After the Barcelona meeting, the Alliance process of entering into the new millennium became a more clear and a well-organised move. Since then the process has started all over the world, at least in thinking level. We are looking forward very excitingly to the diverse proposals of our allies from different parts of the world for entering into the next millennium, while presenting the series of events that are going to take place in South Asia during the year 2000/2001.

To start the process, we contacted the Alliance partners in our region and made them aware of the 2001 process of the Alliance. We felt that we need to make a small team of around ten to twelve active allies who can devote their time and make strategies for organising effective events. We decided to call a working meeting in our home in Dehradun. We invited twelve people in a very short notice and nine of them could actually make it. Those who attended the meeting are: Mr. Rakesh Jaiswal ( Eco-friends, Kanpur, India); Ms. Vidhi Jain (Shikshantar, Rajasthan, India); Mr. Pradeep Sebastian (Pipal Tree, Bangalore, India); Mr. Rajendra Mulmi (Kathmandu, Nepal); Mr. Shahid Perwez (Asian Youth Network of the Alliance, Delhi, India); Mr. Makarand Paranjape (Professor, IIT, Delhi, India); Mr. Arvind Mohan Negi (Save the seeds, U.P, India); Ms. Nacéra Aknak Khan (YW International Coordinator, Dehradun, India); Mr. Sarfaraz Khan (YW Coordinator Asia, Dehradun, India). The meeting was held in Dehradun between 17-19 of November ’99. The meeting was mainly devoted to think of the programs and strategies for the 2001 events in South Asia.

It was first suggested that the Youth Workshop of Asia will initiate an Alliance March for the year 2000 and young people from all parts of the region will join it. This march will ultimately conclude in a big event/meeting to make a collective declaration. Then, we thought of organizing a central event/meeting in South Asia in the year 2001. This event can gather 150 to 200 people. Prior to this, several pilot meetings/events will be organised in different places of the region.

We decided to form a South Asian Facilitation Team of the Alliance 2001 events, which can be called SAFTA-2001.

SAFTA-2001 will be formed with all the participants who are present in the meeting, plus one member each from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. SAFTA-2001 will take the responsibilities to facilitate the organisation of several small events in different corners of South Asia. The members will plan the events, which are most relevant and effective in their region with the help of the members of their own organisation (or make a group for the purpose). These small events will be a chain of events and will be concluded in the end of the year 2000.

The place of the big event planned for June 2001 can be Kathmandu, Nepal.

The following events have already been proposed to take place in South Asia. Few more events that will take place will be finalised soon. These events will be the pilot meetings, which will help to mobilise and select the participants for the June 2001 event.

1. "Political Alternatives for the next millennium in the youth points of view" at New Delhi – India in February 2000 [Co-ordinator: Makarand Paranjape]

2. A March with slogan "The new millennium, millennium of the Youth" at Kanpur-India in September 2000 [Co-ordinator: Rakesh Jaiswal]

3. A week long "Art festival and workshop on youth & Media" at Udaipur-Rajasthan-India in May-June 2000 [Co-ordinator: Vidhi Bhandari]

4. "Social engaged artists concert and Poetry festival" at Bangalore-India in August-September 2000. [Co-ordinators: Pradeep Sebastian and David Timothy]

5. "Youth workshop on millennium agendas for the youth" at Place: Kathmandu-Nepal in May-June 2000 [Co-ordinator: Rajendra Mulmi]

The next meeting of SAFTA-2001 will be held in September 2000 (probably in Kathmandu).

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