In This Issue Words from FES Director Page 1 FES and the world Page 2 Young Leaders Forum Page 3 Democracy and Afghanistan Page 6 FRIEDRICH-EBER T-STIF TUNG Add: FES-Afghanistan Office Share Naw, Chahar Rahi Ansari, Yaftali Street. Kabul, Afghanistan. Contact: info@fes.org.af EDITORIAL BOARD Bahram Rahman Humaira Sadeqyar Reza Sharifi Reza Haidari www.fes.org.af

™ ISSUE NO: 1 ™ 15 /NOV/ 2007 ™ Note From Editor WORDS FROM FES COUNTRY DIRECTOR O ne might ask why create this newsletter for YLF? Fortunately, this is a question easy to answer; the intention behind this newsletter is to form a spark to connect YLF members and reflect the successes achieved in bringing generations of young Afghans to understand of democratic values and peace building processes in Afghanistan. With this year venture of FES, Afghan Young Leaders Forum comes with new features worth mentioning like the formation of the mailing list, a proper and modern way of communication. A common bond of respect for universal values of equality unites us all and it is our responsibility to pass on these values as committed citizen of Afghanistan for a prosperous tomorrow of this nation. I believe that this newsletter will foster inspiration and will spur us to a greater sense of achievement just by sharing our common experiences. If we work together, we will become the best group of Young Leaders Forum, a group to talk about for years to come. All will be a coordinated effort that we could come with the best, starting this newsletter is the best way to coordinate and leave a tangible record of our passing. I fear if we do not have a platform like YLF we will remain a group of individuals, rather than a true team of young Afghans with high aspiration. I wish to have full cooperation of the YLF members to bring this newsletter to a platform of success and hope every one will enjoy reading it. Thank You. Bahram Rahman Ms. Ursula Koch-Laugwitz Country Director of FESAfghanistan The Young Leaders Forum of Friedrich Ebert Foundation(FES) in Afghanistan, What is the over all aim? To devise, strengthen and support the Afghan Youth that will work for peace, conflict transformation, understanding, and social development and last but not the least introduction of democracy. Since 2004 as an initiative by FES, youth from different groups learn and discuss in harmony. FES tries its best to build the capacity of these young leaders in issues such as conflict transformation, peace building, leadership skills, and so on. YLF-Afghanistan has established contacts to other regional forums in South Asia and Africa. Overall strengthening of a youth net-work on a regional level will help lay the foundations of integrations, cooperation, and peaceful understanding in Central and South East Asia. ™ OUR CO-ORDINATOR S ULAIMAN QEYAMAT Nearly two years of membership in this program and more than one year of coordinating its activities, make the Young Leaders Forum(YLF) part of my life. With half of the 30 millions population of Afghanistan younger than 18 years old, working with youth becomes a vital necessity. For the last four years the Kabul office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been running its “ Young Leaders Forum”(YLF) to train active youths in leadership skills, teamwork, conflict management, peace building skills, event management and moderation techniques. The overall aim of the program is to help in growing up well-trained active youths that later on can effectively contribute in the democratization process of Afghanistan. YLF is still recruiting motivated young Afghans from different spheres of life on a yearly basis. The current group has been selected on April 2007 through the YLF Assessment Center. Now the group has initiated the idea of issuing a monthly newsletter with the purpose to take their voice beyond the boundaries and Mr. Sulaiman Qeyamat Co–ordinator, FES-Afghanistan. limitations. T his itself shows another success point of the program and I appreciate it much in deed. I hope that this newsletter opens up another successful page for the Forum as well as for all other young Afghans interested in it . ™ P age1

™ ISSUE NO: 1 ™ 15 /NOV/ 2007 ™ T he Friedrich-EbertStiftung(FES) was founded in 1925 as a politicallegacy of Germany’s first democratically elected president, Friedrich Ebert. With representation in over 70 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America FES has been active in providing services with the ground aims of democracy and pluralism for individualsin different levels of society, strengthening the civil society institution, andcontributing to international understanding and scholarship for gifted young professionals. After reestablishment of FES in 1947, this foundation followed the ground objectives behind this insituation in an broader level in to the nationaland international stage. Beside providing developing contributions in developing countries in to promote peace, understanding, supportingdemocratization of the state, FES AND THE WORLD strengthening of civil society institutions, independent media structures and facilitating regionaland world wide cooperation. FES maintains 33 officesin countries in Western and Cent ral Europe, CIS, USA and Japan with the aim of keeping dialogue between dedicated to the aims FES follows worldwide. Various projects have been implemented which have supported Afghanistan in peace building, conflict transformation, independent media and in building a national and regional network between government FES OFFICE, KABUL democratic forces and balancing interests and resolving conflicts. After the fall of the Taliban, FES opened its office for the first time in Afghanistan in 2004. Since then FES has been involved in providing different services and civil society institutions. Keeping in mind the importance of youth in nation building, FES has beem providing scholarships for talented professionals in its graduate and post graduate programs not only in support of their careers but also to express their commitment to democracy, the state and society. Also to empower Afghan Young Leaders, FES has come up with the initiative of Young Leaders Forum as another mean of supporting individuals in formation of a network to work together on a basis of democratic values. In general terms it merits to quote, Friedrich Ebert, t hat ™ “WITHOUT DEMOCRACY, NO FREEDOM… TO PROTECT AND RESTORE IT WHEREVER IT IS UNDER ATTACK, IS THE TASK OFTHOSE WHO CHERISH FREEDOM.” ™ PEACE MESSAGE READ BY MINA HUSSAINI ON PEACE DAY Peace is live, giving breeze, mirth and firm faith of grace and honor to the life of human. But we have lost this gift of Allah for universe, during the years of civil war and feel sorry and regret of our act io n s. Afghan people in the years of war always wished not to hear again the sound of explosions. T he desire of peaceful life with shining future still stays a desire with dark fogof hate in Afghanistan. A life which all the people are united and love their country, live in security, be heard and believed. With war nothing is achievable neither for me nor for you my brother. Guns may make illegal incomes for few people but remains millions of needy Afghans without bread, many will be killed and many would be left orphan. Peace is not a dilemma of unsolved by political leaders which should be talked only, it presents a new life to the people through building and rebuilding again and again. Works need to be done to bring Peace, by flying a dove or reading some notes, we can not bring peace. Let’s work on that! Page2

™ ISSUE NO: 1 ™ 15 /NOV/ 2007 ™ Assessment day YOUNG LEADERS On 28t h April 2007 Friedrich-EbertFoundat ion(FES), Afghanist an office was t he host of fift y act ive young Afghans at Set are Hot el in Kabul. T he purpose of t his gat hering was t o elect t he next generat ion of“ Young Leaders Forum”(YLF). T he candidat es were nom inat ed according t o: T heir motivation to learn and im prove leadership skills. T heir vision for t he fut ure of t heir count ry and people. FES init iat ed Young Leaders Forum in 2004, a vent ure t o t rain young Afghans m ainly wit h leadership skills and help t hem cont ribut e in a m ore effect ive way t o t he dem ocrat izat ion and peace building process in t heir count ry. T hey have been select ed preferably from different walks of life t o creat e a unique com m unit y which can negot iat e and t alk, learn and tolerate each other in peace and harmony. Alongside t he t raining sessions, T he Forum m em bers get t oget her in biweekly m eet ings t o discuss and exchange t heir ideas on im port ant social and polit ical issues concerning Afghanist an wit h prom inent and influent ial figures from t he fields of polit ics, m edia and civil societ y inst it ut ions. T his forum is going t o have last ing and firm relat ions wit h ot her FES yout h init iat ives around t he world such as t he Young Leaders T raining P rogram(YLT P) in M adagascar. Such relat ionships will open a big gat e for t he YLF m em bers t o know ot her young people from across the world and let t hem finding out about t heir views and ideas on different issues of int erest. W it h YLF now Afghanist an has got an ext raordinary conjunct ion space for m erit orious m inds of prominent yout h of Afghanist an, som e of which already joined and serve t he peace process in t he country while ot hers are on t he way. By: Reza Sharifi YOUNG LEADERS IN THEIR OWN WORDS “ When I joined the Young Leaders' Forum, I nominated myself in Parliamentary election. I was not really an experienced student who wanted to have political activities in a postwar country like ‘Afghanistan’. Young Leaders Forum Members Page3 Sayed Asef Husseini I knew that it was so difficult to present as a young candidate among 390 other strong ones inside the traditional and conservative society of Kabul although I believed initiatives were more important in the campaigning process. But ultimately I was really in doubt. When I found a group of active and intelligent youths in YLF which later I joined the circle … Page 7

™ ISSUE NO: 1 ™ 15 /NOV/ 2007 ™ LETS BUILD OUR VISION M any people do not have any vision for their future; lots of people have a vision, but do not believe in it! It is not possible to be a leader without havinga vision. Successful leaders not only have visions, but they also believe in them! But what is a vision? A“ vision” is a temporary limitedproject for the future(3-5 years maybe). Due to itsimage of the future, it offers orientation and motivation and strengthens affiliations. Having a vision is quite different than havinga goal or a mission. While goals are concrete desired situations which are achievable and measurable; a mission describes“ the right to exist” of an organisation. How to build a vision? What we want to do is, to create a system that will affect our actions and plans now, andin the fut ure. For the formulation of vision, two procedures are distinguished, that can also be used in co mbin at io n. ▲ Metaphorical method ▲ Imaginary journey Both methods require a suitable and relaxed environment that could help youto better concentrate on your creation. Metaphorical method: It is as simple as drawing an image. As everybody knows the language of images express far more than words. They are more complex, richer in content and emotionally more immediate. Example: The sun will shine again over Afghanistan! Journey in the imagination: Imagine how you would like your immediate situation to look like, in approximat ely 3-5 years. Try to think of as much concrete details as possible. Example: The dry deserts are green again, the dark clouds are gone away from the sky, there is a smell of blossoms everywhere, children are laughing..... In brief, I think everyone will be eager to build a vision of his/her own, to go as oriented and motivated in the path of responsibilities and situations as possible. Be sure that by having a cert ain vision, you will never get equal to somebody who is lost in the dark road of life, and goes further with no sense of direction. Wish you all build a“ vision” of your own future, today." By: Dr. Humaira Sadiqyar Seeing Is Believing W Aliase Hassany Masooma Mohamadi H Is one of the members of the Young Leaders Forum. He joined YLF in O 2007. Mr. Hassany has completed his higher education in computer science in Peshawar Pakistan. Is one of the most successful faces of Afghan women in journalism. She has served as the Chief Editor of Sadiee Zan monthly while she was living outside the country He has been involved with the social and cultural She has finished her education in Iran which later she activities since 1998. worked as volunteer to teach Afghan children in IS Currently he is working as advocacy manager refugee camps there. She loves journalism and she has with the Afghan Civil Society Forum. a good sense in poetry. Working as a writer and poet Mr. Hassany is very optimistic about the she always carried her responsibility toward future of Afghanistan. Afghanistan. She is also an active member of YLF He believes by providing more opportunities and she explains her experience with YLF as a turning to the young generation of Afghanistan, point in her life. She believes on the importance of W current in-stability, political and economical dialogue not only in daily life but also in solving challenges could be solved. Afghanistan’s conflict issue. H P age 4

™ ISSUE NO: 1 ™ 15 /NOV/ 2007 ™ War, Migration and Afghan Youths “Wake up,” the intelligence officer yelled at the man inside the intelligence prison arrested for attempting suicide bombing; Abdul Rahman is one of the scores of young Afghans who received militant training in refugee camps in tribal area of P ak ist an. After the invasion of Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union, more than 3 million Afghans got refuge in neighboring countries mostly, Pakistan and Iran. Afghan refugees generally are motivated by a powerful desire to regain their homeland or to restore their nation's influence over a particular t errit o ry. A huge distance has been built between Afghanistan and the generation which left the country, specially millions of young Afghans who were forced to indulge the new ways, thoughts and culture around them. “ Afghans don't have an adequate understanding of their culture and have difficulty speaking their native languages. For us, it is better to accept the new cultural values demanded by today’s generation.” says Mizhgon, a young Afghan girl running a discussion program on Afghanistan in the United States of America, in one of her daily radio programs. The lives of many Afghans living outside Afghanistan have been in turmoil. T here are clashes between western culture and acceptance of values and importance of Afghani culture with its all distinguished morals which is not a part of Afghans raised in west. “It is not the weapon that kills, it is not the poverty that brings desperation, it is the brain drainage of young Afghans that will crumble Afghanistan.” Afghan re fugees in Torkham, waiting to cross Afghan-Pakistan borde r. But the sense of nationalism has always swayed young Afghans thoughts to different stream of ideologies, not only to the Islamic fundamentalism, but also to the strange understanding of Afghanistan as a country left behind without any morals that Afghans could be proud of for Afghans living in west. Years of war have truly affected the understanding of Afghan youths about the situation going on in Afghanistan. Everyone has brought what he/she has absorbed from the country where he/she was living in for years. This caused Afghanistan to fight the biggest conflict of all time; the inner cultural clashes. Can Afghanistan overcome this challenge today? How much change should we accept in the social sturcture of Afghanistan? This is a question that only time will answer. By: Bahram Rahman Page 5

™ ISSUE NO: 1 ™ 15 /NOV/ 2007 ™ DEMOCRACY AND AFGHANISTAN After the establishment of new government in Afghanistan an immense change has come to the political system of Afghanistan. Formerly, Afghanistan had experienced different political systems and regimes in its modern history such as Kingdom of Mohammad Zaiee’s Family, Communists, Mujahidins and finally Taliban with their extreme interpretation of Islam. Afghanistan. In general the blood shaded gain of power is no longer a part of their means and this is one of the biggest achievements of the new system in bringing a stream of political activities for getting political and economical magnitude in side the society in a peaceful way. Now what is the biggest challenge this new embedded democracy in Afghanistan faces? corruption and centralism of control to the government democratic institutions? While these antidemocratic movements are striving to weaken democratic institution as an example control of call for Independent Commission of Human Right by the Afghanistan’s Parliament what would be the way of fighting back these forces? Some common elements in all of these governments were relatively perceptible; none of these governments had emerged with the democratic values or had the legitimacy from the people of Afghanistan and they always imposed their totalitarianism way of governance on the people. After the fall of T aliban and formation of President Karzai’s government with the establishment of Presidency system in Afghanistan through democratic election for the first time in history of Afghanistan with huge participation of Afghans from inside and outside Afghanistan’s territory, a new arena of change in political system of Afghanistan had taken place. This was for the first time that a government had been acknowledge d by different ethnics and political groups inside Afghanistan in a peaceful way. The nature of these groups, which are deeply involved in the political system of Afghanistan with in the parliament and other governmental institutions are still intact but the uses of different approaches in concern to their political agendas is a turning point in political structure of “ Democracy without democratic movements and civil society activists is not more than a premise of imagination. ” Dose it can change these armed political groups to mainstream political groups for long term which are important for stable political system in Afghanistan and can bring Afghanistan out from the ashes to a platform of prosperity? Does this new fragile democracy could survive in Afghanistan? While it faces furious resistance and menace from the fundamentalists and extremists groups intensely involved in drug trafficking, inner government It is tim e and em po we rm ent of civil soci ety institution s that success of dem o cracy in Afgh anist an d ep en d s on. And democracy with democratic movements, civil society activists is not more than a premise of imagination. Lots of liberal patrons of democracy like Farid Zakarya; believes that democracy without constitutional and economical reform is not applicable. Democracy stands on strong and legitimate government with on the geographic boundaries and its citizens, non bureaucratic and functional governmental institutions, low level of corruption, functional economy and direct supremacy of civil society associations and political parties on government. Without these elements the jeopardy to crumple the sociopolitical and economical system in country always could be experienced. Now the big question comes; Does Afghanistan will survive with its new model of democracy? What do you think as young and responsible Afghan about it? By: Khalid Khesraw Page 6

™ ISSUE NO: 1 ™ 15 /NOV/ 2007 ™ YLF In Their Own..From Page 3 of YLF, I became more confident and I prepared myself to campaign strongly as well as young leader. As you know I lost the Election but after that I learnt so many important points in Leader-ship, Politics,Management, Conflict management and relationship with members of Afghan community in YLF. Now I think I can share my experiences of Election, Politics and skills of Leadership with all young leaders who are interestedto have serious political and social activities in Afghanistan. Negativity is never the Solution Anger, jealousy, impatience and hatred are the real troublemakers, w ith them problems could not be solved. Though one may have temporary success, but ultimately one’s anger and hatred w ill create further difficulties. ☼ From the book of Wisdom, Dalai Lama ☼