US Embassy Budapest Active Citizenship Award To "Green Youth"

  • 26 Apr 2013 9:00 AM
US Embassy Budapest Active Citizenship Award To "Green Youth"
"Their work in promoting social and environmental issues among the residents of Budapest is a fine example of what Americans call Active Citizenship."

Remarks by Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis at the Zöld Fiatalok (ZöFi) Active Citizenship Award Ceremony

It is my pleasure to be here today for our Active Citizenship ceremony in recognition of the outstanding work done by ZöFi or the “Green Youth.” Their work in promoting social and environmental issues among the residents of Budapest is a fine example of what Americans call ”Active Citizenship.” I’d like to talk a little bit about what active citizenship means and why we established this award.

From the very beginning of our country’s history, volunteering and helping others has been a way of life for millions of Americans. This view that individuals themselves are in the best position to identify and find solutions to their local problems has shaped the American outlook. We value active citizenship and see it as honorable and highly rewarding work. In fact, President Obama started his professional career as a community organizer in a poor neighborhood in Chicago where he, a Harvard graduate, was helping people to realize their own potential as citizens and leaders.

Active citizenship is a vital element of civil society which makes democracy strong. As I’ve traveled around Hungary these past three years, I’ve seen first-hand the difference that individuals and organizations are making here, and I wanted to find a way to show our support and highlight their contributions. ZöFi provides yet another great example.

I want to give special mention to your Social Bike program. Through this program, unemployed workers were taught the skills necessary to enable them to start small bicycle repair shops on their own. They even started a bike repair club just for women and girls.

I was also pleased to learn about how you share information with, and provide training for, your fellow residents on environmental issues. One such great project is “Edible Gardens” under which students are trained in basic gardening skills. Then of course there is the “World in a Mirror” exhibit - right here, all around us. It is a thought-provoking exhibit demonstrating the interaction of human beings with the environment with a focus on the questions of sustainability. It is very impressive.

I hope this event today will not only give you inspiration for your work as an NGO but will serve to be a recognition of civil society as a whole here in Hungary and a sign of the U.S. Embassy’s support for your activities. Now, without further ado, I am pleased and honored to present “ZöFi” with the Ambassador’s Award for Active Citizenship. Congratulations!

Source: US Embassy Budapest

Photo: Ambassador Kounalakis presents the Active Citizenship Award to Júlia Vass of ZöFi (Green Youth). (Embassy photo by Attila Németh)

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