The 3^rd National Youth Festival will be conducted from 18 - 21 July 2008. Shaebia org. conducted an interview with Mr. Ismail Musa, the Chairperson of the Preparatory Committee of the Festival, regarding the activities that will be conducted in the course of the festival and related issues. Excerpts:

 

First of all what can you tell us about the general activities of 3^rd National Youth Festival?

 

The 3^rd National Youth Festival will be conducted from 18^th to 21^st of July 2008. In the festival, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS) will also be celebrated.

 

The festival, which will be conducted under the theme: ‘The Youth: Guarantor of All-round Freedom,’ will feature traditional cultural shows of the six regions as well as 11 modern cultural groups, seminars by higher government officials, 25 research papers prepared by Eritrean youth and exhibitions which explains the Warsay-Yikealo Development Campaign. In an attempt to strengthen the bond between Sawa and the youth, there will be campfires where narrations of heroic deeds of the freedom fighters and members of Eritrean Defense Forces will take place.

 

Traditional and modern games will also be conducted where Eritrean football teams from Saudi Arabia and Sudan will also take part. A cycling group and a singer from Japan will also be participants of the Festival as will be about 2000 Eritreans from the Diaspora. All in all, we expect the participants to reach 38,000.

 

There will be also a Union’s Corner, which will provide detailed information on the Union’s activities. As creativity is one of the major accelerators of development we will also have a ‘creativity corner’ where students and youth will display their creative works.

 

During the opening ceremony, the 21^st Round of National Service will graduate.

 

In line with the dual celebrations, a regional youth conference has been organized with youth unions from Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt and possibly Ethiopia, are expected to participate.

 

Are there programs prepared especially for those who come from the Diaspora?

 

In the past two festivals, Eritreans from the diaspora came only as invited guests. But this year, they will actually take active parts. In the last festival, two years ago, they had only one friendly football match; but in this festival, young Eritrean men and women’s teams from Sudan and Saudi Arabia will participate in football, volleyball and basketball matches.

 

In addition, visitors from abroad have been informed to display their Diaspora activities in the form of videos or photos and there is a seventh pavilion prepared for them only.

 

Some of the 25 research papers are especially targeted at the role of Eritrean youth residing in the Diaspora. Seminars regarding recent conditions will also be effective in providing the Eritrean youth better understanding.

 

Along the Zagre award, there will also be the Sawa award for those who completed 12^th grade in the Diaspora and have come to the festival in groups.

 

As in the past festivals, there will be Eritrean singers from the diaspora, like Zemawi and Elizabeth, and they will share their stage with other hip-hop groups from home.

 

Will there be programs addressing the role of the youth in ‘succession’?

 

As I have mentioned before, in addition to the 3^rd National Youth Festival, the 30^th anniversary of the Youth Union will be commemorated in Sawa. So, the 30 years anniversary will clarify the role of the union since its establishment through different activities including explanations by today’s officials who were founders of the union. And this will also be conducted in a discussion form with youths and will be aired through the media. There are research papers also which discuss challenges and opportunities of today’s youths. As we are in a challenging period, the music and dramas have their themes based on the role of youths in times of challenges and they are prepared in a form that raise the morale of the youth.

 

Generally speaking, the seminars, narrations, discussions and other similar activities will help the youth to know more about the past and identify what is needed from them at the moment.

 

How do you motivate the youth to prepare research papers?

 

We informed the youth at home and abroad to participate in preparing research papers regarding youth related issues months ago. We told the youths residing in the diaspora through our branches there and we also posted the information in our website. The research papers have to address the role of youth in development and times of challenges, world contemporary issues, economy and other related subjects.

 

As a result we received 30 research papers and we are going to provide 25 as the remaining five were not appropriate for the 3^rd National Youth Festival. The 25 youth who prepared the research papers are from the Mai-Nefhi Institute of Technology, the Ministry of Defense and at the ministries level like the Ministry of Education on human resource development, Marine College on Eritrea’s sea potential, Police regarding law and society and so on. But there are no research papers by Eritreans residing in the Diaspora, as the information could have reached them late. But for the coming festival we will work harder on it.

 

The Union has been motivating youths to prepare research papers since 2006. In the 2^nd National Youth Festival, there were 18 research papers, but this time it increased to 25. This shows that the motivation and initiation of the youth is increasing from time to time. 

 

The research papers have plenty of advantages. Above all, the researchers are conveying their knowledge on the particular issue to those who do not have and secondly the Union will work to publish the papers collectively (we hope other organizations will help too) and thirdly good research papers never fade from the minds of the audience. Regarding the financial case, we pay them nominal fees.

 

 

 

What did the past two festivals help to make the 3^rd more effective?

 

It is true that in the first festival, as it was the first experience, there were some shortcomings. And the 2^nd festival, as the preparation period was only two months, had its own problems. But now we had enough time to prepare and we achieved a lot of experience from the first two.

 

There could be different programs at a time. For example seminars and fashion shows could be conducted at the same time when there is an exhibition or a presentation of a research paper. So for every activity there will be an invitation card. And all the active participants of the festival will be in one area and that it will help programs to be held on time. Moreover, radio Sawa will air its programs nonstop for 24 hours during the festival. If there is anything new, participants will be informed over the radio. As a result, this year we hope there will not be any misunderstanding of the programs. I can say we are prepared in a well organized way.

 

When we are conducting a festival, it is aimed to create an occasion where all Eritrean youth, from outside as well as inside the country, come together to discuss their role in the development of the nation and confronting the challenges. Through these activities, the awareness of the youth increases and it helps them to be more productive than before. We can say it is an occasion where the youth boost their patriotic feelings.

 

For example as in the past two festivals, we will conduct a fashion show. But the fashion show will focus on our ethnic groups and our culture, and not on the West. By this the youth who come from different places of the world increase their knowledge of their culture, the ethnic groups and above all their identity.

 

How do you think the festival will help the youth who come from the diaspora influence their peer groups after they go back?

 

First, we can see in the number of participants in the festivals starting the first festival. It is increasing from time to time. As you know there are a lot of expenses to come down here, but they have to because it is their holyday. This also shows their eagerness. So, this surely shows that the festival is making them more influential than they are.

 

How are the 30^th anniversary celebrations proceeding?

 

Events commemorating the 30^th anniversary of the NUEYS have already started from July 1^st 2008. These events are being conducted across the country. First, programs clarifying the activities of the union in the past 30 years are being aired through the media. Moreover, one documentary film has been prepared in the form of an interview with veteran members of the NUEYS. Panel discussions and seminars by veteran members of the union have already been conducted.

 

Monday July 14, 2008, nine youth, representing all regions, have begun a journey on foot from Keren to Sawa carrying ‘the Succession Torch’ and will reach Sawa on 18^th July in time for the opening ceremony of the festival.

 

Personally, how do you explain the 3^rd National Youth Festival?

 

As it is mentioned in the theme, youth is the guarantor of our sovereignty. The youth brought freedom, safeguarded the nation and is now working to ensure economic success. So if the youth is guarantor of total freedom, he has to handle the majority of the work. That is why the government and the community are working to make the youth more productive and this festival will be a turning point where we can evaluate the past activities and accelerate our future plans.