Young Leaders in Latin American Democracies Convene for Democracy Moves' Spring Conference
On February 27th, youth movement leaders from across Latin America met to discuss the future of democracy in their home region. Given how the pandemic has threatened youth participation across the globe, 2020 has been one of the least optimistic years on record for the future of democracy. For this reason, Democracy Moves put together a conference for its Spanish-speaking community, in which speakers from across the region could bring new ideas and inspiration to a diverse audience of over 70 participants.
The conference addressed the current roles of government, civil society, and individual citizens in bringing about a more democratic future. In doing so, it showed the young folks in attendance a variety of techniques and best practices that could be used for effective participation going forward. On the governance panel, speakers from the Colombian government and FLACSO, a Costa Rican research institute, debated how citizen action is received differently in municipal and national government. The civil society panel discussed civil society's newfound role during the pandemic, necessitated by social distancing mandates and virtual programming. The speakers in the session about individual citizens explained a variety of ways young people can get involved in the civic process, highlighting how participation can best bridge generational divides, gender asymmetries, and diverse cultural backgrounds.
“Despite all the challenges and work to be done on Latin American democracy, it fills us with hope to listen to young people from across Latin America who are actively participating and above all aware of the great challenges implied in modern democracy, which must have at its core innovation, transparency, public access to information, and citizen participation. I thank the organizers of this conference for creating a space for such discussions on the role of young people in democracy.”
Many thanks to the co-organizers of the event, OVJNU from Venezuela, Sumando from Argentina, and Oportunidad AC from Venezuela, for making the event possible. Without such wonderful partners, it would not have been possible to have such experienced speakers, such as Armando Navarro from the office of the Colombian Secretary of Transparency, Angel Medina Devis from the Latin American Parliament, y Macarena Morettini, a leader of Argentine civil society.
This conference has been the beginning of a great effort by the Spanish-speaking community in Democracy Moves to include even more young people in a wide-ranging conversation, in order to continue supporting young civic leaders empowered to take on the defining challenges of our age.