"2nd Bali Democracy Student Conference" welcomed young people from around the world on December 6 and 7.

Young Vietnamese attend democracy conference in Indonesia Photo: Jessica Nguyen

Two outstanding Vietnamese students, Nguyen Tuan Anh, a fourth-year student at the Law Faculty at the Hanoi National University, and Le Huyen Trang, a fourth-year student at the Diplomatic Academy, were invited by the Embassy of Indonesia in Vietnam to attend the “2nd Bali Democracy Student Conference” on December 6 and 7.

“What can youth do to change the world? We are the future leaders and we will be parents ourselves, so how can we prepare our children to be even better than ourselves?”, were among the questions asked on the first day of the conference.

Attended by 138 young people from 57 countries and territories, the conference invited students and talented young leaders from five continents. All have different values, history and culture, but are passionate about sharing ideas on democracy and possess knowledge and ambition beyond their years.

Constantly echoed throughout the conference was “How can we, young people, contribute?” One outstanding speaker was from Argentina - Mateo Nicolás Salvatto. The 19-year-old CEO is the founder of Hablalo, an app designed to help the deaf and dumb communicate. Mateo empathized with their plight and sought to provide assistance to ease their difficulties.

Participants also focused on two other matters - education and political participation. According to speaker Pan Yue from China, education is one of the challenges to be conquered. In his view, equal access to education is a matter of great importance. With education, not only are people able to gain higher financial compensation but they will also have the capacity to better filter their opinions; an important tool in an era of identity politics and “fake news”.

Those in attendance were presented with several democracy projects proposed by millennials from the previous conference. They also delivered their view of a document entitled “You(th) Makes Change”.

On the issue of technology access among young people, a speaker from Singapore said that technology plays a very important role, allowing young people from all over the world to have access to knowledge in a “democratic” and equal fashion. However, there is a need for proper awareness unaffected by problematic sources of information.

Another activity in the two-day conference was a visit to the centuries-old village of Penglipuran, which is located in the mountains at a height of 600 meters above sea level and where students had the opportunity to experience the daily life of the local indigenous people.

“Yesterday, I met with 130 students from 57 countries and territories attending the 2nd Bali Democracy Student Conference, and I have great confidence in them,” Mr. Reno Marsudi, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Indonesia, said in his address to the conference./.

VNF/VnEconomic Times