Los Angeles, California, June 10, 2022. On June 9, the voices of the youth were presented at the IX Summit of the Americas, held at Los Angeles Convention Center. Cecilia Vilchis, Coordinator of the VI Young Americas Forum, presented the current youth priorities around the 5 C’s of Youth Development and the Declaration of Commitment and Action Plan in the presence of Heads of State and Government of the OAS Member States.
Being the first speaker after the inaugural message of the president of the United States, Cecilia raised the importance of a youth development ecosystem towards the strengthening of democratic governance and the promotion of the Inter-American agenda. She brougth to the discussion table the voices and proposals of more than 27,000 young people from the continent, who participated in a 38-month consultative process, through dialogues, campaigns, virtual consultations, Policy Labs, calls for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Cecilia unveiled the Declaration of Commitment and Action Plan of the VI Young Americas Forum, as the result of a robust and complete process of continuous consultation aimed at young people from all over the continent, through official YABT platforms.
Through the Declaration of Commitment the priorities of youth are grouped in the 5 Major C’s of Youth Development: (1) Climate Change, (2) COVID-19, (3) Collaborating with Youth, (4) Combating Corruption. (5) Connectivity and Digital Transformation. Vilchis also emphasized the importance of ensuring access to high-level technology and in all social stratums including digital education for vulnerable populations.
Earlier in the plenary sessions of the VI Young Americas Forum, the Declaration of Commitment was delivered by young Peruvians to the President of the Republic of Colombia, Iván Duque; to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Erika Mouynes; to the Representative of Peru of the Organization of American States (OAS), Harold Forsyth; and to the Executive Director of YABT, and Valerie Lorena.
Access here to consult the Declaration of Commitment and Action Plan.
In addition, on June 10, the IX Summit of the Americas held a series of Thematic Working Groups that allowed the interaction and direct dialogue of a small group of leaders and representatives of civil society, the private sector and youth. The Working Groups were meant to move forward under the objective of generating an inclusive Summit that responds to the needs of the people of the Americas.
The participation of the Youth Delegates of the Young Americas Forum, who are the youth representatives in the Working Groups, Carlos Carrasco from Venezuela, Germán Santillan from Mexico, Ismenia Abigail Trejo from El Salvador, Mabel Alejandra Maldonado from Ecuador, Laura Mendoza from Mexico, María del Mar Jaramillo from Colombia and Miriam Araceli Luna from Peru; led to constructive discussions around the themes of investing in health to build back better:, democratic governance against corruption, twenty-first century workforce, accelerating digital transformation, equitable growth of small economies, inclusive and sustainable economic recovery, green finance and safe and secure communities.
This is the first time that the Summit of the Americas has created these spaces for conversation, fostering inclusive dialogues on building a sustainable, resilient, and equitable future for the hemisphere.
Photo albums are available on YABT Flickr.
Recordings of the plenary sessions of the IX Summit are available here.
