International Union of Socialist Youth
Caucasus Dialogue

“Committed for Peace and Democracy”

DECLARATION

We, young political leaders from southern Caucasus, and representatives of: AYF - Armenian Youth Federation; SDYOA - Social Democratic Youth Organization of Azerbaijan; USYG - Union of Socialist Youth of Georgia are gathered in Oslo, Norway, generously hosted by our sister organization - Norwegian Labour Youth - AUF

Together we share the common values of Freedom,  Justice, Democracy and Solidarity. We strongly believe that conflict and war is a major threat against humanity, and it creates a barrier for reaching welfare and universal development. Therefore we set as our common major goal - PEACE -

We, young Socialists, members of international socialist movement, and representing progressive political forces, fully realize our responsibility and are Committed to Peace and Democracy in the Caucasus region and worldwide;

We, the young socialists, stand by the principals of international law on territorial integrity of each state, recognized by international Community. as well as human rights, the right of any nations on self determination, and protection of its cultural and historical identity;

We believe there is a great importance of regional cooperation in Caucasus. Development in the Caucasus region fully depends on peaceful solutions of the existing conflicts in the region. We underline that no country can develop separately,
without first reaching peace and stability in whole region;

There is a vital necessity of promoting and advancing the peace process in our societies. We must start rebuilding the relations between our people based on mutual respect, understanding and trust;

We recognize the necessity of democratic transformation of our countries and the importance of developing the Civil Society as the only way of achieving the welfare state and creation of public good;

We firmly believe that peace in the region only can be achieved within a democratic environment, and by involving the public, and especially youth. Also considering and respecting different opinions from all sides and stakeholders.

We express our strong will for continuation and intensification of our dialogue and strongly believe that International Union of Socialist Youth provides fundamental platform for such an approach. We confirm our wish on establishment of “Caucasus Dialogue” as a permanent working network in the framework of IUSY Black Sea Area Cooperation and our readiness to contribute in development of regional cooperation among different social groups of our societies, and as a first step, to lunch the process of active discussion on these issues in our organizations.

We completely understand and recognize importance of our challenges and with high confidence move ahead with our effort for Peace, Stability and Humans welfare in the region.

21 of October 2008
Oslo, Norway

Declaration "Committed for Peace and Democracy"