The sudden resignation of the three main heads of the council executive committee came as a shock especially when considering it has been less than two months since the KNŻ work plan for 2022/2023 has been approved.  

The reason for the resignation is stated to be “They shall each be independently pursuing a career and academic opportunities abroad”. We want to point out that these are not the only resignations that the KNZ saw in this term as back in May the international officer resigned citing a change of plans and unforeseen circumstances in a post on Facebook. A replacement for that office was voted in and approved back in May.

We reached out to the outgoing KNŻ president Liam Axisa to further expand on the explanation we were given and he said

We were in direct contact with the Board of Control in order to interpret the KNŻ statute for the situation at hand given that each of myself, Celine (the Vice-President), and Kristina (the Secretary General) had been offered career or academic opportunities abroad, wherein I will be undertaking a Blue Book Traineeship with the European Commission, Celine will be placed on an assignment with the German Financial Services Regulator, and Kristina will be participating in the Erasmus programme. As all these paths would take us away from the country through 2022 and into 2023, it was decided that the best decision for the Executive Committee would be for us to resign and make way for new leadership, by means of an EGM to ensure full statutory compliance.

Liam Axisa, Outgoing president of KNŻ

The outgoing KNŻ president also noted that the Work plan presented on May 17th has already been approved by the member organisations so it is still eligible as a work plan for the future executive committee but it serves as a targeted plan rather than a set plan that limits them giving them the freedom to expand on it if they want. 

Candidates can be nominated for the executive committee by any full member of the council which includes names such as KSU, Movement Graffitti, LGBTI+ Gozo, JEF Malta, ESN, ELSA, The Third Eye, and many more. With the nomination for executives committee closing on Wednesday 13th of July evening and election or confirmation to be held in the EGM on the 14th Thursday. The Announcement of the new executive committee will be announced later on after the EGM.     

For the full list of the Full members of the counicl click here.

The Third Eye would like to thank all the members of the past executive committee for their work and effort within the council and wish them success in their future endeavors.

The post Resignations within KNŻ trigger an Extraordinary General meeting! appeared first on The Third Eye.

Written by Veronika Sytnyk

Being a young person and a foreigner, many get baffled when they find out about my involvement in the educational and political spheres.

It is as though coming from another country should make me care less about this one, or that at my age, I should be enjoying life and going out with friends instead of spending my days in meetings and head stuck in books or news articles. Nevertheless, contrary to the popular presumption, the secret is that I enjoy every bit of it.

For the past few years, I have been involved in a variety of initiatives, from non-formal school projects to public speaking workshops to European Parliament simulations. These experiences taught me how to be more confident in myself and around others. They instilled the values of hard work and dedication and made me grow in my efficiency. But most of all, it is because of such activities that I discovered that I was not alone in my curiosity and love for learning. It is because of these projects, workshops and simulations that today I have the privilege of being part of an outstanding team of young people that I am proud to call my friends, the National Youth Council (KNŻ).

The KNŻ Journey

It was at the beginning of 2021 that I decided to contest for the KNŻ elections. It was new and exciting because although I had a load of participation certificates in a variety of courses, I had zero experience in a youth organisation. Nevertheless, months later, I am now proudly creating initiatives for individuals like me in order to encourage them to take an interest in the activities that I know will help them become a better version of themselves. I know without the shadow of a doubt that were it not for the leaps I took each time to get out of my comfort zone to apply for an opportunity that I knew would help me grow further, I would not be a youth activist today.

So, my message to all of you reading this piece is this: Do not underestimate your power to overcome barriers, speak up and get noticed.

Activism revolves around action, however small it may be. Any and all contributions are the key to continuing the chain of change that our community so desperately needs, and Youth Day is your friendly reminder to do just that: take the leap.

The post Take The Leap Towards Youth Activism | KNŻ appeared first on The Third Eye.

The online election consisted of 14 nominees for the organisations to vote from. The following acquired the most votes and will now be representing the council:

• President – Liam Axisa
• Vice President – Celine Talbot
• Secretary General – Kristina Filletti
• Financial Officer – Mike Borg
• Public Relations Officer – Yacopo Baldacchino
• Commissioner for Youth Services – Veronika Sytnyk
• International Officer – Nigel Caruana
• National Officer – Gianluca Vella
• Advocacy Officer – Jacob Callus

Chiara Vassallo, former KNŻ President, concluded her speech by stating;

I am glad to see that today we are here with an election for the executive board because this clearly shows that the interest in the Council is increasing and that the Council is serving as an inspiration to others.

Chiara Vassallo, former KNŻ President

The Third Eye got in touch with Liam Axisa, KNŻ President, to share his thoughts on the coming term in light of his newly confirmed role;

“I look forward to putting to use the Council’s newly approved structure, especially with respect to the organ of directorates. With this management of resources, KNŻ will be better able to remain a platform for dialogue for all youths, while striving to bring into the fold more Member Organisations and youth who may sometimes be forgotten by the stereotypical bubbles of activism.”

Liam Axisa, KNŻ President

Best of luck to the new team and a big thank you to the outgoing executive team for their hard work!

The post Liam Axisa to lead KNŻ for the upcoming two years appeared first on The Third Eye.

Several measures were implemented to ensure that transparency remained in their voting system as they had to restructure the EGM to fit the online setting. Despite a couple of technical hiccups, the turnout was rather successful.

Members Come and Members go…

One of the first calls of action was to introduce two new full members to the Council- MaltMUN and ESN. Both organisations mentioned their active work with and amongst the community of youths which makes them viable candidates. Following their proposals, the council took a vote as to whether these organisations should become full members of the council. This motion was approved.

A secondary motion was proposed to decide whether MaltMUN and ESN would be granted immediate right to vote in the ongoing EGM. 54.2% of the Council voted in favour of, anonymously. Thus, MaltMun and ESN’s right to vote was granted, bumping the number of active full members up from 25 to 27 present at this EGM!

Another vote was taken to approve two new affiliate members of the Council – MHSA and S-Cubed, which passed unanimously. All affiliate members are not granted the right to vote as they are already represented in the council by another organisation. In this case that organisation would be KSU.

Y4TE- Youth for the Environment were removed from the council following another motion. Since this NGO is no longer active, their participation as council members is benign and they are no longer associated with the council.

Updating Orthography

As the current statute stands, there are numerous orthographic errors that are in dire need of an upgrade. A proposed motion in Saturday’s EGM acknowledged this defect and intends on making the appropriate amendments to fit the exceptional standards of the Maltese language. No objections to this amendment were made in a unanimous vote.

The ‘Directorates’ Amendment

The directorates will add on another organ to KNŻ’s executive body. The proposed amendment states that these ‘directorates’ will be introduced on technocratic merit to work alongside the executive members. Being made up of 6-8 members, directorates will be appointed according to the needs of the council for the year at hand. This includes the creation of highly specialised roles, like a brand ambassador for example, to ensure that everyone in the team is appointed a role based on their abilities.  

This motion sparked an interesting debate in the EGM and was followed by a call to vote in favour or against the introduction of a group of directorates. 70.4% of the council voted in favour, 22.2% voted against and the remainder (7.4%) abstained from voting. As a result, this proposed amendment was approved.

Reducing KNŻ’s Executive Team Number

Following the motion for introduction of directorates, it was proposed to reduce the executive team from 13 to 9 members was proposed.  This includes the removal of the roles of Deputy Secretary General, the Policy and Youth Rights Commissioner, and some Board Member Positions. The reason for this includes the implementation of a more horizontal approach for the division of labour which will be supported by the directorates.

This amendment struck up quite a heated debate amongst council members. Discussions on adequate representation in the executive team and the argument for more efficient working dynamics were had. Following this discourse, a call for an anonymous vote was made to determine whether the council would be in favour or against this proposed amendment.

70.4% of the council was in favour of this motion, 25.9% was against and the rest (3.7%) abstained from voting. The motion was approved. We hope to see a fresh restructuring of KNŻ’s executive body- something which somewhat defies the status quo.  

KNŻ will be holding their Annual General Meeting on the 13th of March – watch this space for follow ups.

The post Run Down of KNŻ’S EGM: Statute Amendments appeared first on The Third Eye.

In this letter, President Michael Piccinino urged them to support the Erasmusx10 Campaign which aims for a 10-fold increase in funding for the benefit of more opportunities for youth. KNZ explains that the idea behind such a campaign emanated from the way in which several European Political Leaders started pushing for a significant uplift of the Erasmus Programme budget.

Erasmus10 Campaign is centred around the fact that Erasmus has changed the lives of millions of Europeans, imagine what change and investment in youth can be done with ten times the budget. KNZ President, Michael Piccinino explained that whilst KNZ is not officially part of the campaign, “the aim is to have more funds to reach more young people and it is important for Policy makers to show that they are serious about the future of Europe by investing in Youth which are the present and future of Europe.”

The letter can be read on: https://www.facebook.com/KNZMalta/

More information on the Erasmus10 Campaign can be found on: http://erasmusx10.eu/

The post KNZ urges Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and MEPs to support Erasmus Campaign appeared first on The Third Eye.

KNŻ expressed that “this move is surely a step in the right direction and KNZ believes that Malta should now increase it focus on a number of other issues in relation to youths’ rights.”

Moreover, KNŻ continued to emphasise the need for both formal and informal methods of education to increase knowledge-based civic education so as to increase vote 16’s effectiveness and recognition amongst the Maltese population in general. The Council also pointed out that there is a number of anomalies in Maltese law, namely the current sexual age of consent at the age of 18 and the current state of Maltese law, whereby youths are encouraged to become active citizens and involve themselves in voluntary organisation, whilst prohibiting voluntary organisations from registration if they allow the involvement of youths under the age of 18.

On Social Media, the European Youth Forum also wrote “today is a historic day not only for the country but also for young people across Europe.”

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