June 10, 2024
The participating policy makers belong to the Club de Madrid’s WYDE network, which consists of next-generation decision makers from the Global South. The seven participants who traveled to Germany, including Guatemalan congresswoman Elena Motta, already hold positions of responsibility in their home countries.
During two intensive days spent in Berlin’s political circles – which included discussions in the Chancellery, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Foreign Office and the Federation of German Industries – the delegation learned quite a bit about German business, politics and society while sharing experiences from their own countries with the group.
A personal exchange with Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, and Tilman Kuban, a member of parliament from the Christian Democratic party, was also part of the varied program in the country’s capital. China’s role in the world, developments in Ukraine and Israel, gender equality, migration and demographic shifts in Germany were recurring topics at the different meetings.
During a dinner in Gütersloh, the young decision makers introduced themselves and presented their policy-related projects to Liz Mohn and Danilo Türk, former Slovenian president and current president of the Club de Madrid.
The next day, the delegation visited the Bertelsmann Stiftung, where the group engaged in a lively conversation with senior experts Sabine Donner and Hauke Hartmann about the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) and the BTI’s positioning of their native countries. After that, Regina von Görtz, a director at the foundation, joined them to discuss the topic of young people’s participation in democracy. What became clear during the discussion was that, despite the different conditions in Germany and the guests’ home countries, the challenges are often similar: It is imperative to get young people involved in politics and ensure they feel they are taken seriously – even if, unlike in Germany, young people form the majority of the population in most of the seven countries represented by the visitors.
The participants returned home with many new impressions – for several, it was their first time in Germany – and an expanded network of contacts. Thanks to the visit, the Liz Mohn Foundation, the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Club de Madrid were able to establish contacts in the young decision makers’ home countries, societies that are often overlooked in international debates. The participants, their expertise and network will now be available for future projects and conferences.
