The Youth in the South Schleswig Voters' Association (Youth in the SSW) (Danish: SSWUngdom, German: Jugend im SSW) is a political youth organization in Germany. It is the youth wing of the South Schleswig Voters' Association Names The official name of the organization is Sydslesvigsk Vælgerforenings Ungdom in Danish and Jugend im Südschleswigschen Wählerverband in German. The corresponding abbreviations are SSWUngdom and Jugend im SSW, respectively. There is no official English name, but a rough translation of the German name is Youth in the South Schleswig Voters' Association, abbreviated to Youth in the SSW. Positions According to their own description, the Youth in the SSW are non-ideological. Instead, they choose to let their political positions be determined by three factors. Members must: Be young. Have a connection to Denmark and Northern Europe. Be part of the Danish or Frisian minority. Four key principles are used to determine their positions on a given matter: They defend the right of every human being to choose one's own path. They aspire to establish a welfare state in Schleswig-Holstein and Germany similar to those found in Scandinavia. They are attached to the region where they live (as opposed to those parts of Germany where the minority rights of the Danish population group do not apply), and wish to see it developed together with its old Danish counterpart, South Jutland County. Due to their youth and attachment to their home region, they wish to have the state actively defend the environment. History Historically, the SSW has had various informal youth groups, but these tended to disband as their members left Southern Schleswig to study in the larger cities of Denmark or Germany. In 2009, Manuel J. Thomsen established Youth in the SSW with the aim of providing a more permanent youth organization. The new group held their first National Convention in 2010, where the members adopted their first by-laws, adopted their first political program, and elected their first Board, with Lukas A. Lausen as Chairman. Under Lausen, the youth wing increased its membership five-fold, doubled its budget, and formalized a relationship with the press. At the National Convention of 2011, the by-laws were changed to allow the creation of local branches, and the second National Board was elected under the chairmanship of Jonas Knickmeier. Structure Internal The Youth in the SSW consists of two local branches (one in Flensburg and one in Schleswig) and the