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OAS Assistant Secretary General Urges Youth of the Americas to Claim their Role in Society

The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Albert R. Ramdin, called upon the youth of the hemisphere to actively take their place in society and become directly involved in the elaboration of public policies, during an informal dialogue held in the framework of the Talent and Innovation Competition of the Americas (TIC Americas) in Lima.

“Young people have a role to play in society but you cannot have that role defined without them involved directly. Policy making for the youth without the youth is not policy making. It needs to be done with your input, your engagement, your involvement, and your ideas,” explained Ambassador Ramdin at the event, held in the framework of the 40th OAS General Assembly.

The OAS Assistant Secretary General offered his full support and that of the Organization to the young people present so that this message may be prioritized in the dialogues they will hold during the Assembly with Member State delegations, and he advised them “to be clear, to be frank and to be direct in their interventions.”

To accommodate this new way of thinking, Ambassador Ramdin said, the OAS adopted the declaration of Medellín on youth and democratic values in 2007 and since then, he added, “we have been able to establish a focal point in this area, and are now able to have a Youth Strategy for the Americas to assist youth organizations on how to empower young people, support them and connect them with other organizations in the hemisphere.”

Ambassador Ramdin highlighted the importance for countries to name youth ambassadors and indicated that “every country should appoint youth ambassadors so we can be your voice, in terms of your problems and work towards advocating them." He continued, “It's up to you to become involved in all these activities, in politics, in business, in social and cultural activities, and if it can be done through a youth parliament within every country then that will be a formal recognition of your role in society."

Upon concluding, the young participants and the Assistant Secretary General exchanged questions, answers and suggestions on subjects such as social and environmental responsibility, the association of young leaders in Latin America, the work of the OAS supporting governments’ political will to address youth subjects.

TIC Americas is organized by the Young Americas Business Trust, an international nonprofit organization founded in 1999 that works jointly with the OAS to promote the development of young entrepreneurs through its programs and projects in the areas of leadership, training, technology, strategic alliances and national chapters.

A photo gallery of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org

Reference: E-219/10