Washington, D.C., December 2, 2021. With the participation of youth represented by Ms. Cecilia Vilchis, Program Manager of the Young Americas Business Trust, together with Claudia Umaña Araujo of FUSADES El Salvador and Alana Rizzo of the YouTube company, on November 30 of this year, a series of panels began on the way to the IX Summit of the Americas, organized by the Atlantic Council through the Adrienne Arsht Centre for Latin America in collaboration with the United States Department of State.
The first roundtable, “Road to the Summit: New Opportunities for a more inclusive Americas”, developed through two panels, brought together diverse stakeholders to discuss how democracies can fulfill their commitments to the citizens of the Americas and create more opportunities for women and vulnerable populations in governance systems.
The first panel, “Key Challenges and New Solutions for Democracy”, moderated by Carla Angola, journalist at EVTV Miami, generated an enriching discussion about the current challenges facing democracy, how young people can work together with the various actors, and how to leverage digital media to create new communities in the run-up to the Ninth Summit.
For its part, the second panel “The Role of Women in Safeguarding Democracy” moderated by Diego Area, Deputy Director of Strategic Development of the Adrienne Arsht Center for Latin America, brought to the table the importance of creating an enabling environment and clear action plans in the current context, to attract and empower women to participate actively in decision-making processes.
During the speeches of the first panel, Ms. Cecilia Vilchis, Program Manager of YABT, highlighted that “one of the biggest challenges we face today is focused on inequality and inclusion. Given that the well-being of society is at stake, possible solutions must be inclusive for all.”
Since then, YABT and Atlantic Council, through the Adrienne Arsht Center for Latin America, have continued to join efforts to expand inclusive discussion spaces for the youth of the Americas in the upcoming panels, parallel to the process leading to the VI Young Americas Forum, an official platform for youth participation in the Summit of the Americas.
The agenda also included another panel entitled “The Role of Women in Safeguarding Democracy”. The recording of the event is available on the following website: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/ninth-summit-of-the-americas-democracy/
For more information and/or to explore partnership opportunities with the YABT, please contact us via forum@yabt.net.
