Our “Democracy and Development in Action Through Media and Empowerment (DAME)” program, in partnership with Conselho Nacional da Juventude de Timor-Leste (CNJTL), has implemented 13 district youth forums which ran throughout the spring and summer of 2014. The theme of the forums was promoting youth engagement in peacebuilding and development at the district level.
These two day youth forums were limited to 40 young participants between the ages of 17-29 years old. The participants came from various youth groups, including members and leaders from senior high school student councils, suku youth council members, members of national youth parliament, university students, and other potential young leaders. Important topics discussed at the forums focused mainly the progress and challenges of PNDS (Planu Nasional Dezenvolvimentu Suku/National Plan for Suku Development), and the paradigm of good leaders for Timor-Leste’s future.
The forums brought together the Timorese youth to meet directly with their local leaders and decision makers to discuss and develop a mutual understanding of local development processes and its concepts, challenges, obstacles, and progresses. The forums also provided a space for the youth to share their aspirations, make criticisms, and express their recommendations regarding issues that they are facing in their communities and neighborhoods. In addition, the young participants were able to establish strong network connections among themselves to share and learn from each other about the problems affecting their lives.