On this first issue of the year, Ecosprinter has chosen to give the voice to those who are working on the European Campaign for 2014, from the campaign makers to the young candidates. Part of FYEG, these young people will maybe – and hopefully ! – represent Youth and Greens in the future European Parliament. You will find below the presentation of Linnéa, Swedish candidate for the EP 2014 Elections.
A more equal and sustainable Europe!
The Arab spring, Pussy Riot and Occupy Gezi are all examples of the Youth political activism. Change rarely happens within the system without people organizing and putting pressure on the system from the outside.
But something has happened last years: marginalized groups were organized so that their voices and alternative solutions could be heard. As Greens, we know what the antinuclear, feminist, LGBT, and civil rights movements meant to the founding of green parties. What has changed is that alternative movements are more visible due to social media revolution. We, Young Greens, are a force that must be taken into account!
One of the most crucial issues right now is how we can involve young people in the process of changing our society into a sustainable and inclusive one. Old ways don’t work and even UN says that we have to recognize market failure. Poverty is the root to violence and stigmatization. The genderperspective is highly important : men are overrepresented when it comes to risk behavior such as alcoholism, suicide and criminality. We have to work actively to change destructive norms when it comes to masculinity and change the stereotype way we see men and women.
Migration is one of the more hottest topics within the EU and its relevancy, as an important part of the internal security, is rising. The hard work is needed to make the migration policy more liberal and to improve working conditions of migrants. Racist and nationalist parties are on the rise and the Green perspective is important: there is no difference between us, Europeans, and our neighbors.
It’s also positive that the European commission have acknowledged the fact that 80 percent of victims of trafficking are women and that 60 percent end up in the legal sex industry in Europe.
It’s time to work for a more sustainable Europe, both socially, economically and environmentally.
Linnéa Engström,
Candidate in elections to European Parliament 2014, Political scientist with focus on gender and international relations, Board member of Green Forum Foundation and Gender adviser at the Green party of Sweden