Washington, DC, October 4, 2022 – The Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) celebrated the first day of the I Young Americas Meeting, at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, as an official activity of the 52nd General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Lima, Peru.

The first day of the Meeting was held in virtual and on-site format, bringing together more than 500 young leaders and entrepreneurs, providing them with a space to hold workshops that lead to concrete proposals on issues such as Climate Change, COVID-19, Connectivity and Digital Transformation, Combating Corruption and Inclusion and Equity.

The program began with the Opening of the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership Expo, made up of young leaders and entrepreneurs from throughout the region and which are the result of YABT programs, such as TIC Americas, the Young Americas Forum and from other organizations of the hemisphere and continued with a series of plenary sessions, the discussion of which focused on the themes and priorities that represent the 52nd General Assembly and also, in follow-up to the Declaration of Commitment and Action Plan of the VI Young Americas Forum.

Hemispheric leaders from government, the private sector, and young entrepreneurs were part of the meeting, including: Pedro Castillo Terrones, Constitutional President of the Republic of Peru; Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States; César Landa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru; María Celina Conte, Director of the Summits of the Americas Secretariat, Organization of American States; Dr. Jeri Gloria Ramón Ruffner de Vega, Rector of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Georgina Núñez, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Young Americas Business Trust; Luis A. Viguria and Valerie Lorena, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Young Americas Business Trust; among many others. See the agenda with full details HERE.

“To date there are more than 7,000 young people involved in Dialogues, Consultations and Youth Advocacy Campaigns, in addition to more than 12,000 young people registered in innovation competitions from 35 countries. This Meeting is based on permanent youth participation processes, not only in line with this General Assembly, but also with work established since the recent IX Summit of the Americas,” said Luis Almagro, OAS Secretary General.

“Being here means committing ourselves to the youth, because we believe in their potential,” said the President of Peru, H.E. Pedro Castillo.

Luis A. Viguria, Chief Executive Officer of YABT, at the Closing Ceremony of the first day of the I Young Americas Meeting, sent a message to the youth “Don’t forget, prepare for responsibility, educate yourselves, interact, learn about reality and do not give up, if you do not have, that is an incentive to have and if you have, share, I think that is a good start to be a good citizen”.

Through virtual format, the Meeting also carried out the Policy Labs in collaboration with the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, IDEA, Juventud LAC, ECLAC, ITESM, Universidad de Tarapacá and Gallup, which followed up on the VI Young Americas Forum, where around 80 participants attended and raised their contributions.

The first day of the I Young Americas Meeting ended with the workshops, a space created to facilitate the exchange of ideas, proposals and aspirations of youth, helping to synthesize and present the work carried out based on the commitments established in the VI Young Americas Forum and on the way to the Cities Summit.

This October 4th we continue with the activities in the Meeting at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. For more details, contact us via forum@yabt.net