From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
OAS Urges Governments of the Americas to Create Opportunities for Youth
By OAS
Nov 5, 2013 - 5:15:25 PM
The
Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States
(OAS), Albert Ramdin, today concluded the Second Conference of Youth in
the Americas with an appeal to the governments of the region to make a
special effort to create opportunities for new generations. The meeting,
which took place at the headquarters of the Organization in Washington
DC, opened a discussion forum for the youth of the Hemisphere on issues
that affect this segment of society, including politics and new
technologies.
The senior OAS official warned that "if we do not act as States,
then we are running the risk of creating a major problem for the
future." In every single country of our region, the majority of our
people are young, under 35 years of age. Imagine a scenario where these
young people do not have a job, but they still need to live, they still
need a house, need transportation," he continued.
Assistant Secretary General Ramdin emphasized that "what we need
in our countries is a productive workforce, made up of people who
understand it is up to them to create jobs or to contribute in a
positive way." Without that key fact, he added, "if they do not take
care of their young people today, all member states will have a
problem."
The second-in-command of the hemispheric Organization, whose
office organized the Conference, concluded by warning that the danger
increases because in addition to the lack of opportunities there are
other threats such as crime, violence and drug trafficking, which
"impact youth, and youth is involved in them. We don’t want that, we
want new generations involved in productive activities, taking care of
themselves and society."
For her part, the President of the Directing Council of the
Inter-American Children’s Institute, a specialized agency of the OAS,
Gloria Lozano, said the outcome of the Conference "will help to better
understand the issues to be considered in public policies and
initiatives that promote investment in the youth of the region."
Listening to young people, she added, is "a priority, in that we can’t
build policies without them, we cannot achieve representative
democracies without them," and by working with them "we establish more
just and inclusive societies."
Lozano added that, from the experience of the organization she
leads, it is "necessary to establish, strengthen and promote the link
between institutions and other national and international actors to
promote the exchange of opinions and knowledge within the right to
participation, as everyday practices in the areas of youth, the family,
schools and the community."
Meanwhile, Luis Viguria, CEO of the Young Americas Business
Trust (YABT) – an institution associated with the OAS, highlighted the
role played by the Organization in "identifying the importance of
working with young people, because they are the basis for
competitiveness in our nations for economic development, and if we don’t
unite our efforts to support them, we will not make much progress." He
also stressed the importance of multisectoral partnerships "for the
development of youth as a cornerstone for the growth of our countries."
Finally, Viguria called on those attending the meeting to follow
the Organization through YABT to make public their concerns with a view
to next year’s Conference, and "to tell us what we will do in the
following days, months and years and how we can ensure that young people
feel more invested in and more present in our societies."
Panel 1: "The Responsible Use of Technology: Democracy and Privacy in a Modern World"
The first panel, moderated by José Luis Piñar, International
Expert on Data Protection from the San Pablo-CEU University in Madrid
and former director of the Spanish Agency for Data Protection, focused
on the "Responsible use of technology: democracy and privacy in a modern
world." Upon introducing the panelists, Piñar said it is important to
note that technology is not only faster than ever, but also "feeds back
on itself," so that its development grows at an increasingly fast rate.
In that environment, the responsible use of technology requires "clear
rules, global or regional rules that are, neutral, reasonable,
applicable, that are likely to be imposed, and that are developed with
the joint participation of not only politicians but also of lawyers,
technicians, stakeholders and above all, young people."
Pedro Less Andrade, Director of Government Affairs and Public
Policy for Google Latin America, said that "today the Internet is a
fundamental part of our world," but it is important, said Less Andrade,
to recognize the differences in perspective between the "digital
migrants" - those who experienced the birth of the Internet and had to
adjust to the new technologies, and the "digital natives." those born
with the use of internet and mobile phones. Given that the "digital
migrants" who generally make the rules that govern the use of the
Internet, the best path to follow on regulation are forums for the
exchange of views between the "digital natives" and "digital migrants,"
he said.
Marisol Pérez Tello, former President of the Justice Committee
of the Congress of Peru, emphasized the importance for democracy of the
freedom of expression, and the key role that technology plays in it.
"The Internet, social networks, and the dialogues we can have on
Facebook or Twitter now mean that freedom of expression is guaranteed
through mechanisms other than traditional ones, and that the state's
role is shrinking." But new technologies also bring new challenges, said
Pérez Tello, such as the need to protect privacy; to have
proportionality in terms of regulations that may be imposed by the
state; and to establish self-regulation among people expressing opinions
in the virtual space.
Daniel Diaz Leyva, Partner and Director of Business Development
for "Infante Zumpano," said that "technology has had a profound positive
impact on democracy" but also recognized that "it is clear that it is
not without flaws." "Technology has been one of the most empowering
resources we’ve had across the globe;" said Diaz Leyva, adding that
"transparency has become paramount in the world of technology." As for
the challenges, the leader of Infante Zumpano emphasized the need to
"promote continued transparency." In all public policy debates on
technology, said Diaz Leyva, "youth are at the core of the debate, and
are at the forefront of technological advances," and their opinions have
to be part of the process of policy formulation.
Juan David Hincapié Gómez, President and Founder of the Foreign
Affairs Institute, said his organization decided to ally with the new
technologies "because this allowed us to generate international forums
and seminars, and to reach young people with new tools that allow them
have the necessary conditions to participate in the social events of the
future." He explained that the Institute conducts international
conferences in which experts debate and discuss with young people
through "chats" and interactive conferences, and has created a network
of young leaders that allows new generations to interact and communicate
with young people in other countries, "supporting strengthened
community building."
Melvin Bouva, Member of the National Assembly of Suriname, said
that "advances in information technology have revolutionized the way
people communicate and learn." He explained that his government has used
the Internet to encourage young people to share their ideas and
opinions, but warned of challenges in privacy protection involving rapid
technological changes in the world. In closing, he stressed that "we
can’t deny that more than ever the time has come for global connections
between people and their environment to shape the landscape and to
determine our future.”
Panel 2: "Game Changers of the Americas: Making a Difference"
The second panel, moderated by Shelly Dass-Clarke, Senior
Advisor to the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, focused on "Game
Changers of the Americas: Making a Difference," and brought together a
number of personalities from the Americas who achieved professional
success at a young age.
Tomicah Tillemann, Senior Advisor on Civil Societies and
Emerging Democracies at the United States State Department said that "it
has never been easier or cheaper in all of human history to bring
people together around common ideas and allow them to participate in
political life or civil society." He stressed the importance that
governments create conditions for innovation and creativity to flourish,
but also highlighted the importance of the role to be played by the
private sector and civil society. "To the extent we see meaningful
change in the world these days, it almost always occurs at the
intersection of government, civil society and the private sector. And
you need all three sectors working together in order to bring about
meaningful results," said Tillemann.
Gabriela de la Garza, Senior Sustainability Manager for PepsiCo
Latin America Beverages also stressed the importance of good relations
between the state and business. "I believe that public-private
partnerships are key, and working together is the way to go," said De la
Garza. The PepsiCo Manager pointed to the experience of her company in
the Eco Challenge, sponsored by the OAS, in "inviting the young people
of the Americas to create businesses that can solve environmental
problems, and here our objective is twofold: first, to support
entrepreneurship in the region, and second, to respond to the idea that
companies and environmentalists cannot work together."
The Chairman of Blue Waters Limited, Dominic Hadeed, said that
when he founded his company, "my age was both a hindrance and an
opportunity." He urged the young people to "do the best you can with
what you have," without waiting for help from their governments.
"Sometimes governments are tailwinds, you’ll get a push from them in the
right direction; and sometimes they are headwinds, they will stop you
getting to where you would like to go. So don’t depend on them, just
note when you have to push a little harder against them and note when
they are in your favor, and make the most of the opportunity," Hadeed
said.
For his part, Claude Zdanow, Founder and CEO of Stadiumred said
that, in his opinion, "for young people, there are a lot of barriers to
entry" into politics, which combined with a feeling they don’t have the
ability to make changes, winds up discouraging many definitively. In
terms of public-private partnerships, he said that "if there were
certain things put into place to improve responsiveness and
communication, there are a lot of things that could be done to support
what most of us are trying to do to boost the economy or create new jobs
and I think that’s where the focus should be. It should be on creating
incentives and partnerships for those young entrepreneurs to be able to
communicate effectively and have a partner that is responsive" to their
needs.
Jason Jannati, Founder and CEO of GreeNEWit Energy, said his
youth served as an advantage in starting his company, because it helped
him attract mentors. For many young people, said Jannati, politics feels
like an environment "in which the script has already been written," and
decisions already taken. In terms of partnerships, Jannati said the
most important thing is not to know the strengths of the partners, but
their weaknesses, to see if the relationship can be complementary. He
said he has learned from his experiences that "much of leadership is
knowing where you want to go. The quality of answers is dictated by the
quality of the questions."
Eduardo Guzzardi, Institutional Relations Manager for Walmart
Brazil, said that "age matters as much as you allow it to matter." "If
someone tells you you can’t do something because of your age, don’t
believe that. If it's something you really want to do, it’s up to you to
shape the conditions of your environment go after it." As for the
relations between governments and society, he said that "the concept of
shared responsibility between government, business and civil society in
general is very important for solving the problems we face with youth in
the 21st century. I don’t think any of the major problems we face can
be solved by one sector alone. "
Following the panel discussions, government officials from
Suriname, Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis spoke briefly of the
experience of youth in their countries. The Youth Conference of the
Americas brings together youth organizations, students and stakeholders
from across America to exchange views with business and government
representatives on issues affecting the 534 million young people living
in the Hemisphere. The 2012 Conference was held under the theme "Youth in Action for Democracy and Entrepreneurship."
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