SUMMITS OF THE AMERICAS VIRTUAL COMMUNITY Washington, DC OEA/Ser.E CVC/FV-6/12 08 February 2012 Original: Spanish "Virtual Dialogue: "Ideas of impact: innovation of youth and their contribution to the Sixth Summit of the Americas" Final Report January 16 February 3, 2012 I. Introduction: This report is the result of the collection, and analysis of the contributions made by young people who participated in the Virtual Dialogue: "Ideas of impact: innovation of youth and their contribution to the Sixth Summit of the Americas", held from January 16 to February 3, 2012 in the Summits Virtual Community (CVC). The Virtual Dialogue, as part of the Third Youth Forum of the Americas, integrates online and face to face participation. Through national dialogues organized and lead by young people in some of the OAS member states such as: Colombia, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and several others planning their local dialogues. Alongside with on site Hemispheric Dialogues such as those in El Salvador in June 2011 and Paraguay in October 2011. Thousands of young people are participating in the forum in an organized and coordinated manner, not by just giving recommendations, but with concrete plans, actions, viable and sustainable projects and innovative ideas framed in the subthemes of the Sixth Summit of the Americas. The final document was based on the weekly reports, and includes entries received by 5:00 pm (EST) on February 3 rd. Both the English and Spanish dialogue had a total of 408 members and 150 comments. It should be noted that among the comments received in the forum, there were contributions from different youth organizations such as rural youth organizations, women leaders, youth of African descent, among others, which have a wide representation and outreach in the region. Furthermore, the Youth Dialogue in the CVC was visited by more than 2.150 people since the starting date. II. Main activities: 1. the virtual dialogue was launched and announced by press releases, and disseminated through the YABT links and social networks alongside with events conducted by members of YABT. 2. Moderation of the English dialogue was carried out by Nathalia Prada, and the moderation of the Spanish dialogue was moderated by Edgar Maestre. Both of them are YABT staff and worked in conjunction with each other. 3. The collection of comments from participants was conducted weekly through reports that were integrated in the final report, alongside with the report of the third week. This Final document is presented to the Summits of the Americas to become part of the working sessions of the Summit Implementation www.oea.org www.yabt.net
Review Group (SIRG). www.oea.org www.yabt.net 2
III. Main Concerns / Complaints of Participants: Throughout the dialogue participants expressed many concerns. This is an overview of the issues pointed out by young people, and sorted by the subtopics of the VI Summit of the Americas: 1. Poverty and Inequality: Lack of public policies to strategically incorporate in formal civic participation of youth in economic, social and political issues. University policies that don t allow first and second year students to access pre professional training programs, limiting their capacity to get a job or start a business venture. In addition; there is a need for improvement the transition phase between high school and college. The migration of young people affects almost all countries of the region. It occurs due to the lack of opportunities, causing the young leave their homeland even if they are poorly paid in another country. This phenomenon is known as Brain Drain it hasn t been properly addressed by the governments and not given the attention it disserves. Equitable distribution of state resources remains a challenge in the hemisphere. Corruption continues to affect the circulation of wealth in the countries of the region. Lack of the basic necessities for people living on the islands. Habitants constantly face shortages in the distribution of food, general merchandise, fuel and energy; In fact, they live in a subsistence economic system. It is necessary to assist young women from rural communities to organize and provide opportunities to help them access economic activities through strategic partnerships. Strengthen teacher s education programs; expand professional development courses and fellowships for graduate specialization. 2. Public Security: Raise awareness to young people living in risky situations and integrate them into productive programs to help acquire skills for formal employment or to create their own businesses. Due the lack of rehabilitation programs for people departing prisons people are unable to assimilate into society which could possibly help to reduce violence in communities. The need to generate more programs to assist the different Diasporas, who find it difficult to normalize their immigration status, to train and engage them in economic activity. 3. Access and Use of Technology: Improve access to technology and implementing it in education, health and in the public sector. Moreover, install wireless networks in parks for people who cannot afford it. Absence of support to farmers and lack of training programs for new technology in agriculture. Promote the use of technology in remote locations. Including on site and on line courses, e -business, and other production activities. Use Web 2.0 technology for youth awareness on issues such pregnancy prevention, non-violence, decreasing dropout rates and to bring them closer to culture, art and sports. www.oea.org www.yabt.net 3
Encourage biotechnology to improve agriculture, food production and quality standards, in order to assist producers in times of drought and natural disasters. Gather resources for the production of audiovisual, case studies, interviews and youth projects related to environmental conservation and spread them over the Internet. 4. Natural Disasters: Lack of urban planning in big cities due to the migration and settlement of population from rural areas in hazardous places without the necessary security protection from natural disasters. Healthier management of solid waste such as plastic, considered one of the main materials for making goods. Its manufacture requires several chemical processes but their production increases every year. There is a need for the implementation of new recycling methods which contribute to the conservation of the environment and reduce the risks of natural disasters. The problems of climate change, droughts, and access to drinking water are some of the issues that require alleviation strategies, and need to be addressed among the responsible authorities. IV. Solutions / Concrete Actions: The participants of the dialogue shared recommendations from their experiences, projects, companies and organizations, as well as the efforts of their countries to meet the most pressing demands of their communities. A summary of these contributions are presented below, they provide solutions to address those claims: 1. Poverty and Inequality: Encourage corporate volunteering to help young people with business ideas through training and advice in developing their business plan. In addition, expand this measure in vocational schools. Create incentives for private venture capitalist to invest in the early stage of the business projects of young entrepreneurs, accelerating growth and sustainability over time. Involve young people in the tracking and monitoring of government programs, to measure their progress and corroborate that their objectives are being met. There is a need to improve governance, transparency and e-government. This would help to improve the equitable distribution of public resources to address problems of poverty, crime, among others. Empower focus groups in universities to reduce inequality between men and women by promoting the training and education of women in vulnerable communities. In addition, facilitate campaigns to reduce teenage pregnancy and decrease school dropout rates in rural areas. Motivate media to create participation spaces for young people, encouraging them to share opportunities with other young people and fight for a better future through entrepreneurship. Certify that public policies are accompanied by real action plans and specific budgets. In addition, endorse ethnic and gender perspective in the framework of Human Rights. Encourage the development of public policies with an ethnic and gender approach within the human rights framework. Increase awareness of growth based on sustainable development practices, making companies competitive by implementing green business models. Encourage the incubation and seed exchange in rural areas; as well as expand biotechnology laboratories, metrology (measurement and quality) to improve www.oea.org www.yabt.net 4
agricultural production, collection and solid waste management. 2. Citizens security: Develop applications on mobile devices to ensure secure transactions and prevent cyber-attacks on both people and businesses. implement programs to incorporate non-violence, culture, art, painting and sports initiatives as supporting mechanisms for young people who thrive in these areas. 3. Access and Use of Technology: Promote Digital literacy initiatives in rural and indigenous communities taking in to account the dialects of these communities. Encourage gender equality and women entrepreneurship associations by using Web. 2.0 to generate partnerships and networks of business women in Latin America and the Caribbean. Provide incentives to maximize the Public-Private-Academic development accessibility programs and incorporate digital technology in those cross-cutting programs. Implement green technology, and integrated transport systems in the countries of the hemisphere. A concrete example is Medellin, Colombia, a model that can be replicated in other major cities in LAC. Encourage the production of audiovisual educational material such as documentaries by business enterprises which allocate part of the profits to the community. Provide incentives for saving energy and water consumption in manufacturing processes of businesses and public entities. 4. Natural Disasters: Preparation and distribution of textbooks for schools with detailed information about natural disasters and what to do in case of emergency. Policy makers should develop frameworks for the regulations of infrastructure to be implemented for natural disaster prevention and focused sustainable development. At the same time, build ownership of citizens. Install systems to capture rainwater and reuse it in communities without access to water resources. Young people in this forum have designed innovative solutions that can be applied in agriculture. For more information, please contact: Valerie Lorena, YABT Executive Director via vlorena@oas.org or (202) 458 6442 cmbrs00906e01 www.oea.org www.yabt.net 5