Singing in the Istanbul rain

Istanbul, March 2009. A hundred and fifty young people from across the world had gathered to be a part of the fourth World Water Forum, an international conference which is held every three years to address any and all issues related to water. I was one of those young people. Sadly, we were in for disappointment.

Hidden away across the river in a significantly less grand building than the main part of the forum, few of our elders knew what we were doing or that we were even there. It was not until we literally ran out into the pouring rain in a peaceful protest "to bridge the divide" (the forum's own slogan, no less!) that people started paying attention to us. Nearly all of us got sick afterward and I cannot particularly advise going into a press briefing as soaked as I did, but at least we got some of the attention we so desperately wanted - that we so richly deserved.

Istanbul is only one example of an all too common occurrence in international politics. Across the world, the younger generations are patronisingly patted on the head by their seniors for taking an interest in global issues - if as much - and then efficiently ignored. There is little that quite boosts a politician's popularity like playing the "I love youth" card, but to actually listen to them seems out of the question. Youth involvement in this domain has become a nasty piece of tokenism in which young people are invited for the sake of being invited and nothing more. It is simply not enough.

There are few among those youth who find themselves in these kind of circles that hold true to the naive expectation of changing the world in any truly significant way. Personally, I gave up on that belief four years ago. Neither do we assume to be given any sort of high-level clearance or material like the nuclear launch codes - that would just be silly. We simply and obviously lack the experience and qualifications for that. What we would like, however, is some recognition for the expertise and eagerness that we *do* have.

I have yet to see a group of people as driven and passionate as youth. Istanbul once again serves as an example here: we went out into the freezing rain to make ourselves heard and to bring attention to the importance of youth participation in water issues. I do not see many of our seniors willing to get their suits wet in a spontaneous stunt like that (although I have to admit that some of the elder World Water Forum participants were cool enough to actually join us that day). We have such potential, and such energy; it is and always will be a waste to disregard that.

Yes, we are young, but what we lack in age we make up for in drive and enthusiasm. We should not be put down for that. Yes, we are perhaps less experienced or skilled, but that does not make our arguments any less valid. We put a lot of effort into our research to know as much as we can. In turn, we should not be discouraged even if we are turned down; after all, live to fight another day and one day soon you will be old enough to be taken seriously. Just do not lose that youthful vibe or take those younger than you for granted.

In all seriousness, we should not give up. 18% of the world's inhabitants can qualify as youth; a number that the UN's WPAY (http://www.un.org/youth) expects to expand in the 21st century. Of course one cannot assume that all of these 1.03 billion young people aspire to or will go on to become the next UN Secretary General or Mother Theresa. That notwithstanding, I do believe all of them - all of *us* - should care about the many intercontinental, all-encompassing issues that affect our home and should be given the chance to voice our opinions on these matters. After all, we are the ones who will be living in and reigning over this crazy old place we call Earth long after the current generation in power is gone. Surely that's got to count for something.

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