successfully attained in 1991; and now the YPFDJ youth movement after five years of building a conscious, strong and patriotic youth movement has proved to be a world-wide reality that is playing important role in creating a strong community where we exist. Concluding his opening speech, bitsay Yemane underlined that we have now reached a stage where the early foundation of the youth movement has been laid and we have reached a milestone where we can build upon our reality. It is a stage where we can show a new departure and qualitative leap forward to propel the youth movement into a new stage. Any movement passes through difficult stages and those who have the right aims and have the resilience can last for long. Therefore, we need to articulate and re-articulate why it is necessary to build the YPFDJ youth movement and always ask ourselves if we are individually and collectively ready and capable to take the YPFDJ movement to a higher and qualitatively better organisation; and this conference will be the re- launching of the YPFDJ to a new level. Bitsay Wolde-Michael Abraha (Minster of Transport and Communication) Speech Bitsay Wolde-Michael Abraha who attended the conference for the first time expressed his gratitude and privilege to be addressing the conference in the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the 1st conference of ‘Eritreans for Freedom, in Munch. He opened his speech by reminding the participants that Eritrea finds itself amongst progressive nations who have successfully defeated the old and new form of colonialism. Eritrea is fighting for stability and true social justice for its people and our region. This outcome which has resulted on the basis of high level of consciousness and unity of its people is playing an exemplary role to other nations who have yet to rise above the new form of colonialism. Unfortunately, this has created frustration amongst the few and strong adventurous nations and forcing them to take desperate measures in all corners of the world. The latest baseless and illegal sanction by the Security Council against the government and people of Eritrea is not new but is the measure of their frustration with the positive and independent achievment being registered by Eritrea. Hence, the 6th YPFDJ conference is being conducted in an atmosphere where Eritreans all over the world have organised to show their resounding stance against the sanction and intensifying the effort of each citizen in the development of our nation. Bitsay Wolde-Michael, went on to describe in detail the formation of patriotic Eritrean organisations in Europe and the struggle to unify the different entities and ideas who were threatening to fragment their organisation during the late 60s and early 70s. The first conference in Munich by Eritrean youth and students had played a significant and decisive role in taking a clear and principled stance to reflect the true nature of the Eritrean struggle for independence. The humble beginning of the 6th YPFDJ Conference in Berlin Report Page 6 first conference went from strength to strength every year, and at the end it became a popular platform in Bologna where it had become the primary congregation of the Eritrean community from around the world to make significant contribution towards the independence of Eritrea. One of the most notable decisions by the Eritrean youth in the subsequent conferences is the unanimous decision by the students in Russia to complete their study and join the struggle in the fields of Eritrea. Finally, Bitsay Wolde-Michael highlighted that the current growing consciousness and organisation of Eritrean youth that is witnessed inside and outside the country and the achievements being registered is the continuation and effort of the youth from the passing era and expressed his assurance that the next generation youth will benefit from the efforts that is underway now and expressed his conviction about the success of the youth movement. Bitsay Sultan Saeed Speech Bitsay Sultan started his speech with a one minute of silence in remembrance of bitsay SaleH Meky who lead the last North America YPFDJ conference. Bitsay Sultan then congratulated YPFDJ Germany for organising an exquisite conference. Bitsay Sultan who was present on the 23rd round of Sawa graduation a week earlier brought a message of camaraderie and well-wishes for the 6th YPFDJ conference. He went on to stress that there is a high expectation from the latest graduates in Sawa who have shown a considerable success in their educational achievements and initiatives they have taken so far. What is happening in this conference and other similar initiatives is confirming the main motto of the Eritrean youth today “the youth is not only the leader of tomorrow, but also the partners of today”. The course of history is usually determined by the youth, and the initiative taken by the current youth is the continuation of the era that was described by Bitsay Wolde-Michael earlier. Eritrean youth movement in Diaspora who always played an important role in the affairs of Eritrea has proved to be a reality by developing strong organisational capacity and also being at the forefront of defending Eritrea. The role played by the youth during the organisation of the world-wide demonstration against the unjust sanctions only a month ago can be taken as one important example. Bitsay Sultan described with the aid of a short DVD clip about the forthcoming Sawa youth festival which will be a platform where the youth movement inside and outside Eritrea will interact and create synergy for common goal. A plethora of activities and programmes is been organised to ensure a practical involvement of the youth from July 16–19, 2010. National Interest: Bitsay Yemane Ghebreab In the two hour lecture given by Bitsay Yemane on the topic of Eritrea’s national interest, he has elucidated the theoretical and practical manifestation of Eritrea’s interest in the context of fast changing world. At the outset, he stressed the concept of national interest is not straightforward and we need to understand what we exactly mean by national interest. It is very easy to mistake national interest with the interest of the ruling class, certain ethnic group or other narrowly defined Page 7 April 1 - 5, 2010 group within a nation. Therefore, we always need to be able to see beyond the term nation and understand what section of the nation we are referring too. As an example, we can site the attack on Iraq over the last seven years and most of the European countries who took part in the bombing, killing and devastation of the Iraqis; and we need to ask whose interest has been protected by conducting this war. Is the interest of the people of Europe or America protected by bombing Iraq? Whose interest was being protected? In Eritrea, the difference between the people and the government has been insignificant that it has been difficult to differentiate between the interest of the government and the people. However, in Eritrea we have always been pursuing the interest of the masses of the Eritrean people. It is one of the central tenets of the Popular- Front to always design a policy that will serve the interest of the masses or the majority of the Eritrean people. When we refer to the Eritrean people, we are referring to the people who are inside and outside the country, because of the Eritrea’s unique history; Eritreans abroad are integral part of the nation’s makeup. The interest of the youth holds a central position in the current environment because the number of the youth is the majority in Eritrea and also the youth is at the forefront of making the majority of the contribution and sacrifice for the nation. If we look into the major development efforts of the nation and defending the sovereignty of Eritrea, the youth is taking the prime responsibility and therefore the interest of the nation is interlinked with the interest of the youth. Hence we can say the success of Eritrea is highly linked with the success of the Eritrean youth, and we have to work for the interest of the youth in terms of the education, job, innovation, opportunity, rights and so on. We can safely state that Eritrea’s national interest is achieved when Eritrean people are successful and especially its youth can be successful in terms of their patriotism, in terms of leading their country, who can be proud of their culture, successful economically and professionally, also successful at a national, regional and global level. Bitsay Yemane went on to state that, although it is true to say ‘There are no permanent friends but permanent interests’ and Eritrea has experienced this first hand in our recent history; we have to realise that there are no set of interests that do not evolve and change. The interest of a nation can change with time and circumstances; and one thing that is guaranteed is change. Therefore, we can simply state that the priorities of national interest are always changing and evolving. Especially, as we are currently witnessing rapid and fundamental changes in our world, we are forced to always fine tune our national interest accordingly. Changes that are happening in the world are fundamental in all aspects of the livelihood of the people. The Free-market economic model that has been revered model and was pushed around the world as the only solution for economic development is now widely accepted as a flawed model in the light of financial crisis the world has ever witnessed. Furthermore, the western political model that is currently being copied and exported around the world has not come to 6th YPFDJ Conference in Berlin Report Page 8 a similar meaningful scrutiny and the need to find an alternative political system. In the same way the economical model was found to be deficient to serve the interest of the majority of people, the political model will also be found lacking to provide a decent living to the majority people of the world. Therefore this economic and political system that has been going on for a couple of centuries and to some extent has helped to develop the people of certain nations, is now becoming the cause of limiting the rights of people, unemployment, decreasing the living standard of population, weakening economy, starting war, instability, fear and so on. We have now reached at a point where people can not fly with a toothpaste in their hand-bag; therefore we have to question how viable the system is. Although this system is presented as if there is no alternative but to accept it, we in Eritrea have to consider these facts when we design our own policies and adopt our own political and economical systems. The other fundamental change that we need to take into account is the global power shift taking place in the world. The centre of power that was held in US and UK over the last century is now gradually being replaced by new players like China, India, Brazil, and Russia is also coming from the cold. Therefore, when we talk about Eritrea’s national interest we need to take into account the change of scenery in the global and regional political landscape. It is almost impossible to ensure and protect the national interest of Eritrea within Eritrea itself in the light of a world that is becoming more integrated and its interest interlinked with each other. Especially, we can not begin to understand or talk about the interest of Eritrea without impacting and working with the neighbouring countries. Eritrea’s national interest has been curtailed throughout history due to ambitions or activities taken by our neighbouring countries. Therefore, we have to positively influence our region in a way that can serve the interest of the Eritrean people. The Middle-East is also a region in our vicinity that we need to play a significant role and influence, to protect and further the interest of Eritrea. This, however, does not mean at the expense of other countries interest but by recognising that we have to work for mutual interest. We also have to recognise the role of non-state actors who can help the national interest of Eritrea. We should not give up on certain nations only because the central government has shown hostility to our policies. Today there are many highly influential individuals and corporations who can play a significant role in achieving our national interest and we need to have a comprehensive approach on how to use this non-state actors. The other part of the question is how to achieve our national interest? The first step to take is creating a comprehensive understanding on our national interest and the approach we need to take to achieve it. The second factor we always talk about is building our resilience. The best example of resilience you Page 9 April 1 - 5, 2010 can present is Eritrea itself. Even after constant and relentless military, economic, psychological… pressure applied, you will always find Eritrea coming out stronger and united. This resilience was built over a long and hard period of time, and we always need to work on it. We can not avoid shocks to the system in the future, but we can absorb any eventuality by building our resilience. Empowering Eritreans is another important aspect of achieving our national interest. Since the creation of the Popular-Front inside and outside the country, we have been able to work with decentralised networked of organisations that are empowered to carry out the national interest of Eritrea. Especially, in this day of an age, the centralised command structure of instructing the whole organisation does not work properly and is not the best way we can serve our people Finally, Bitsay Yemane took questions from the conference participants on the subjects he raised and gave detailed answer to the questions. Panel discussion with Minister Wolde-michael Abraha and Ambassador Petros Tseggai A workshop that was lead by Bitsay Wolde-Michael Abraha and Bitsay Petros Tsegay who described the history of the youth movement and especially the experience they gained from taking part from the early stages of Eritreans for Freedom in the Diaspora. YPFDJ-Germany presented on this occasion a short DVD about the formation of the youth movement back in the 1970s in Munich. Bitsay Tesfamichael Gerahtu lecture on History of Eritrea Bitsay Tesfamichael Gerahtu has given two hours lecture on the importance of learning our history and the need of inheriting the culture and values of past generations. Presenting several short DVD clips, Bitsay Tesfamichael illustrated the journey of Eritreans and the price it was paid to achieve an independent nation. The lecture which was given to participants who have joined the YPFDJ youth movement relatively new covered the main events starting from the era of the scramble of Africa until the Eritrean independence period. After the lecture, the group who listened to the lecture with great interest where broken into smaller discussion groups and discussed the relevance of studying the history of Eritrea and conducted a debate by raising discussion topics. Bitseyti Sophia Tesfamariam presentation on UN Sanctions against Eritrea Bitseyti Sophia gave a half an hour background information on the sanction imposed against Eritrea by the UNSC and the reaction of Eritreans around the world. In her speech, she highlighted the main key points that need to be considered by the YPFDJ chapters when they are planning their actions against the disgraceful sanctions. She started by stating that there is no doubt by looking at the spirit and fortitude witnessed in this conference and the world wide demonstration on 22nd of February, the sanctions have already failed its intention of intimidating the Eritrean people. 6th YPFDJ Conference in Berlin Report Page 10 She went on to explain, sanctions are now being used by US government as a foreign policy tool to extend their interest around the world. Although the US officials tried their best to masquerade the sanction 1907/2009 to look as an African Union initiative, and invested a lot of frantic diplomatic activities to persuade other Security Council members to vote against Eritrea, it was clear this sanction was orchestrated from start to finish by US officials. The lack of any material evidence of Eritrea supplying weapons or any other equipment to any groups in Somalia did not stop the Sanctions from being passed. We should not stop from asking where the evidence is and who are supplying these evidences. We remember the allegations levelled against Eritrea for sending 2000 soldiers to fight in Somalia which was categorically proven to be a fabricated allegiations. All this efforts is to create a cloud of misinformation to cover the real culprit for the chaos and instability that exist in Somalia. The UN Security council is in violation of many of its own charter when passing the sanction against Eritrea. The process the US took to pass these sanctions on the UN Security council is highly questionable and is clearly in bad faith of the UN charter. What is even more of an insult to the Eritrean people is the way they try to package the sanction as a ‘smart sanction’. What is so smart about trying to alienate the leaders of Eritrea from its people? What is so smart about the sanction when they take away the Eritrean peoples’ right for self defence? These sanctions are not only dumb sanction, but they are illegal, unfair and unjust sanctions and must be repealed as soon as possible. Therefore, we are going to find a smart and coherent narration of our case and the demonstration in Geneva, Washington DC, San Francisco and Canberra is the beginning of our work. And we want this sanction annulled and repealed yesterday. They should not have passed in the first place. Current Affairs by Bitsay Yemane In a time allocated for current affairs and open question & answer session, Bitsay Yemane updated the conference participants about the current issues affecting Eritrea. He mainly focused on the ways we work to overturn the shameful sanction and the current focus of the government on building human capacity in Eritrea. Questions asked during the conference A considerable period of time was given for delegates to ask questions on every session of lectures and speeches. The following are some of the questions that were asked during the conference. Full and detailed replies were given to the questions below, however for brevity answers will not be included in this report. Q. We need to know what further steps we need to take after the world-wide demonstration we organised against the sanction. Q. Can you please state or talk more about the non-state actors you mentioned in your lecture when you are referring to our national interest?