World Youth Congress
The next item of business is a debate on motion S2M-2857, in the name of Euan Robson, on the third meeting of the world youth congress.
Last July in Stirling, I met a truly remarkable young man, Jagan Deveraj, whose work has impacted on thousands of lives. He has mobilised hundreds of people who live near his home city of Bangalore to work on projects as diverse as setting up an evening school for slum children to establishing a honey farm and a paper-making plant to support a community of disadvantaged women. He has been active in the field since 2001 and is only 26 years old.
A Vietnamese journalist—a young lady of 20—currently co-ordinates water supply projects, HIV/AIDS awareness programmes and environmental conservation projects under the international be the change initiative. In Cameroon, a member of the African Youth Parliament has been honoured for his peace and conflict resolution work while colleagues have served time in jail for protesting against endemic corruption.
Those young people and thousands like them are a new breed. They are part of an informed global coalition that is mobilising behind the United Nations millennium development goals. They are young, switched on and dynamic and make a phenomenal contribution.
This summer, 600 of the best and brightest of those people, from Sri Lanka to Paraguay and from Burundi to Azerbaijan, will be given a unique chance to meet and to form an international network of like-minded young people; to engage with politicians and development professionals; to draft a youth-led development manifesto for the UN; to bring together the best examples of projects that work; to plan concrete action for their return home; and to work alongside young Scots and get their hands dirty on a range of 40 practical action projects in Scotland.
The world youth congress will take place in Stirling from 29 July to 8 August and will be the third in a series that is being run by the Peace Child International charity in partnership with the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Youth Parliament and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. One of the great early successes of the congress has been its international reach. Starting from scratch last autumn, it had attracted some 4,000 applications from more than 150 countries by March, which is an unprecedented response to such an event and makes good our ambition to make the congress the most significant and aspirational event for young people that will happen anywhere in the world in 2005.
What about young Scots? Some 100 delegates at the congress will be from Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom and up to 400 more young Scots will work alongside delegates on the community action projects. However, our ambition was always to do justice to the congress by finding a way of involving far more young people than could attend in person. We have worked with Young Scot in preparing the change 05 initiative, which was launched last month in a magazine that members may have seen—indeed, I see members nodding. There have been some 4,500 responses from young Scots to date, each of whom has pledged to undertake five positive actions.
We are delighted that the publication—which was written by young people for young people—is striking such a chord. It highlights some of the main global development issues and, more important, focuses on simple things that individuals can do to make a difference. The response demonstrates that young Scots are not only aware of what is going on in the world around them, but through change 05 are ready and willing to make an active contribution, to strengthen their communities and to establish new models of behaviour from which all of us can learn.
The commitments that have been made link change 05 respondents with those who will attend the congress and thousands of other applicants and newsletter subscribers all over the world. I am tremendously heartened by such a commitment to positive action from so many of our young people and I salute them for it.
The world youth congress is a forum and a hub for the type of young person whom I have described. In addition, 50 of the 600 delegates are accredited journalists, all under the age of 25, with award winners such as Oxfam's young journalist of the year among them. Their work on the congress is already being published and broadcast by media as diverse as Brazilian national television, the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and the Georgian Times. The images and stories that they bring from Scotland will reach a truly global audience.
What of the wider benefits? After all, the Executive has committed more than £2 million to host the world youth congress. A substantial legacy will be left in Scotland at 40 sites, from Durness to Uist, with hands-on work by delegates and local groups on community regeneration, sustainable living and the environment, as well as work with at-risk youth groups. Six hundred personal action plans will be developed during the event for concrete projects to be initiated across the world in support of the UN millennium development goals. A groundbreaking peace project will unite two groups of under-25s from Armenia and Azerbaijan to work through a three-day conflict resolution programme with the aim of bringing healing and solutions home to an area that has suffered intense conflict for many generations.
On the policy side, senior professionals from the development world will attend and talk face to face with young people about the issues that matter. Those professionals include Eveline Herfkens, who is Kofi Annan's special adviser on the millennium development goals, and Kumi Naidoo, the chair of Civicus, who shared a platform with Sir Bob Geldof in the chamber last week. Discussions will focus on practical solutions and will feed into a brief for the UN General Assembly in September.
Finally, and to cement Scotland's profile as an international leader in supporting young people and sustainable development, an action toolkit will be developed at the congress as a practical manual for successful youth-led development work worldwide, to be captured on DVD and CD-ROM for global promotion. In short, 500 young achievers—active, well connected and influential on the future of their countries—will take away and communicate a positive image of Scotland and its people. The combination of the third world youth congress and the change 05 initiative will make a major contribution to promoting activism, volunteering and confidence among young people in Scotland. The event will demonstrate that a devolved Scotland can play its part in making a better world. For all those reasons, I commend the motion to the Parliament.
I move,
That the Parliament welcomes the Peace Child International 3rd World Youth Congress in Stirling from 30 July to 8 August 2005, facilitated by the Scottish Executive; recognises the contribution that the event will make to youth-led sustainable development across the world; looks forward to welcoming the 600 delegates to the Parliament on the last weekend of the congress and warmly commends their efforts as youth leaders in pursuit of the UN Millennium Development Goals; supports the active involvement of young Scots in the global development agenda, as highlighted by the congress and through the Change 05 initiative, and welcomes the opportunity that the congress brings to promote Scotland on an international stage.
It gives me great pleasure to open for the Scottish National Party in this debate. My party welcomes the world youth congress, which is holding its third meeting here in Scotland this July and August. It is often said that young people today are disengaged from politics. All too often the picture painted of today's youth is of an apathetic generation that is uninterested in the wider world and lacking in the desire—associated with previous generations—to change society. As we well know, nothing could be further from the truth. The minister has mentioned the young Scots who are involved in the change 05 initiative; they are an inspiration to people in Scotland and throughout the world.
The world youth congress is just one example of young people refusing to conform to an ill-informed stereotype. A glance at the programme of this year's congress demonstrates a commitment among its 600 delegates to the major issues that confront our world in the 21st century: sustainable development, eco-friendly lifestyles, global citizenship, eradicating poverty and meeting the UN's millennium development goals. Those are the concerns not of a disengaged and selfish generation, but of a generation that is committed to changing our world for the better. They also reflect the failure of our generation to do the things that we hoped to do. The world youth congress proves that young people today are engaged with the important issues that face society and that they are prepared to take action to improve the world around them. It is vital that we in the Parliament—and, indeed, all politicians—give our support to those young people.
If proof is required of the commitment of the world youth congress to those themes, we need look only to a new development at this year's event. The Scottish summit is the first time that delegates will not be restricted simply to discussing the issues that I have mentioned but will actively participate in projects that encourage sustainable development. Those projects will take place throughout Scotland. In my constituency of Fife, for example, up to 15 delegates will take part in a regeneration project at Lochore meadows country park. I remember when the park did not exist but was the site of pit bings. Some regeneration has been done, but I look forward to the work that the young people will do. Such projects show that the delegates of the world youth congress are not afraid of getting their hands dirty.
The aims of the congress go beyond sustainable development to encompass a commitment to the fulfilment of all the UN millennium development goals. The SNP whole-heartedly supports that aim. The congress will debate some of the most important challenges that we face in the 21st century, including the eradication of poverty, the reduction of child mortality and the fight against the scourge of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Young people have an important role to play in the debate that is taking place on those issues. After all, it is largely on their generation that the huge task of ending injustice in the world will fall.
It is only right that we genuinely listen to the thoughts and views of those who are involved in the world youth congress. Those views will be contained in a strategy paper that will be prepared by delegates and presented to the UN General Assembly. The paper will describe the work that the young people have done to support the millennium development goals and suggest practical policy initiatives to encourage more young people to become involved in the effort. The Parliament has discussed before how best we can encourage young people to become actively involved in what we call civic society. The report from the world youth congress will contain ideas and suggestions from the very people whose participation we are trying to encourage. It is vital for each of us to learn from what the congress has to say and to do all that we can to put its recommendations into practice in our communities.
Finally, it would be remiss of me to give a speech about the world youth congress without mentioning the other summit that is taking place in Scotland this year. It is worth while noting the similarity in the programmes that will be discussed at the summits in Stirling and Perth. We can only hope that the leaders of the world's richest countries show the same level of commitment as the delegates of the world youth congress to tackling the global challenges of the 21st century. If they do, we can all look forward to the achievement of the millennium development goals.
I thank the Deputy Minister for Education and Young People for his helpful contribution, in which he set the scene and pointed the way to priorities and practical solutions. I also thank Tricia Marwick for her positive remarks. I believe that we have a meeting of minds on the issue and I am pleased to contribute to what is a constructive debate on the third world youth congress, which will meet in Stirling.
Increased youth participation in volunteering and community involvement should be strongly encouraged. In addition, the world youth congress has the potential to provide economic benefits for Stirling, both during the congress and for some time to come, as a result of increased investment and publicity.
We must bear in mind the fact that, before wealth can be distributed, it has to be created. We need an holistic approach that takes into account the need to support sustainable development—Tricia Marwick mentioned that important theme. If we take such an approach, it will be much easier to improve the economic and political infrastructure, so that aid that assists social and economic development goes as far as possible. If we adopt a comprehensive approach coupled with a commitment to deliver, we will be able, in co-operation with other nations and institutions, to drive back the frontiers of poverty, ignorance and disease.
According to the global campaign for education, more than 100 million children are kept out of school each day by poverty, conflict and disease. A new school report card created by the campaign reveals that those children are still out of schools because the seven richest countries in the world and others are failing to provide the funding that is necessary to develop education in the third world. The report grades rich countries on the quantity and quality of education aid that they provide to poor countries. Norway scores at the top of the class with an A, followed by the Netherlands. Sweden, Ireland and the United Kingdom receive a B. Many donor countries are failing to deliver what they could. Several of the G7 countries receive a lowly D. The United States of America comes bottom, with an F. Many of those countries could do better.
This year, the world will miss the United Nations third millennium development goal to achieve greater parity in education by 2005 and to empower women. Progress is needed in relation to the education of women, which would cover health education and would help to prevent unnecessary deaths in childbirth. In particular, it would lead to more knowledge about how to combat HIV and AIDS. It is appropriate that I make that point in a Parliament that proportionately has more women members than any other in the world, with the exception of the Swedish Parliament.
In 2005, young people in developed countries around the world will send model friends, representing the more than 100 million children around the world who miss out on schooling, to their Governments, who will be asked to
"Send My Friend to School".
Britain's response to the tsunami disaster is clear evidence of the fact that people in Britain are generous. Every day, tens of thousands of children die from diseases that are entirely preventable. Millions of children get no education. However, countries such as India and China are lifting their people out of poverty. Positive change is possible and can be achieved. We must ensure that aid gets through to those for whom it is intended and does not end up in the bank accounts of the governing elite. Aid must not be about poor men in rich countries assisting rich men in poor countries.
We need to be certain that badly governed countries will distribute more British aid through non-governmental organisations. We also need to target aid at the poorest countries. Half the European Union's aid still goes to middle-income or even higher-income nations. National Governments should have greater control over their international development budgets, as that would enable Britain to target her support at the most deserving countries.
However, aid alone cannot solve all the problems of global poverty. Good government, free enterprise, free markets and fairer trade offer an end to global poverty. The growth of free markets will do more than all the aid programmes in the world to lift people out of poverty. The failure of some people to grasp that truth has left millions of people stranded. In our view, the richer countries must act in accordance with what they know to be true—that free trade spreads prosperity and protectionism does not. Protection for developed countries, at the expense of the developing world, must come to an end, as it is immoral and hypocritical. Instead of putting up barriers, we need to open up our markets to developing countries.
Can the member give me an example of a country in which unrestricted free trade has spread social justice?
The member makes a valid point about the importance of social justice and a fair society. As a nation, we stand for clear principles. Aid must reach those for whom it is intended. Obviously, free trade should also be fair trade. I have seen sewing machines being made in India in conditions that would not be permitted under our factory laws. There were no guards around the machines, so any of the young children who were working on them could lose limbs. There were paint fumes in the air because the sewing machines were being painted, but the children had no masks to put over their faces. That would not be allowed under our laws. I accept the point that trade must be not only free but fair and that there must be minimum standards.
One cannot cover absolutely everything in saying a few words, but our intentions are good. I wish every possible success to the world youth congress and congratulate the minister on his constructive and helpful approach.
It gives me great pleasure to speak in today's debate, because the world youth congress is an important event that will, as has been mentioned, contribute to youth-led sustainable development across the world. I commend the efforts of youth leaders who are involved in the pursuit of UN millennium development goals. I welcome the opportunity that the world youth congress, which is taking place between 30 July and 8 August, offers to promote Scotland on the international stage. We are doing that ably through the G8 summit and other events.
It gives me even greater pleasure to welcome the event to Stirling in my constituency. At the weekend, I attended an event in the Baptist church in Stirling about global warming and sustainable development. I know that the churches and many other organisations will give a warm welcome to the world youth congress.
As the minister said, the congress will bring together 600 of the world's most dynamic young project leaders in the fields of social, environmental and sustainable development. The young people are aged between 18 and 25 and come from 150 countries. One hundred of the 600 delegates will be from Scotland and the rest of the UK. That is a sizeable number.
The congress will focus on finding an effective role for young people in international development and, in particular, in meeting the UN millennium development goals. It will also consider how to promote sustainable lifestyles, which we discussed at the Baptist church at the weekend. For three days of the congress, the young people will work on the action plans for most of our constituencies, as Tricia Marwick mentioned. That is to be welcomed.
Those are ambitious aims and they will move the agenda forward. The delegates will work not only on action projects, but on a policy document for the UN General Assembly on youth-led development work. That will be presented by the UK delegation to the UN's millennium development goals review. There will also be an action toolkit, which will be a book on practical youth-led projects for global distribution.
The minister mentioned the publication of the change 05 magazine. I gather that 250,000 copies were distributed in Scotland in April and that 4,500 responses have been received to date from young people pledging to take action to make a positive change. That is a good response rate.
As an executive member of the Scottish Parliament branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, I will now speak about what young people are doing to support the UN millennium development goals, which are key targets for the congress.
The modern Commonwealth of nations has evolved as an international partnership of countries dedicated to co-operation and governed by mutual respect. Its 1.7 billion people make up more than a quarter of the world's population and over half of them are young people aged 25 or under.
Let us look at some of the Commonwealth initiatives in which we have been involved, through the CPA in particular. As we all know from the recent debate, a cross-party delegation of MSPs visited South Africa and Malawi in February to meet and initiate discussions with Scottish NGOs working there to achieve some of the development goals. Lord James mentioned some of the important aims in relation to the role of women, education, clean water and the prevention of HIV and AIDS.
During that visit to Blantyre in Malawi, the delegation met many volunteers, including Stuart Mill, a school leaver from Merchiston Castle School; Paula Scott, a primary teacher from Banchory; Angela Moore; and Shona Wilmot. They were all teaching at Nansato primary school in Mbewa. The delegation also met Patrick Grady and Chris MacLeod, both graduates who were teaching at St Peter's secondary school in Mzuzu. Additionally, 12 students from Stewart's Melville College are going out to Blantyre to do six weeks' voluntary work. The list goes on and on and I am reliably informed by CPA staff that those are only a small number of the volunteers who are working out there. As we know, the First Minister is in Malawi at the moment, encouraging and moving the agenda on still further—we hope to hear good reports of that.
The 15th Commonwealth conference of education ministers took place in October 2003 and had a parallel youth symposium. The Scottish Parliament CPA branch takes great pride in organising youth events in whatever capacity we can. Every year, on the second Monday in March, the Commonwealth celebrates its beliefs, principles and diversity of peoples. In 2001, we invited 16 students to visit the Scottish Parliament. In 2002, young people from universities were invited to a members' business debate that was held to highlight Scotland's relationship with the Commonwealth. In 2004, we had the Commonwealth day theme of building a Commonwealth of freedom—students were invited to that event, too. This year, the Scottish Parliament CPA branch nominated two young people to attend a two-day celebration in London to simulate the Commonwealth heads of Government meeting, which takes place biennially.
The branch also held a debating tournament—which Lord James will remember well—to select two students to represent the Scottish Parliament at the third pan-Commonwealth parliament in Brisbane. More than 70 delegates, who had been nominated by legislatures throughout the Commonwealth, took part in that event—60 per cent of the delegates were from developing countries. The overall goal of the project was to strengthen the democratic process in the Commonwealth by deepening understanding through people talking together.
We are currently liaising with the Commonwealth Universities Association to find out more about what is going on in the Commonwealth at university level. We have made good progress on that. Some members will also have attended the event that John Swinney arranged—the Commonwealth challenge, which took place the other day. We look forward to the Commonwealth parliamentary conference in September, when the millennium development goals will take centre stage.
The world youth congress is a worthy project. It is not about sitting passively in auditoriums—as we are doing—but about getting out. It is about talking the talk and walking the walk by doing the development. I cannot see why anyone would not support the motion.
I congratulate Peace Child International on arranging this series of conferences, the third of which will take place here, and everyone who has facilitated the conference—including the Executive—on the encouragement that they are giving it. Like Sylvia Jackson, I cannot see how anyone could but agree whole-heartedly with the tone, content and aim of the motion that is before us.
I listened to the First Minister on the radio at lunch time, during a broadcast that came direct from Malawi. I was heartened to hear the commitments that he is making to small-scale, practical help for Malawi. He is encouraging not big stuff, but the kind of engagement—worldwide, but in Malawi in particular—that will come as a result of the conference that will take place in Stirling.
I want to encourage the Executive in the many things that it is already doing. Today's debate and motion give us the opportunity to say, "Well done," in certain areas and to ask for more to be done in others.
I draw the Executive's attention to the sustainable secondary schools project, which reported this month. It involved six schools and a number of environmental organisations, including WWF Scotland and RSPB Scotland. The main aim was to get young people in schools in Scotland involved in a highly thought-out and structured set of projects to encourage them to think globally, internationally and sustainably about sustainable development. I hope that the Executive will not only draw on the many encouraging lessons that are to be learned from the project, but assist with the roll-out to all our secondary schools. If that sounds too ambitious, let us just remember that, three or four years ago, the eco-schools were just beginning and now half the schools in Scotland are signed up to the project. I encourage the Executive to develop that. WWF Scotland also has a project called linkingthinking, which encourages people to think about the environment deeply in a way that has not been done before. It starts with training and skills for teachers and it could roll out to all the sustainability and development projects that are going on in schools throughout Scotland.
Two years ago, I had the privilege—actually, I paid for it myself—of going to Johannesburg to see what was happening at the Johannesburg conference, and I was also assisted and welcomed in joining Jack McConnell on a visit to an eco-school. One of the exciting things that can come out of such conferences is an awareness of how much we can learn from young people around the world. The school that we visited was, I think, ahead of any eco-school that I have seen in Scotland, and I have seen many of them. I am proud of the work that is done at Currie High School, which is in the region that I represent, on taking care of the local environment and restoring woodlands, and that school has links with South Africa and Kenya. However, in the little primary school that we visited, we saw a microcosm of what was happening in South Africa. On the walls, in letters 3ft or 4ft high, was written, "My friend with AIDS is still my friend." That was in a primary school; AIDS is so bad in South Africa that people feel that they have to deal with it in capital letters in primary schools. There is no shortage of land in South Africa, so it is easier for a school to have its own garden, and the children were growing their own vegetables. They also had a tremendous recycling facility in the school, and the children brought in their own kitchen waste to be stored, composted and recycled for the school garden.
I do not want to go over time, Presiding Officer. How long do I have left?
We are reasonably relaxed this afternoon, Mr Harper, and I do not mind you going over your six minutes by a little margin.
Thank you. I will not speak for too long.
The visit to that King Williamstown school was very exciting indeed. I am looking forward to the First Minister coming back from Malawi as inspired as I think he was by his visit to South Africa.
I remind the Executive of a powerful group that is developing in Scotland. It is called the International Development Education Association of Scotland—IDEAS—and is centred around Oxfam. Around Scotland, 40 groups that are loosely or closely associated with international development have got together to pool their ideas. There is huge potential there and huge energy for the Executive to draw on and to use in developing sustainable education and global citizenship in our schools. I find it exciting to hear that the project will roll out to 40 parts of Scotland and that there will be a report on it. However, I think that the report should not go just to the United Nations. Could it possibly be sent to every director of education in Scotland, and perhaps even to every head teacher in Scotland? I am certain that, when it is completed, it will be a huge inspiration to everyone who reads it.
Like many members, I am delighted that we have the chance to focus on the world youth congress that is coming to Scotland in the summer, even if the debate is sparsely attended. As Sylvia Jackson said, it is probably appropriate that it will take place in Stirling. I ask members to look back to the distant past of the early 1970s, when I believe that the Queen was given a warm welcome when she visited the University of Stirling—but perhaps things have changed dramatically in the 30 years since then. Rather than focus on a narrow institution such as the monarchy, the themes of the conference strike me as themes that young people feel passionate about, as I learn when I meet them in my constituency or in schools.
Young people are passionate about the likely future of the world in which they live. They are angry about the inequalities that exist in the world, whether they are caused by free trade or restrictive trade, and about the fact that too many folk live in abject poverty in this great world of ours, despite the immense capacity and ingenuity that we have to solve such problems. They are shocked that children in other parts of the world do not have access to the basic education, literacy and numeracy skills that they take for granted. They are cynical about whether we as politicians have either the capacity or the imagination to resolve the issues, but intrinsically they are optimistic in their belief that we can do something about them.
If anything comes out of the congress, I hope that it is the continuation of such commitment and passion. I hope that it is focused on the millennium development goals, so that the policy document that the young men and women develop over the summer can influence the decision makers, although not necessarily the higher figures that will be here in Scotland during the summer for the G8 summit. It is incredible that 600 people from around the world, including the developing world and the European Community, will meet in Scotland to consider how we can deliver the millennium development goals at the same time as senior figures of the leading nations and economies in the world are here.
I note that the Daily Mail took an interest in the change 05 publication and labelled it anarchist. Being demonised by the Daily Mail is probably not a bad achievement for a youngster. Those involved join a litany of folk from Oz magazine in the 1970s to NME, punk fanzines and the internet campaigns of the recent past.
Gilberto Gil was the Green representative in the Brazilian Government under Lula, although I understand that he has now resigned because of his concern about environmental issues. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Workers Party. When he was asked about what happened to his youthful exuberance and how he could square what he believed in the late 1960s—when he opposed the military junta in Brazil and was involved in the Tropicalia musical movement, which was a radical movement to do with music, dance and performance—with being a Government minister, he came out with what I think is the only legitimate answer that a Latin could give to a question about how, as we get older, we change our views about how we can change and influence things in the world. He said:
"that was then … this is now … but the spirit of then is still with me in the here and now and what made me then inspires me in the here and now."
If I had thought that up, I would quote it liberally in every speech that I ever made.
I say to the young people who are in the public gallery today, watching the debate, that many of the radical perspectives that young people in the 1960s had might be reflected in the debates that take place at the world youth congress. As they go through life, many people end up engaging in activities and influencing matters from a very different perspective from the one they initially endeavoured to pursue. Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who was involved in the events of 1968 in Europe, is now a member of the European Parliament. Anita Roddick has adopted the principles that she had in the late 1960s and early 1970s in her approach to business. Clearly, Hillary Clinton has influenced much of the debate within the Democratic Party. Claire Rayner has certainly influenced the debate through her work in the media. Even Jack Straw, like him or loathe him, has probably made a contribution through his influence as Foreign Secretary—that contribution will be seen as good or bad depending on a person's political perspective. I say that rather wistfully and ruefully.
The congress could be a transformative experience for young people. More than 10 years ago, I was involved in a project in which young people from the greater Easterhouse area and Craigmillar did incredible amounts of voluntary work, community work and development work in their communities. Their reward was the opportunity to go to Los Angeles and San Francisco in the United States, on a visit sponsored by British Airways and other companies in the private sector. During the visit, the young people learned about approaches to street homelessness in Los Angeles and witnessed efforts to integrate ethnic communities in large community schools. The most chilling but probably the most educative experience for the youngsters was a visit to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, where they were confronted with the reality of the experience of young men and women in Nazi Germany and beyond. The impact of that visit enabled the youngsters to move on in their lives. They had had a transformative experience, which lifted them out of the immediacy of their communities in Easterhouse and Craigmillar and showed them that they had the opportunity to influence matters through what they did with their lives. Those young men and women are now adults with families of their own. I still bump into some of them, and the values that inspired them then continue to inspire them in the here and now—if I may echo Gilberto Gil.
I hope that the congress will be a success and that the debate contributes to that. Young people throw down a challenge to themselves and to us by asking a number of questions, which I hope will be explored and addressed in the recommendations. How can we create a world that is both representative and accountable, so that people participate in the political process rather than look to extreme solutions? How can we resolve inequalities, so that people can live more cohesively and, again, not look to extreme solutions from the right and the far left? The capacity to extend democracy is about respecting the rights of minorities, whether they are newcomers to a community or individuals who have never been acknowledged by the indigenous community. Finally, how can we create a world that inspires young people? How can we eradicate the cynicism that too many young people have about the processes that might resolve the issues?
I think that the congress will be a great success. I am delighted that Scotland will be the third venue for the congress and I hope that the Scots and others from around the world who are involved in it will realise the strength of working together to find long-term solutions. I hope that the young people who are in the chamber recognise that the congress represents a positive contribution to meeting the needs of young people, not just in Scotland but around the globe.
As members have said, the world youth congress presents a great opportunity for Scotland, and the fact that Peace Child International invited Scotland to host the congress is a particular plus. It will be the third such congress and the event will help to establish Scotland as the crossroads of the world—if I may use that expression.
The congress will align with our objective of forging more links with other countries—some 120 countries will be represented at the congress—and with our goals for higher and further education, by helping to build partnerships with higher education institutions in other countries. The relationship that Heriot-Watt University has built and is building with Zambia provides a good example of that.
People will come to Scotland—they are very welcome indeed—and when they return home they will recommend our beautiful country to their friends and families. They might even recommend that people come here to work, which will help the fresh talent initiative. That is important.
The congress will be held in French and English and many participants—I hope that that includes participants from Scotland—will be bilingual. That will present an opportunity to demonstrate to our young people the value of developing language skills, which remain a challenge for this country. There is still work to be done on that front.
My colleague the minister said that events would be held throughout Scotland and he intrigued me with a tantalising reference to an event in the beautiful village of Durness in north-west Sutherland—the northernmost and westernmost community on the mainland of the UK. Perhaps in his response he will tell us what will happen in Durness and whether I can go along.
The minister said that young people are "switched on and dynamic". That is true: we need only go into a modern studies class in a college to see that the young people of my children's generation are way ahead of where we were when we were young. I will use a text to illustrate my point. There has been a huge change in the way in which people from different countries view each other. My text is a lovely book called "A Time of Gifts" by Patrick Leigh Fermor, which is an account of him as a young man hitchhiking and walking the length of the Danube. He set off in the 1930s in a snowstorm. It is one of the most fascinating and well-written travel books that I have ever read. I cordially recommend it to everyone if they have not read it.
What is so interesting is that he describes the experience of somebody in his late teens travelling first through Holland, then Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. One sees how entrenched the opinions were. One can smell in the book that war was about to explode, because different nationalities lacked any understanding of each other. Of course, human threads come out in the book, involving some people who were to die in the war that followed. It is a sad book that points out how different things were back in those days, and how far we have progressed today.
Frank McAveety is entirely correct to direct our attention to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. I remember when my former local authority, Ross and Cromarty District Council, twinned with Krosno in Poland. A number of young people were taken to see Auschwitz, all of whom were moved beyond belief. That memory stays with them. Members should be aware in their constituency work that when they talk to modern history classes many of them now visit the old western front and see the war graves in France and Flanders in Belgium. They all come back profoundly moved. A new tide is running among our young, but it has to be enabled. That is what is so important about the congress get-together.
I have a couple of points. First, continuity is important. I am sure that people have the best of intentions, but it is no good just having a conference and then letting things lie. We should ensure that the links that are established between the young people continue. That is precisely where the internet can play a huge role.
Secondly, I was interested in Linda Fabiani's intervention on Lord James Douglas-Hamilton. Although it is a discussion for another day, it is worth thinking about. I do not know the answers, but it is worth thinking about where to draw the lines between free trade and fair trade. Is it about a European owner of a farm in east Africa growing spring onions and making huge profits by selling them to Marks and Spencer, while the people who work on the farm do not make much at all, or while there are posho—to use a Swahili word—or meal queues just down the road? It is important that this get-together of splendid young people uses the plenary session to discuss those matters and advance the thinking on those fronts.
Lord James was fair in acknowledging Linda Fabiani's point that we probably have not established our thoughts as much as we should. Many of us make the mistake of underestimating the young, but I believe that real, good, polished thought can come out of the congress. There should be feedback to us. I say to the minister that if the deliberations of the congress's plenary session can be printed up and given to us, I would welcome the information, because such clear and new thought can only be to the good of our still young democracy in Scotland.
The congress is a start. Steps have been made since the 1930s of Patrick Leigh Fermor's book. We live in a changed world today, but we must change things still further. The minister indicated that there will be an event in Durness, so I will close with the Gaelic phrase, "Togar càrn mòr de chlachan beaga," which means the big cairn is built of little stones. It is through events such as the congress that we can create something huge that will be of tremendous benefit to the world.
I, too, welcome the opportunity to hold another positive debate about young people—this time about young adults aged between 18 and 25. However, I have a concern, because I did not have a high level of awareness of the third meeting of the world youth congress, which is to take place in Stirling, until the Executive scheduled the subject for debate last week. If people such as my colleagues and I—a few of whom I have spoken to about it—are not all that aware that the congress is coming up, I fear that the general public might not know that this important event is to take place in Scotland. In particular, young people might not be aware that the congress is coming up.
The young men and women who lead the projects are excellent role models—the minister referred to them in his speech as inspirational. Therefore, I hope that a sufficient platform will be given to showcase their achievements and to tell their life stories. The G8 summit, to which Tricia Marwick referred and which will take place a few weeks before the world youth congress, will involve a great deal of publicity for the present leaders of the world's wealthiest countries. Given that the congress will involve possible future world leaders—the people who will inherit the mantle and the mistakes of the current leaders—it would be a terrible mistake if their achievements were not publicised adequately.
It is a sad fact that the average young Scot's interest is likely to be in silly celebrities and in people whose only contribution to society is to humiliate themselves in public. Although the debate will help to raise the congress's profile, I have a fear that not many young people are hanging on members' every word; indeed, not many of our colleagues seem to be terribly interested in the debate. Therefore, the Executive, through its press office, must have serious discussion with the national and international media about the adequate promotion of the congress and the related events that the minister said will take place in communities throughout Scotland.
As Frank McAveety said, the change 05 publication has had publicity, although unfortunately it has been negative. The Daily Mail did not like it, which of course immediately commended it to me, so I had a look at it on the website. I am not sure that the entire publication is available there, but one important point that I saw is that it says to young people:
"you too can make a difference".
That is an extremely empowering message in an age in which young people often feel disengaged from conventional politics. Another inspiring message was:
"If we want to see change in people and the world around us, the first step we must take is to … change ourselves."
None of us is too old to benefit from that advice. Those words do not seem to me to be the words of anarchists, as the Daily Mail suggested, but exceedingly sensible advice.
The downloadable articles that I read mentioned sustainability and climate change, which are the issues that exercise our imaginations, too. I might take issue on some points, particularly on the reference to nuclear power, but that is a discussion that people such as John Home Robertson and I should have with younger people. There is also a fantastic article on the child's right to education, which includes the statement:
"Every child in the world has a right to free education which will help lift them out of poverty."
To me, that sounds like one of the founding principles of the Labour Party.
Another article is about an 11-year-old girl who was sold into slavery but who managed to go to school. Now, at the age of 12, she states that her ambition is
"to become something important like a teacher and feel like I am helping the community."
That was a motivating article. The girl does not want to be wealthy or glamorous or on the telly, but somebody who is of value to her community. That reminded me of an article on this morning's edition of "Good Morning Scotland" about a group of pupils from an Orkney school who are visiting a school in Malawi. The teacher said that one of the valuable aspects of the visit for her pupils is that they are learning and seeing how young people can have very little, but be content.
I was involved in the Anti Nazi League and rock against racism when I lived down south in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a time when, I am sad to say, extreme right-wing views were on the ascendancy and there was a lot of concern about the rise of the National Front. Therefore, I was interested to read about the love music, hate racism campaign, especially given the background of the distasteful rhetoric that occurred during the general election campaign. It is important that young people are responding to the rise of such right-wing and racist views. I am glad that young people are still—I suppose that I was reasonably young in the late 1970s—becoming involved in such activities.
I hope that the world youth congress and change 05 achieve sufficient profile to inspire young people in Scotland and elsewhere. However, the responsibility for young people's empowerment does not rest only with them. Those of us who are in positions of power in any profession must take young people's representations seriously, but that does not always happen. Even if the structures for representation are in place, young people do not always feel that they are listened to adequately. Groups such as student councils in schools must be consulted adequately when changes in school rules or dress are proposed. If the structures exist, but consultation does not take place, young people will feel disfranchised, angry and rebellious and will not feel that they are being listened to. Therefore, I am pleased to see young people serving on community councils. In four weeks' time, I will welcome Lockerbie and district community council, whose youngest member is only 14. Such participation is exciting.
We need to learn lessons from the successful young people—the young leaders—who will be in Stirling this summer, and we must apply them to the aspirations and contributions of young people in every community, so that they, too, believe that they can make a difference and change the world.
The organisers—Peace Child International, the SCVO and the Scottish Executive—must be congratulated on their endeavours to bring together 600 enthusiastic young people from all over the world to participate in this year's congress in Stirling. The initiative will give young people the chance to voice their opinions, to debate the most pressing issues that face global society, to participate in community action projects throughout Scotland and to get to know Scotland as a country and Scots as people, which is always welcome.
Following on the heels of the G8 summit, the event will show the world that Scotland is the place for global citizens to meet and discuss crucial matters that face us today. I agree with Elaine Murray that much more needs to be done to publicise the congress and the events that will happen this year. Jamie Stone mentioned an event in Sutherland. I am sure that events will take place in Ayrshire, but I have not heard about them yet, so I hope that the Executive will spread the knowledge among us.
The headline goal of the congress is to show Governments what progress young people throughout the world have made to meet the millennium development goals. Those goals are probably unique, in that all 191 United Nations member states have pledged to meet them. The goals include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and achieving universal primary education. Many other members have mentioned goals such as tackling HIV and promoting gender equality. Those are the key issues that face us.
The young people also want to illustrate their plans to secure substantial support for their activities. Scotland is willing to listen to young people. The event's timing and location are ideal, because many of the UN goals are echoed in the G8 agenda. I guess that young people will be slightly more radical than some of the G8 leaders. If the world youth congress receives the coverage that it deserves, it will help to sustain our attention on those crucial matters.
The event acknowledges that Scotland values young people's opinions. By brainstorming, networking and volunteering, the delegates will go some way towards creating solutions to the problems that will affect their generations probably even more acutely than they have affected ours. Its global reach will enable the congress to take a global perspective on sustainable development. What members such as Robin Harper have said is relevant.
The congress will focus on making it easier for young people to become involved in volunteering, by showing them practical ways to establish new local projects. Therefore, it is fitting that the congress will take place while we celebrate 2005 as the year of volunteering. At its core, volunteering is an important way to participate in a vibrant civil society, so involving young people in volunteering benefits not only the participants and the cause but the community at large.
I commend the world youth congress for including education issues on its agenda. Education is probably the most important tool for combating the problems that plague the underdeveloped areas of the world. As we all know from experience in our own country, education is the ladder out of poverty. The congress's goals of achieving universal primary education, improving sex education and combating illiteracy should all be commended and supported.
It is our responsibility to ensure that the recommendations in the radical, innovative strategy paper that the congress will produce are taken seriously in the Parliament, as they undoubtedly will be in the UN General Assembly.
The degree of unanimity and consensus on the motion has been almost total. Given the subject matter, that is not particularly surprising, but it should not necessarily be taken as a criticism. It is right for the Parliament to debate some topics that engender a unanimous view and lead to a tone of debate that is different from the usual party-political squabbling. In light of last week's European and External Relations Committee debate on promoting Scotland worldwide, it is also right that we take the opportunity to celebrate the fact that Scotland is hosting the youth congress, which is a world event, and to congratulate the Scottish Executive on securing the event and providing some £2 million of funding.
The third world youth congress's greatest strength is its emphasis on youth-led sustainable development. Young people often have a different view of the world and the issues that affect it from those of us who are older and perhaps more cynical. The idealism of youth should not be denigrated and I am considerably heartened that, in an increasingly commercial world, our current generation of young people retains a desire to change the world and is committed to achieving that.
For the past few years, I have been asked to speak to and present winning certificates to local primary school pupils in an annual competition on world citizenship that the Baha'i community in my constituency organises. I have been impressed by the quality of the writing and drawing that the young people have produced and by the understanding and enthusiasm that are evident in them. Those pupils have a genuine interest in and concern for people in other countries. That genuine interest should be promoted and encouraged and I look forward to the youth congress developing and expanding in the future so that those Dunfermline youngsters can build on the work that has begun by attending such events in five to 10 years' time.
I will digress for a moment. Jamie Stone shared with us his recommendation for the best-written travel book. I have not read that book, but I have read "The Motorcycle Diaries: A Latin American Journey", which relates Che Guevara's travels in Latin America in the 1950s. Last month, when I was doing one of my monthly surgeries in Valleyfield community centre, I noticed that one of the youngsters who had turned up for the youth club was also reading that book—he was carrying a copy of it, so I assumed that he was reading it. He was genuinely interested in what he read in the book and in my experiences of holidaying in Cuba with its different culture and traditions. We should celebrate and promote the genuine interest that young people have in different cultures and countries of the world.
In his opening speech, the minister referred to the publication of change 05. Frank McAveety and Elaine Murray indicated that some articles in our national media have been critical of that publication and website, but commentators who have criticised it must realise that it is written by young people for young people. The content can be challenging, but it reflects young people's interests and priorities. It might not suit social conservatives, but I would rather know our young folk's views and interests than hear some sanitised, anodyne perspective that suits the middle aged. Young people should be challenging us constantly, just as we challenged past generations when we were young people ourselves.
The two previous world youth congresses were in Hawaii and Morocco. As a graduate of the University of Stirling, I hope that those attending this summer's congress enjoy the venue. With no disrespect to Dr Jackson's constituency, many of the young people from the United Kingdom who are attending this year's event might have wished that it was being held somewhere a bit more exotic, such as Hawaii or Morocco—or Fife. However, it is the subject matter, rather than the venue, that will be the making of the congress. I wish all those who will be travelling to Stirling, from wherever in the world they are coming, a constructive and informative experience.
I am very pleased to be speaking in this debate, not least because it is my birthday. My youth becomes more of a distant memory as time goes on. I had thought that I was falling into Scott Barrie's categories of being both a Conservative and of middle age.
Does that make Mary Scanlon ineligible for the world youth congress?
I think so, but I would not like to count by how many years. On a serious note, I am delighted that young people today have more opportunity to engage in such international debate than they would have done in the past. Such events as the world youth congress were not on offer to my generation and certainly not at the school that I attended.
On behalf of my party, I, like others, welcome the world youth congress in Stirling. This summer, Scotland will enhance its reputation on a global scale, with both the G8 summit and what we might call the junior G8, which will play no small part.
When Frank McAveety was speaking, I was reminded of when I was a lecturer taking a student trip to Prague. Because I had received funding in the Highlands, I had to set some of the agenda. I forced the students to visit the former Nazi concentration camp at Terezín, not far from the Polish border. The students were not very happy about that. They complained and complained, but I said that they had to do it. I still see students in Inverness who retain the memory of their experiences there. In looking to the future, we should never forget our past, good and bad.
I strongly support the role that young people, including young Scots, will play in the world youth congress. It provides a great opportunity for them to broaden their minds, forge lasting relationships and make their voices heard on the international stage, on which Scotland has historically played a major role and spoken loudly. The young people, from more than 150 countries, will have opportunities to get involved in planning and implementing the event's agenda and to spend some of their three days on action projects, including environmental projects, from Durness to inner cities.
I welcome the fact that the participants in the congress are to produce documentation drawing attention to the activities of young people throughout the world in support of the UN millennium goals, particularly on providing universal primary school education for all boys and girls. Those documents will be presented to the General Assembly of the UN. We can be confident that the visitors attending the congress, as well as the G8, will take away with them a positive image of our country, of which each and every one of us here is very proud.
As Adam Ingram has said, this is the year of the volunteer, with young people becoming involved in various voluntary projects. We must hope that the projects that are undertaken by the young people attending the congress stimulate a range of views and opinions on world issues, equipping them with facts and experience and allowing them to debate both sides of the argument.
It is important to promote an enterprising and entrepreneurial culture among our young people in order to drive Scotland's economy and the world economy forward. Historically, Scotland has played a role in invention and enterprise; Scots have taken their ideas round the world. I am sure that the congress will do everything to promote that.
As others have said, the congress is an opportunity to advertise the role of our Youth Parliament, which discusses issues affecting young people throughout Scotland. We hope that the Youth Parliament will expand and engage its membership within the broad spectrum of our younger population in debating issues, expressing opinions and composing policy as an exciting activity by which people should be stimulated.
I welcome the change 05 campaign, which is linked to the congress, through which young people from throughout Scotland complete a personal action plan. I note the examples of pledges to build a better world, to which perhaps we could all sign up and which include pledges to not waste water or electricity; to buy fair trade products where possible; to donate clothes and compact discs to charity; and to challenge discrimination wherever it is seen or heard. Questioning how our own actions impact on others gives us a much broader vision of society. The campaign is an excellent way to promote action and achievement and to sell the idea that each individual can make a difference not only to the future of their community and country but to the wider world.
We support and encourage free enterprise and free trade as the basis on which our commitment to increasing international development support would be built.
The world youth congress cites as one of its aims promoting active citizenship and stimulating ideas on how young people can be involved and be an integral part of any system of active citizenship and good governance. We in Scotland do well. I know that we can learn from others, but I am sure that others can also learn from us. Good governance entails equality, fairness and peaceful resolution, which is undoubtedly the basis for development out of poverty.
A short while ago, I looked up to see that the youngsters who had been sitting in the gallery were leaving. No harm to any of us, but I thought, "There was the youth of our country and they must have been bored witless sitting up there listening to us talking." I hope that that does not put them off seeing what happens at the youth congress in August. I see that more people are now leaving—perhaps that is because I got up to speak. It is difficult for folk in our age groups to say things that are meaningful to youth, although that does not mean that we should stop trying.
In his opening speech the minister mentioned individuals from different countries, which gives me the opportunity to mention something that I think is wonderful: a couple of the delegates at the youth conference will be from East Timor—the world's newest nation, which has just entered its fourth year of independence. That is particularly special, because in such countries young people have suffered badly and have been political from a young age and aware of all sorts of issues of which children in our society are not aware. It is marvellous that we are welcoming young people from all over the world, from different circumstances and societies. The opportunity for the 120 delegates from the UK to learn from their experiences is immense.
We hear all the time that young people are not interested in politics, given the lack of voting among the young. However, I believe that, as others have said, it is party politics that they are not interested in—which perhaps goes back to how I began my speech. With the rise of internet communication, we have seen young people get involved in issue politics. The millennium development goals, international development and aid have captured young people's imagination and young people are running with them. I am convinced that if the youth congress in Hawaii in 1999 had set the millennium development goals and been given the action plan for them, we would not be sitting here a third of the way in saying, "We're never going to meet the targets in 2015," which we are not.
The enthusiasm that young people have, coupled with their lack of disillusionment, which sets in when people get older, means that they will just get on and do things. We hear people saying that certain things are impossible, or that certain amounts of money cannot be raised, but that is not true. We should listen more to young people, who have enthusiasm and take what we might sometimes call simplistic approaches, because they would get things done. As somebody said at the Commission for Africa conference last week, we managed to raise billions of pounds to go to war with Iraq pretty blooming quickly, so how come we cannot raise the money that is needed to lift Africa out of poverty?
I was interested in Lord James Douglas-Hamilton's speech for reasons other than what he had to say about fair trade. Perhaps I am being disingenuous, but might I interpret his call for nations to take control of their aid budgets as being an indication that Lord James is joining the recent moves of some Tories towards independence? Certainly, Scotland could take control of its aid budget. Even within the devolved settlement, Scotland could have control of its aid budget and make a contribution above that which has been committed by the Executive.
Sylvia Jackson said that she was at a Baptist church on Sunday. It must have been a Baptist weekend, because I was at a Baptist church on Sunday as well. She said that the role of the churches in joint action on issues such as the millennium development goals and in encouraging initiatives such as the youth congress is huge. Regardless of whether one is religious, one must accept that the role that the churches play is fantastic. A lot of young people work in churches. The youth group of one of the churches in Strathaven, where I live, does tremendous work in its partnerships with Ethiopia in relation to international development and—due to Strathaven being Scotland's first fair trade town—fair trade.
Jamie Stone mentioned the recognition of world events by young people. This year, South Lanarkshire Council hosted the national Holocaust memorial and remembrance ceremonies. I was taken by the fact that almost everyone who presented at the various events that the council held was a young person. Everything was extremely well done. The level of understanding and compassion of the youth of South Lanarkshire that was evident at those events was amazing. I can see Michael McMahon nodding. He attended many of the events and, evidently, he felt the same as I did.
Last week, during the debate on the voluntary sector, I said that the Executive's intention with regard to project Scotland is admirable, in that the project makes it easier for young people to do voluntary work and get involved in their communities. I would like the remit of project Scotland to be extended to include partnerships with people overseas. As has been mentioned, we are now building a partnership with Malawi, which is great. However, would it not also be great if we could use project Scotland to help young people from Scotland to go to Malawi to work on various projects there? I think that Elaine Murray said that our young people are the leaders and policy makers of the future and we should encourage them to volunteer in the way that I have described.
The motion says that the Parliament
"welcomes the opportunity that the congress brings to promote Scotland on the international stage."
Of course that is to be welcomed, but the congress is also about what Scotland can give back to the world. Scotland could do a lot on the international stage in a fairly straightforward manner. The minister mentioned eastern Europe and conflict resolution and I would point out that Scotland has already been the setting for conflict resolution meetings for the nations in the Caucasus. In that regard, it is interesting to note that Peace Child International is helping to facilitate the congress. It would be wonderful if, while the congress was going on, we could consider the establishment of a centre for peace and conflict resolution in Scotland. After all, as John Hume said when he retired from the European Parliament, there should be a European centre for peace. We should use the youth congress to make a bid for that centre to be housed in Scotland. I cannot think of a better way of promoting Scotland on the international stage.
I want to mention the G8 summit—as other members have—which will take place prior to the youth congress. Bob Geldof issued a challenge to the First Minister at last week's Commission for Africa conference. He said that if world leaders will not change their attitudes before coming to Scotland, they should be told not to bother coming. I do not agree with that. If we try right up until the last second, they just might change their minds. However, the First Minister, backed up by the Parliament and the people of Scotland, should give leaders a hard time while they are here. They should be told that they can and should make changes. We should try to force the hand of everyone who is motivated to act and get something done. That would be a wonderful thing for Scotland to do before the youth congress and would give the congress a boost in progressing its aim of achieving the millennium development goals.
The debate has been interesting and I have enjoyed listening to members. I thank them for their positive approach to the world youth congress, which I am sure will be noted furth of the chamber.
I will respond to points that have been made in the debate. I mentioned our ambition to involve more people in the world youth congress than those who can attend in person. Currently, our best estimate is that upwards of 15,000 young people will be engaged with the event as delegates, respondents to the change 05 initiative or international newsletter subscribers. The Scotland 2005 website has registered approximately 150,000 visitors in 10 months—which is an impressive figure—and has been advertised on other websites as diverse as those of Harvard University and the World Bank to TakingITGlobal, which is a youth networking portal with a membership of many tens of thousands. The website is therefore receiving wide coverage, but there is obviously more that we can do.
I think that Elaine Murray and Adam Ingram said that we should promote the congress more in the media. There is an opportunity to do so and attempts will be made to do so. I share their views about the less fortunate comments about change 05 that have been made in the media, which were mistaken, misplaced and somewhat superficial. As Scott Barrie rightly said, the change 05 magazine is written by young people for young people, and media outlets ought to ponder their more middle-aged perspective on such matters.
I turn to specific points that have been made on the action projects. Jamie Stone asked about what is going on in Durness—I can tell him about the dig in cyberspace. The Prince's Trust is working with young people from the community and a digital artist to convert research from heritage studies into visual formats and animation techniques.
Adam Ingram asked about projects in Ayrshire. There are projects in Ayrshire—I refer to an environmental art project there, which South Ayrshire Council and Wallacetown residents association are running, and the community play park action project that is being sponsored by North Ayrshire Council. Making all members aware of the projects in their regions or constituencies might be helpful. I am sure that they would be welcomed if they visited those projects to see the work that is being undertaken.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton strongly encouraged young people to participate in the congress. He rightly alluded to the global campaign for education and said that 100 million children and young people are kept out of school each day. He also referred to the importance of women's education.
From talking to teachers who go to Africa, I know about the enthusiasm that young people there have for education; they often walk many miles to school. I was telling some young people in my constituency recently that not only do young people in Africa walk to school but they carry their chairs as they walk to and from school because their school has no chairs. There is a very important thirst for education in a number of those developing countries.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton was also right to say that we should avoid the situation in which poor men in rich countries help rich men in poor countries. Quite what the Conservatives of 100 years ago would have made of his comment that free trade spreads prosperity where protectionism does not is another matter. That shows that Conservatives can change.
Sylvia Jackson mentioned the promotion of Scotland and of course I welcome the fact that her constituency will host the main and initial events. She also highlighted the role of the Commonwealth and the First Minister's visit to Malawi. The First Minister is scheduled to meet one of the Malawi delegates to the world youth congress during his visit. There will be two delegates from Malawi and three from South Africa. That is also immensely welcome.
Jamie Stone mentioned Zambia. The Zambian high commission visited Parliament recently and we hope to develop several links with Zambia, building on the higher education connections that have existed between us for many years, and of course, on the fact that David Livingstone played a significant part in the opening up and foundation of that part of Africa.
Robin Harper mentioned eco-schools projects in Scotland, and I agree that they have been a great success. It is very good that 1,500 schools—half of the schools in Scotland—are now eco-schools. He also mentioned the linkingthinking series from WWF Scotland. That is an immensely important development and I will consider his points about sustainable education in schools and getting the report to which he referred to all local education authority directors.
Frank McAveety agreed that learning in congress can transform young people's outlook. He gave the profound example of the young people who visited the Holocaust memorial in Los Angeles. Other members mentioned similar and very moving experiences. By joining together in a congress such as the one that will take place at Stirling, young people will share their understanding of those and similar events. Their work on conflict resolution at the congress will be particularly important.
The development of democracy and how to overcome its flaws is another theme that will be discussed at the congress. That reminds me of the comments of Al Smith, a New York governor, who said that the problems of democracy can only be solved by more democracy.
The world youth congress comes to Scotland from Morocco, where it was in 2003, and Hawaii, where it was in 1999. It is expected that the fourth congress will be held in Asia in 2007. I am pleased that members have acknowledged the merits of Scotland hosting the event and, more important, the opportunities that it brings to young people by supporting their already considerable achievements in creating the conditions in which they can continue their work and building momentum behind the concept of youth-led development.
The world youth congress reflects the growing trend towards mass participation initiatives that are geared towards achieving real change and which have attracted such prominence, particularly this year. I am thinking of, for example, make poverty history, with its signature white band, and the growing impetus behind the fair trade movement. The youth congress also has a wrist band, which is a gold colour, and I am sure that if members would like such a fashion accessory, it can be made available to them.
Change 05 is an initiative in the same model. It involves a critical mass of ordinary people making small changes to the way in which they live their lives; it is in tune with the words of the inspirational Scottish thinker Sir Patrick Geddes: "Think global, act local."
The success of the congress, which has been almost a year in the planning, will rely on the help and support of a great many organisations throughout Scotland. About 30 bodies, including local authorities and voluntary organisations, such as the Prince's Trust and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, will host groups of delegates who will undertake 40 action projects throughout the country. Other organisations will play central roles in the planning and resourcing of the congress, resulting in a broad partnership between Peace Child International, the Scottish Youth Parliament, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Youthlink Scotland, Young Scot, Stirling Council, the Executive and many other organisations.
Several members mentioned the legacy of the congress, which will be in the form of a statement to the UN. However, the congress website will remain online until the website for the next congress is available. Members wanted to know how links are being made with the G8 summit, and I am pleased to say that an online debate on the themes of the G8 summit will open on the congress website in June. That will feed directly into important congress debates.
I will make a couple of comments about travel to the congress. I thank the Governments of a number of countries, including Morocco, for paying for their delegations to attend. I also thank the numerous sponsors. To pick one out, BP has offered a scholarship of up to £30,000 to enable young people to get to the congress. That is particularly valuable and helpful and I am grateful to BP.
The congress is largely youth led. Last summer, an international group of under-25s drew up the initial draft planning document, and an advisory group, which was drawn from the Scottish Youth Parliament, the United Kingdom Youth Parliament, the guides, People & the Planet and the Muslim Association of Britain, among others, has met regularly to provide input and plan the event. I record my thanks to all those bodies for their commitment and assistance. I also express my appreciation to the Presiding Officer and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body for permitting the closing ceremony of the congress to take place here in the Parliament. That is much appreciated.
I conclude by thanking members for their comments in what has been an interesting and constructive debate. Again, I commend the motion in my name to the Parliament.