The first topic addressed with them, through a strong voice of citizenship, the civil society and academic of Albania, Mr. Adriatik Lapaj, was the importance of organizing and collective action to change / propose / improve public policies in favor of the community, public advocacy.
Although in the early stages of youth, the 40 members of the Debate Teams, selected from +90 peers at their school auditions, are ready to grasp the notions and understand the urgent need to engage in social justice at the local level initially, and beyond. Everything starts from familiarization with 2 documents of vital importance for an active citizen in his country; 1) European Convention on Human Rights and 2) Constitution of the Republic of Albania.
If you know the freedom, rights and consequences of your actions or inactions, then you are ready to defend them before anyone, whether an institution or an individual who tries or manages to violate them.
They realized that the question “Are we ready for membership in the European Union” is not just a matter of deadlines or criteria on paper but standards and adaptation of personal values first, as a citizen who does not steal, pollute, extort, leave his/her country. Secondly, the awareness that these standards must be reflected in the multitude, especially the quality of public services that derive from the freedoms and rights cited in the 2 documents above but also the level of their competitiveness with European Union member countries. Public advocacy with its instruments, makes it possible for an unanimous community, such as that of young people (although not yet 18 years old in our case), generates golden opportunities for attention if they are equipped with the right knowledge and motivation for to excite the senses; and this we are trying to do day by day!
