This is a continuation of the previously posted interview conducted with Mr. Daniel Eyassu, Head of the NUEYS Foreign Affairs Department.
National service program: this program creates a platform for willing Eritrean youth living abroad to fulfill their national obligation. The union in collaboration with the concerned Ministry body of national service provide a platform for those Eritrean youth that want to fulfill their national obligation. The number of youth that have participated in this program is limited. The biggest challenge these youths residing abroad face is that with their work and academic schedule, they cannot take leave and fully participate in the program. Most of their requests is to break up the allotted time of national service into phases that they complete part by part. This kind of procedure however is not in line with the policy on national service and as a result a lot of youth are not able to partake in fulfilling their national obligation. With this challenge though, there are a limited number of youth that complete their national service.
‘Zura N Hagerka’ program: this program is to enhance the connection youth residing abroad have with their country and is a tour that includes visiting development and historical sites as well as various places for entertainment. This program is mainly conducted around the summer season (July – September) when there is a large number of diaspora visiting the country. Often, the activities encompassed in the tours conducted are: visiting development project sites and participating in the explanations given by experts about the composition of the project and the future plans of the project, visiting historical sites and getting explanations from people that partook in the historical events, meeting with the people and administrators of places and participating in the reception and explanations given for them to learn about the culture and values of their country and having a tourist experience by visiting entertainment places.
The transference of technology as well as other supports: the aim of transference of technology is to create a ground for the Eritrean youth to transfer the parts of the technological advancements from their countries of residence that can be quickly adopted to the benefits of the public. We haven’t been able to do much in this program but we expect to make an impact and do more in the near future.
Additionally, to this, work is being done to increase the participation of these youth in national events especially national festivals. The organizing and campaigning done to increase this kind of participation is done by this department.
- As you briefly explained earlier, a second major task of this department is monitoring regional and international relations of the union. What tasks does this division exactly undertake?
The field of work of this division is first focused on bilateral relations with other national youth and student union such as NUEYS. On this level, on the ground of bilateral relations meaning relations with each union, experiences are exchanged and shared, our outlooks are clarified, we identify areas in which we can jointly work, and also we state our stand on issues that jointly affect us. After clarifying fields of work, as per what we consider important, we sign protocol agreements and design a work plan that initiates the process of implementation.
On a second level, it monitors the active participation and membership of the union in regional organizations. Whether the status of membership of the union be regular or on a leadership basis; it is the task of this division to monitor this.
The third level of work of this division is based on international relations. In general, we try to create opportunities for the voice of Eritrean youth to be heard on international platforms and engage as a representative voice of the Eritrean youth.
- Please brief us on the major activities conducted within the past three months.
In general activities regarding regional and international relations is limited during the summer. Activities conducted on a departmental level such as campaigning and introduction of the unions work through various media outlets and the unions social media pages is continuous and within these three months’ significant activities have been conducted.
To mention a few of the activities conducted: just before the BRICS conference held in July in South Africa, a conference of African youth and youth of BRICS nations was conducted. In this conference, we presented the experience of Eritrean youth within the context of African youth and we were able to learn from the experiences of others.
Additionally, within these three months, the union was able fully secure its membership with the Non-Allied Movement – Youth Organization (NAM-YO). NAM was founded in 1961 with 120 member states as a part of the Non-Allied movement, with Eritrea joining this organization in 1995. In 2021, in the conference held in Azerbaijan with the lead nations of the organization, the groundwork for securing the participation of youth was laid down. Based on the NAM’s head of states decision, NAMYO was established in 2021, and so far national chapters of the youth organization is realized in over 50 member states, including Eritrea.
On top of this, there was a major activity in the second quarter of this year that is an important point to be mentioned. A conference of Ministers of African Youth was conducted in Morocco in May; in this event we made our voice heard by sending a representative.
- What kind of activities were conducted with regards to Eritrean youth residing abroad?
When looking into the activities conducted on Eritrean youth residing abroad, a substantial amount of activities were conducted. In the area of volunteer service, 13 youth made voluntary contributions in various public offices. Their contributions differ from office to office; for example, academic help given to the children of disabled veterans in the Denden war disabled veteran’s camp can be mentioned. This program was conducted by Five young girls from Canada and has made a major impact. The program was initiated by the Hidri children of Ottawa in 2018 during the summer break and has been continuing on an annual basis for the fourth time and it is a program that should be followed and encouraged by others.
Another activity conducted within these three months is the gathering of Eritrean youth residing abroad; by their initiation, they created a group they call ‘Eritrean Youth of the Fourth Front’(EYFF) in which they constantly meet on a weekly basis and share their experiences. We as a union created the platform for them; they constantly met weekly on Fridays, where by raising various topics they would share with each other their opinions and experiences. Additionally, they would visit and tour various public offices and also give support by donating. For example, they jointly experienced and enjoyed visiting the school for the visually impaired, the orphanage and national festivals and other places alike.
- I hope we will get the opportunity to discuss broadly in the future. Thank you!!
Written by Eng. Michael Berhe
Head of Public Relations
Translated by Meriem Ahmado