International Youth Day

I am at the Monterrey airport, waiting to board my flight to Ciudad de Mexico, from where I will take another flight to Paris and, then, a train to Brussels... I've arrived three days ago and attended a youth conference organised by the Government of the State of Nuevo León to which I was invited to share the European Youth Forum's experience on promoting the participation of young people through youth organisations. It was a very nice activity and I met very nice people. Amongst them, I would like to highlight Adolfo and Arturo Franco, twin brothers. Adolfo is a cinema producer and Arturo an economist. Very different in their attitudes towards professional life, but sharing the same belief on democracy and civic activism. Two amazing personalities and two very dear new friends. That's what I like about my life: the opportunities it offers me to be surprised by real people from whom I can learn to become a better person and who give me the energy to keep believing that together we can work for a better world. This was the motto of the World Youth Festival - Portugal'98. It was closed 8 years ago exactly and, since then, August 12th is the International Youth Day. A date to celebrate, because youth deserves to be celebrated.