“I think you become a democratic citizen early in life. When you participate in an organization, maybe your are 7 or 8 years old and you’re collecting garbage or play on a football team; it is also democracy because you take part in public life. And to discuss about this I think you can start early, and I think it’s important, when you are 18 you are supposed to vote so you need to have a lot of training before that.”
And good formal education combined with non-formal education for children of a nation is the foundation of a healthy society. Through our program “Debate as a European” we wanted to create spaces for debate in schools because as the ambassador says, “the role of debate in the school”!
We are therefore teaching them on important topics, in age-friendly language of course, such as the role of citizens in democracy, civic voice through the power of advocacy, the importance of the rule of law, universal human rights, tolerance in politics, dynamics of EU functioning etc.
We are grateful to Ambassador Elsa Håstad in Albania for answering some questions regarding the importance of debate among young people, democracy and the importance of investment in / for Albania by young people.
