Member Days 2023: Engaging youth

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The theme for our first physical membership days in three years was “Youth is the present”. In the program there was inspiration about how young people in our network get involved in missions, climate, human rights and social development, both locally and globally – but also a lot of concrete advice on how we as adults can become better at being children and young people’s skills and needs.

Generalsekreterare Charlotta Norrby hälsar omkring 100 deltagare välkomna till Medlemsdagarna 2023

The need to meet and network after almost three years of digital meetings was great. Analyzes of the recent news about reductions in aid and democratic conditions for civil society were also included in the program and resulted in a joint statement: There is hope! Our faith is a force for change. Join us locally, regionally and globally.

Children can, want and must be allowed to express their opinion

Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child reads “Children have the right to express their opinion and be heard in all matters concerning the child”.

– This does not mean that the decisions are always made by them, but they have the right to be listened to. Nor does it make the children completely independent. But it allows children to be involved in decisions that affect them and that adults make, British child rights expert Gerison Lansdown said in his lecture.

In short film clips, young people then told us about how important international issues are to them. They mentioned the climate crisis, refugees, conflicts, human rights, poverty, injustice, school, peace and inclusive societies.

The young people in the film clip above believe that adults need to care more, and that they themselves feel engaged when they learn more and hear voices from other parts of the world. Many want to know what they themselves can do to contribute.

ercy Munene, Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa and PaRD’s steering committee, urged the participants to create opportunities for collaboration between young people of different faith backgrounds:

– Young people stand together because they have a faith, not necessarily because they belong to the same religion. We understand that our different religions have a similar basis in caring for our common home.

Many opportunities for young people to get involved

One way to contribute for both young people and adults is to support our member organizations and participate in their work. Many of them are experts on children’s rights issues and young people’s involvement:

  • The Christian Peace Movement works creatively with non-violence together with young peace actors in North Africa.
  • Life & Peace Institute organizes digital but also physical meeting places to connect young people in Sweden and Kenya.
  • Erikshjälpen’s Future Workshops give young people the opportunity to create and run activities based on their own needs, interests and dreams.
  • EFK believes that it is important to have a presence on social media to reach young people with work for mission and development. They do this through their intern program StepOut.
  • The Equmenia Church and the Alliance Mission cooperate with congregations in 16 countries so that young people can deepen their fellowship with Christians in other cultures.
  • EFS gives young people the opportunity to get involved through an internship program.
  • Youth With A Mission (YWAM) wants to secure future missionaries by working long-term with discipleship for young people.
  • The medical mission works with the “Youth, peace and security agenda” through so-called innovation hubs, where, among other things, their partners in Somalia engage young people with an interest in tech issues.
  • Act The Church of Sweden has a network of Agera volunteers for international justice. They invest in education, demonstrations, collections, pilgrimages and different kinds of campaigns.

Another way to spread commitment is in musical form, which the members’ days’ participants got to experience through the musical A little moment about a big world and us who live in it, a collaboration between PMU and the Credo gospel choir. The global goals were in focus, and strong stories from Kenya, Congo and Bangladesh were interspersed with top-quality singing and uncanny situations in an airplane on its way around the world.

Voices from the participants at the membership days

During the Members’ Days, nearly 100 representatives from SMR’s 29 member organizations gathered. Many highlighted the importance of finally being able to see each other physically again.

– My father used to say that people always gather around the fire because it gives security and makes it possible to share ideas about how we can explore the unknown. That’s how I see the Swedish Mission Council’s member days. It’s a way for our network to prepare for what the future demands, said Noah Frohm of Trosgnistan.

– Many people talk about cold talk, but I prefer to call it warm talk. Networking is important to strengthen our voice and make us more interconnected. When we really see each other like this, many good ideas are triggered at the coffee tables that we can build on, said Marianne Stattin Lundin from Erikshjälpen.

– It is important to keep up with what is happening within the Swedish Mission Council. There are important issues raised here that we can get involved in and network around, said Maria Brunander from the Equmenia church.

Everyone probably agreed with Annika Hollsing from Kväkarhjälpen:

– It’s fun to meet the network and avoid being as square as you have to be when you participate as a screen.

Uppblåsbara jordglober flyger runt i lokalen under en allsång om att hålla många bollar i luften.

Read more

Read our interview with the British children’s rights expert Gerison Lansdown, who told us at the Members’ Days how she worked together with organizations all over the world to put the Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice – precisely by involving young people.