Marieke Prien is the President of the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation. I am in the Americas Working Group and an editor and contributor to its publication Humanist Voices. Here we discuss her background, work, roles, and views on a variety of topics in an exclusive interview, part 2.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: IHEYO works on a broad range of initiatives, and with multiple organizations, including women’s rights, education rights, abortion rights, LGBTIQ rights, human rights. What are some of the notable successes in each of these domains?
Prien: Though some events and activities are directly planned by us, our job is more to be an umbrella organization connecting our member organizations.
For example, in November 2015, we held the charity week “Better Tomorrow”. We came up with the concept and asked our members to contribute to projects they thought of and planned themselves.
There are conferences that are planned by IHEYO in cooperation with the respective local member organizations. We provide know-how and funds for the events. Many of our volunteers are active in both IHEYO and their local organizations so cooperation is made easy. Alone this year there were three conferences in addition to our annual General Assembly.
These conferences were the African Humanist Youth Days (AFHD) in July in Nairobi (Kenya), the European Humanist Youth Days (EHYD) in July in Utrecht (Netherlands) and the Asian Humanist Conference in August in Taipei (Taiwan). During each conference, there are talks and workshops that are somewhat connected to humanism.
For example, during the EHYD we had a workshop on Effective Altruism, AHYD had panels about witch-hunts, and the Asian Conference featured a talk about secular values in traditional beliefs. Some talks/workshops are held by member organizations, others by people from outside of the organizations that were invited.
This way the participants can gain knowledge and know-how while at the same time spreading their own knowledge and letting others profit from their experience. Also, events like that are the best opportunity to network and come up with new ideas. We are a growing community, with growing influence, thanks to this.
So it is hard to measure our impact in numbers or clearly defined achievements. We are more about providing the basis for our members’ work and incentives to individuals. A panel like the one at EHYD, with Bangladeshi bloggers who have been threatened and prosecuted because they openly criticized religion, leads to a change of mind in the audience that can eventually bring huge change.
Jacobsen: Any personal humanist heroes?
Prien: This sounds cheesy, but my humanist heroes are the people that put their free time and their energy into IHEYO or other humanist organizations. There is always a lot to do and it is great seeing so many people work hard for this cause.
Especially work in an executive committee involves some boring and annoying tasks, particularly when handling bureaucratic stuff. Behind every meeting and every event, there is someone writing minutes, someone putting data into spreadsheets, someone handling the numbers and keeping an eye on the finances… I am very grateful for everybody who does this as it builds the base for successful projects.
Jacobsen: Any recommended authors?
Prien: I have not had time to read a lot of books lately, but I read many blog articles and can definitely recommend that. There is something about articles written by non-professionals who just want to express their thoughts. Especially when you know the person or they provide background knowledge about themselves.
It is so interesting to see their thought process and how they form their opinions. It helps understand why they have this opinion, even or especially if you don’t agree with it. Also, many blogs allow to comment on articles and possibly discuss with the author, so in the end, everyone can benefit.
Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Marieke.
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Original publication in www.medium.com/humanist-voices.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images