A new voice in the field of Alcohol Policy

The first youth network on alcohol policy was established in Budapest, from 28th – 30th March: The Alcohol Policy Youth Network (APYN).

Content by: Directors of APYN Press and Communication Department: Katharina Moser & Rafaela Gracio

Pictures by: Linn Landmark & Viktor Kelen

In early spring 2008 a group of about 30 young people from all over Europe gathered together in the diffident green garden of the European Youth Centre in Budapest to form four big letters with their bodies that everyone could see from the balcony of the building: A-P-Y-N.The meaning of these four letters had been revealed not much earlier: Alcohol Policy Youth Network. Or more precisely: the first Alcohol Policy Youth Network in Europe ever.

“I have never seen a youth project starting with such a diverse group of partners. No one here will be told what to think. We want you to say what YOU think! You, the people here, are the driving force of APYN! Sacrifice yourself for what you believe and remember always: this is only the beginning!” stated the initiator and coordinator of APYN João Salviano Carmo during his welcome speech at the launch of APYN’s Constitutive Meeting. He is right! The organizations forming part of APYN are already as diverse as the people that came together in this meeting. Besides national Youth Councils from all over Europe there were also European organizations like YEU (Youth for Exchange and Understanding) and health specific organizations like IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Student’s Association).

In such a diverse group of partners, one of the main goals had to be to find the things that united individuals and organizations. Obviously this galvanising element was not going to be abstinence or the goal of banning alcohol, but first of all “being young – because here we have the same problems” as Tiina-Katrina Kaber from Estonia indicated. Derek Rutherford, APYN’s special advisor from GAPA (Global Alcohol Policy Alliance) added “We are from different cultures taking part in a learning process. One of the first steps is to raise our own awareness of the alcohol problem.”

Aneurin Owen from the Alliance House Foundation, that has supported APYN from the very beginning said: “As the burden of alcohol related harm spreads across Europe, the need for organizations that reflect the concerns of European Youth is greater now than at any time. The AHF hopes that APYN will now realize its own potential of becoming a potent influence in Europe, a new force for good and a catalyst for real change.”

APYN is not only a good idea but a need that has finally found a way to become reality. It is a platform where young people will be equipped “to become the actors in the definition of their own lives, to protect themselves from the harm caused by alcohol at the same time as allowing every young person to shape the environment in which he/she wants to develop him/herself.” (João Salviano Carmo, extract from the Welcome Letter).

Maria Renström, from the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse of WHO contributed to this motivating atmosphere during the conference by providing challenges for APYN and its future. These challenges lay in how to get more young people interested and involved, to find innovative methods to raise awareness and interest in alcohol prevention and also how to reach from the regional, to the national and then to global level in order to become an important actor in shaping the future.

This meeting was definitely the beginning of a long and hopefully fruitful future for APYN, but as Robert Madelin, Director General for Health in the European Commission, and represented by Pieter de Coninck at the meeting, stated “The start is often the easy part; there is a very long and tough road ahead.”

The participants set the milestones on this long road during the meeting, having considered not only present expectations but also future fears. One fear that got eliminated immediately was the fear that APYN would adopt a prohibitionist stance. Zara Lavchyan from Armenia knew to add something really important: “I think we should not miss the following: not to over protect young people, but to teach them to be responsible! For me this is the first step! Banning is not the way to go!”

What emerged during the meeting was a large flip chart board covered by little sheets called ‘expectations’ regarding the work of APYN. These were:

• to exchange best practices with APYN members and implement them in our own surrounding, to get tools to activate local NGOs in our own country in order to work in the field of alcohol policy,

• to build up European and international cooperation and a strong network and, last but not least,

• to develop a common strategy and define the common goals and ideas which will lead into concrete directions and activities forAPYN.

By the end of the meeting a short document of ten pages was accepted as APYN’s Strategic Action Plan 2008 – 2009 (can be downloaded at www.apyn.org) and the two topics ‘Alcohol and Youth’ and ‘The Role of Youth Organisations’ were set as priority areas for 2008.

Sometimes in life things that will have a major impact happen without anyone even taking notice of it but very occasionally in life people actually have the conscience to be aware of things happening that will have a major impact. This constitutive meeting might have been such an occasion. At least this was the feeling one had listening to the closing comments like the one by Kyriakos Martakis from Greece who said that “Through education and actions we can really make progress in alcohol policies.” or MarianaTurcan, APYN Secretariat member: “The success of APYN is measured by the success that you have in your countries. From the European to the national and from the national to the European level! I wish you can absorb this inspiration and take it back home to your countries!”

One person who definitely contributed a lot to this inspiration was Derek Rutherford, who in his final remarks closing the first constitutive meeting said “I feel very humble and annoyed – annoyed because I am getting old and humble because it has been a great experience. The seed has been sown, but this is a generation fight not just a few years. There is a lifetime of work before you.