4/10/2007 - A visit to Belgium
Francisco Cazal, president of AFS International, was in Belgium from 23rd March until 28th March 2007. He attended the AFS Belgium-French general assembly, a meeting of the volunteers and staff of AFS in Belgium. Among other meetings, he and Mrs.Anne Sokal, Belgium’s France Partner Director, had the opportunity to meet the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Karel De Gucht.
Before discussing different issues about student exchanges, Mr. Cazal thanked the Minister for his continuous support of the Belgian AFS Foundation. The Foundation was created a few years ago by AFS Belgium-France and AFS Belgium-Flanders, the two national AFS Partners in the country, with the support of the Ria Vaes Foundation. This national foundation contributes concretely to the goal of increasing the diversity of AFS participants by providing scholarships to less advantaged students.
Despite a very busy schedule that had taken him to the Middle East, and despite the fact he had to stand by because of problems in Congo, Karel De Gucht confirmed his high interest for exchange programs: “Educational exchanges are a concrete contribution to promote peace.” The Minister’s statement of support was very enthusiastically received by AFS representatives.
A highlight of the meeting with Mr. De Gucht was a discussion of the variety of destinations that are available to AFS participants. “Sending a Bolivian student to Egypt or a Chinese student to Alaska are wonderful and effective ways of promoting intercultural understanding among very different cultures,” said Mr. Cazal, “AFS is celebrating its 60th Anniversary this year and during these six decades we have sent over 11,000 ‘ambassadors of peace’ on an exchange program. AFS fulfils its mission of promoting and improving intercultural understanding all over the world, one young mind at a time.”
On Wednesday 28 March, Mr. Cazal and Paul Claes, Secretary of the European Foundation for Intercultural Learning (EFIL), the umbrella organization of the European AFS Organizations in Europe, met in Brussels with the European Commissioner Jan Figel. As of 22 November 2004, Jan Figel became Member of the European Commission responsible for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism. Since 1 January 2007, Youth was added to the name of his portfolio. Jan Figel is a Slovakian national; he studied at the UFSIA University in Antwerp, Belgium, and at the Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
The Commissioner showed a clear interest in AFS and EFIL’s objectives and activities. In sharing his ideas on education and youth in Europe, the common interests of AFS and the Commission became obvious. Education and training are crucial for the future of the European Union. Better knowledge, skills and intercultural competencies are factors for personal and societal development, employability, social cohesion, cultural awareness and civic maturity. Young people in particular are given increasingly important consideration at European level. They account for a quarter of Europe’s population.
Special attention in the discussion with the Commissioner was given to the AFS/EFIL activities lined up for next year’s European Year for Intercultural Dialogue. The Commissioner was most supportive towards the planned AFS/EFIL events. An AFS educational conference “Moving beyond mobility – intercultural learning through youth exchange”, alongside the AFS World Congress in Berlin, is in the initial phase of being planned. In Berlin, policy makers and researchers will discuss how to overcome obstacles and create a supportive surrounding for programs that have a positive and sustainable impact on participants’ intercultural learning process. Next to this initiative, EFIL/AFS intends to launch a grass root campaign in 2008, mobilizing all AFS forces in Europe, involving participants, returnees and our broad volunteer network in as many local chapters as possible. A call from the European Commission on the provision of funding for selected project applications will soon come out. EFIL will closely follow up on this matter.
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