My name is Temesgen Woldezion (Media/PR committee) and I was hoping you
could help us advertise on your website for our conference. If we could
have a story/headline that would be great. If you have any other ideas as
well on how to effectively promote through your page, please let us know.
"YPFDJ North-America annual conference; a brief description.
YPFDJ conferences provide an opportunity for Eritreans from all over the
world to exchange ideas, experiences and learn from fellow comrades about
the issues affecting both Eritrea and local their communities. The content
of these conferences are primarily focused on themes that are selected
every year. Furthermore, conference attendees have in past years had access
to directly engage with influential Eritreans and policy-makers. As we are
approaching our ninth conference in North America, we have selected a
program that emphasizes our global theme of “Economic development of
Eritrea for Eritreans and Eritreans abroad” and also “organizational
consolidation” as a structural theme. Please note that we will provide a
dynamic arrangement of programs that will make our conference useful for
both current members and non-members of YPFDJ.
Basics
When shall I plan to arrive/depart?
Please arrive no later than Thursday 29 August, 2013 and depart no sooner
than Monday 2 September 2013. These are the designated days for check-in
and check-out, respectively.
Where should I fly to?
San Francisco or Oakland international airports.
What are the deadlines for registration?
Early ($150): 26 June to 24 July, 2013.
Regular ($175): 25 July to 19 August, 2013.
Late ($200): 20 August to 28 August, 2013
About YPFDJ (taken from YPFDJCalifornia.org). *
* What is YPFDJ?
YPFDJ (Young People’s Front for Democracy and Justice) is a continuation of
the youth arm of the EPLF’s Mass Organization that supported the Eritrean
struggle during the revolution. The intended goal of YPFDJ is to build a
strong, conscious and patriotic Eritrean youth movement from abroad and
within the country. As such, the organization will focus on political
education, discussion, cultural revival, identity issues and contributing
to home-based projects in Eritrea’s struggle to develop as a nation. The
underlying principles of YPFDJ can be found in the front’s National Charter
which include national harmony, political democracy, economic and social
development, social justice, cultural revival and regional and
international cooperation. While achieving these principles in practice is
the obvious ambition of all Eritreans, YPFDJ is intended to provide a space
for young Eritreans to play an active role in determining and debating the
policies aimed at achieving these objectives. YPFDJ is therefore
accommodating to an array of political perspectives so long as they are
addressed in a respectful and non-divisive manner. We believe that it is in
fact the right of every Eritrean youth to have a space in which they feel
comfortable to address the issues important to both our community inside
Eritrea and our communities in foreign countries. Equally important to
YPFDJ is its commitment to public service and asserting itself as an asset
to any community in which young Eritreans exist. We as YPFDJ chapters in
the State of California are thus part of the greater YPFDJ-North America
and thus the global YPFDJ Eritrean youth movement. *
Why YPFDJ?
Today’s Eritrean youth in the Diaspora are at a crossroads in Eritrean
history. Eritreans in the Diaspora have traditionally played a vital and
dynamic role in the Eritrean struggle for self-determination. Since the
first Eritrean student organizations were established in Europe, North
America, the Middle East and Africa in the 1970s, young Eritreans abroad
had been actively engaged in setting the course for Eritrea’s revolution.
These youth had the enormous tasks of propagating information to the
outside world about Eritrea’s unique revolution, contributing the funds
required for the continuation of the armed struggle in addition to sending
the supplies needed for the unmatched health and political programs
implemented by the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) that were
literally carried out underground in order to avoid detection from
Ethiopian bombers. Even though the Haile Selassie and Mengistu regimes had
the military and economic support of the world’s greatest powers, it was
the dedication of the Eritrean people inside the country and abroad that
led to the revolution’s eventual success. This was one of the few instances
in history in which an oppressed people’s struggle had succeeded while
being outnumbered, outgunned and outfinanced. The success of Eritrea’s
struggle lies in its focus on the political consciousness of its people and
the strong ideological foundation of its political organization. These
priorities were present in the organization around the revolution both
inside Eritrea and abroad. While it may be more or less obvious how these
factors were essential in achieving victory in Eritrea’s isolated armed
struggle, the continual role and importance of these priorities becomes
more ambiguous in post-independent Eritrea where we have become members of
a hostile world community that stresses the ideologies of neo-liberalism,
globalization and modernity. Understanding that our armed struggle was
fundamentally about the people’s right to self-determination, we now as a
people realize that our new task is to construct a nation with a foundation
of social justice, social democracy and away from the economic dependence
that appears to be ubiquitous in the “Third World.” Today’s generation of
young Eritreans abroad must therefore assume their role as their
predecessors before them had and arm themselves with the knowledge of the
past and the tools to maneuver Eritrea to achieve the noble visions of its
martyrs. *
*
Victory to the Masses!!
**ዓወት** **ንሓፋሽ** !!**النصر** **للجماهير**"*
Received on Wed Aug 21 2013 - 22:57:43 EDT