REGGIO CALABRIA. It ends today seventh edition of the Med Youth Meetingthe international meeting of young people from the Mediterranean organized by Med Youth Network with the support of REF (Réseau Euromed France) in close collaboration with the Reggio Emilia company Mana Chuma Theatre. The meeting of Reggio Calabria follows those already held in recent years in Paris, Casablanca, Algiers, Tunis, Marseille and Beirut. Since Wednesday, around eighty young people from 17 countries in the Mediterranean basin (Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey) , engaged in civil society are meeting in our city to discuss issues that are decisive for them such as employment and professional training, civic participation, migration and mobility, social and climate justice, freedom of expression and creation . The network organizes Med Youtha recognized space of dialogue, cooperation, exchange, discovery and meeting for a common future between the shores of the Mediterranean with the support of REF (Réseau Euromed France)a network of 40 French civil society organizations including associations, collectives, trade unions and individual members operating in Mediterranean countries.
The Med Youth Meeting it is therefore an important moment of meeting and discussion between young people aged between 18 and 35, coming from the Mediterranean area, who together analyze the problems affecting their respective countries and try to imagine common solutions.
At the moment, Mediterranean societies are all having, more or less, difficulty in emerging from political and economic-financial crises. The first to suffer the consequences of these crises are young people, especially young women. From a social and economic point of view, it is mainly young people who have to face unemployment and job insecurity, even when they have graduated. It is young people who have the most difficulty finding decent accommodation. It is young people who are kept away from positions of responsibility and decision-making in economic, social and political life. Once again, among young people, it is girls who suffer a condition of marginalization, especially in rural areas, despite having high qualifications. The other side of the coin, however, is represented by the growing commitment that young people put into civil society by setting up working groups and associations and, in general, by clamoring to be protagonists in the social and political life of their countries. In this context, Euro-Mediterranean cooperation and solidarity, as well as dialogue between generations, are fundamental to strengthening confidence in democratic change and in the usefulness of civic engagement. For a common future between the two shores of the Mediterranean.
The choice of Reggio Calabria is not random: located in a strategic area of the Mediterranean, the city of the Strait has been suffering for decades from a political and economic crisis which translates into a high rate of youth unemployment and, consequently, emigration. At the same time, however, the city shows enormous development potential which is expressed thanks to the work of institutional and associative entities operating in the area.
Precisely some of these realities such as the Municipalities of Reggio Calabria, Palmi and Bova, theUniversity Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria, the MArRC, the associations Abakhi, Agape, Arci Samarcanda, the Ecolandia park, the Cooperativa San Leo, have decided to join the Med Youth Meeting project as collaborators, thanks to the fundamental networking work of Mana Chuma Theatre.
One of the objectives of the Med Youth Meeting 2024 was precisely to promote the city of Reggio, its Mediterranean roots and its associative fabric.
Wednesday 12after the official opening of the meeting at the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, in the presence of the Rector Giuseppe Zimbalatti and the co-organizers Marion Isvi (executive director of the REF-Réseau Euromed France), Laetitia El Haddad (coordinator of the Med Youth Network), Massimo Barilla and Elizabeth Grech, respectively artistic director and head of communication and international relations of Mana Chuma Teatro, the eighty young participants had the opportunity to visit the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria and the city. Thursday 13th then it was the time to learn more about the territory and the work of some of the associations such as Abakhi, Arci Samarcanda, Mana Chuma itself, Ecolandia and Agape which operate here in various sectors, from the environment to culture, from the reception of minors and migrants to training. In the afternoon, the 80 boys and girls visited the Casa della Cultura in Palmi and, in the evening, attended the performance of “Come un granello di sand”, the award-winning work by Mana Chuma Teatro, at the Cine Teatro Nicola Antonio Manfroce which tells the tragic story of Giuseppe Gulotta, a Sicilian bricklayer tortured and unjustly sentenced to 22 years in prison for a murder he never committed.
One of the main moments of the meeting was held yesterday at the Quaroni Great Hall
of theUniversity Mediterranean with the public debate “The situation of young people in the Mediterranean: between challenges of emancipation and obstacles to mobility”. Some of the young protagonists of this edition of the Med Youth Meeting took the floor and highlighted with their testimonies the difficult condition of youth in their countries where there are no democratic regimes, where they suffer from a serious condition economic difficulty, in which freedom of movement is extremely limited on the one hand by bureaucracy and on the other by geographical marginalization due to the lack of modern infrastructure (roads, motorways, airports, railways). Even if with a condition not comparable to the countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the backwardness of Calabria in terms of infrastructure and mobility compared to the rest of the country was highlighted.
The Med Youth Meeting will end today with the production of three thematic podcasts, a trip to Bova with a visit to the San Leo cooperative, the closing ceremony and the delivery of certificates. Finally, in the evening, right in the main square of Bova, a dinner based on typical local products and dancing to the notes of the Sonu Raru musical group will be held.
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