Contest The Voice of the Youth of the Hemisphere

The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the Government of the Republic of Guatemala launch the initiative "The Voice of the Youth of the Americas", which invites the youth of the Americas to participate in this collaborative contest to promote a creative and complementary exchange that will allow the youth to compete with concrete proposals to find new approaches to the global drug problem.

Background
 
According to the Heads of State of the region, a valuable dialogue began on the world drug problem during the 6th Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. Heads of State identified the need to analyze the results of current policies in the Americas and explore new approaches to strengthen and make more effective those policies. The drug issue has become a topic of high relevance as the use and abuse of these substances may represent a threat to health, may produce accidents, promote insecurity and develop drug addictions.

Objetive
 
The objective is to promote the participation of the youth in the debate on this topic by proposing new approaches to the drug problem in the Americas. The participation of the youth in the resolution of issues of public interest is necessary, reason why through this contest, we pretend to encourage proactive inputs, as well as innovative opinions to find new approaches to the world drug problem. This contest offers and open space of participation.
 
The Government of Guatemala and the OAS General Secretariat invite those young individuals with a sense of civic and social responsibility to participate in this proyect, exercising their right to have a voice and to be considered during the decision making process.

Participants

The invitation is being issued to young people of the Americas, between 18 and 30 years old, who are citizens of OAS member states.

Reference documents