The Global Young Greens (GYG) recently concluded a week-long congress at BCEAO Hotel in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. GYG is a planetary youth network that unites people through web-based and face-to-face contact with a vision of promoting the green ideology.

The event brought together hundreds of participants from Europe, America, Asia and Africa. The main aim of GYG is to network with affiliate organisations to empower young people within the framework of participatory democracy and to further create space for young people to be active without being dominated by the older generation.

The congress, hosted by the Federation Democratique des Ecologististes de Senegal (FEDES) ended with Africans selecting four candidates from each region that will represent the continent at the global level. The candidates for Africa are: Forget Chinomona from Zimbabwe, Rose Wachuka from Kenya, Michel Perlo from Senegal, and Massima Chethal from Morocco.

A Federation of African Greens was also formed with a steering committee comprising the president, secretary general, auditor, financial secretary and vice presidents from each region. The committee is expected to link with the selected candidates at GYG level in ensuring that projects and development reach the grassroots level. “Congress is the highest governing body of GYG in which the network is coordinated by a steering committee that is comprised of four people from every region,” said Sarah Benke, coordinator of the GYG congress.

According to her, GYG also has principles of protecting and restoring of the environment, respect towards animals, sustainable development, social justice, gender justice, peace and non-military conflict, and youth empowerment, amongst others. The GYG congress was also followed by a congress of the mother organisation (Global Greens) in which the way forward of the organisation was discussed and resolutions were passed. Gender and reproductive right was also a topic of discussion at the congress.