Every year, people who support the creation of a democratic world federation come together to celebrate the Week for World Parliament around UN Day, the anniversary of the creation of the United Nations on October 24, 1947. The Young World Federalists was proud to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Week for World Parliament this October 2023 with events, meetings, and actions across the globe.
In Nairobi, Kenya, YWF East Africa organised a full-day UN General Assembly simulation. In this simulation, countries were not represented by delegates, but by democratically elected members of parliament. The simulation discussed and voted on the collated text of the 2022 Global Youth Declaration that was drafted during last year's Week for World Parliament (more info below). Partnering with Strathmore University and the World Federalist Movement, this event featured around twenty-five young people committed to enabling a global green transition via global democratic institutions.
In Tallinn, Estonia, YWF Advisor Luca Alfieri set a fantastic example for Yound World Federalists everywhere who struggle to identify actions that individuals can take to show their support for world federalism and global democracy. As part of YWF's ongoing flag campaign, Luca stood in front of the Tallinn town hall with the International Flag of Planet Earth to call for a sustainable, just, and peaceful world through a democratic world federation.
In Lagos, Nigeria, YWF West Africa held a youth roundtable and action focusing on effective multilateralism for global governance. With peace, women's rights, and sustainable development activists, the discussion explored new ways of improving global governance to build a UN system amendable to putting its high principles in action, leaning on its ethical foundation to chart a better future for humanity.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, YWF Malaysia organised a meeting and action showing support for a united humanity and calling for peace in the ongoing Israel/Palestine conflict. A key tenet of these actions is to bring together people of different faiths and ethnicities to exemplify the united, diverse world for which world federalism aims. The participants in the event held signs relating to YWF's #ProtectHumanity and #AbolishWar campaigns and published a Chapter Statement on the Israel/Palestine conflict.
In Accra, Ghana, YWF activists held a "World Federalism Now! Symposium" to discuss how the present moment is the closest the world has been to having a federal government which was the formation of the United Nations in 1945. They observed that it had to take two devastating world wars within the span of thirty years before the world realized the necessity of having something with at least the semblance of a federal world government, and the current Russo-Ukrainian war and the chronic Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be the catalyst that should awaken the world to the prudence of having such an entity.
YWF was also proud to host an online panel discussion on UN Day, 24 October 2023, on global economic and political reform, featuring three esteemed experts on the topic. Watch below to hear from Heikki Patomäki, Professor of World Politics and Global Political Economy at the University of Helsinki; Rebecca Shoot, Executive Director of Citizens for Global Solutions; and Adrien Fabre, economist and research fellow at the Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement in the CNRS Paris.
YWF would like to thank all those who organised events, took action, and supported our events for this year's Week for World Parliament. We believe that only by building a mass movement of people around the world calling to #UniteTheWorld, can we mobilise global change. We hope to see you all for future events and at the 2024 Week for World Parliament.
Last year, to celebrate the 2022 Week for World Parliament, we raised over $6,000 USD to support young people on four continents to come together in support of democratic global governance. Read the blog post about our events for the 2022 Week for World Parliament.