June 9, 2004 - Washington, DC. With the Organization
of American States' (OAS) 34th regular General Assembly
session in Ecuador as a background, the Young Americas
Business Trust (YABT), together with the World Bank Global
Development Learning Network (GDLN) and its Distance Learning
Center in Ecuador, Globatel, combined efforts to offer
a complementary session on youth and leadership. The Dialogue,
"Leadership Link: Linking the OAS Ambassadors and
officials with the Young People in the Americas - Facing
challenges, Finding solutions", was held on June
9, 2004.
Due to the strong interest in the subject, nine sites
across Latin America and the Caribbean participated.
The YABT, GDLN and Globatel were pleased to welcome
Barbados, who participated for the first time in a Dialogue.
As Mr. Rodney Grant, the CEO of the Pinelands Creative
Workshop, stated, "Those who participated viewed
this as a worthwhile activity that gave them the opportunity
to be included and have a voice on a topic that is engaging
on-going national and regional dialogue."
The participation of OAS Directors and government officials
reinforced the commitment of the OAS and other government
institutions to the development of young people, their
programs and their future. The Dialogue presented a
unique opportunity for young people to interact with
OAS leaders to share ideas, express their opinions and
to be heard by influential people.
Opening the videoconference were distinguished guests
from Ecuador, including the President of Globatel,
Dr. Mahmud Samandari, who also facilitated the session.
Also, the Chair of the OAS General Assembly, Ambassador
Piedrahita, spoke and provided the participants in the
various sites with an overview and summary of the main
topics and results from the discussions at the OAS General
Assembly meetings.
The Dialogues included presentations of programs and
further discussions about the role of how the interaction
between the different participants could be increased.
This provided the OAS officials with an overview of
the challenges that young people face in their countries.
Many successful programs that were presented demonstrated
the opportunities that young people can bring to the
local development of their communities and countries.
Two young people in Ecuador spoke of the training programs
they work on and showcased their abilities for assisting
the young people in their Universities and communities.
The OAS officials present in that same studio in Ecuador
were impressed with these programs and have since begun
discussing ways of improving and strengthening such
programs with more resources and collaboration from
their governmental institutions.
The YABT, the GDLN and the participants who were present
in this Dialogue are committed to pursue more dialogues
of this type. These events give young people the opportunity
to have a voice, an opportunity and a learning platform
to showcase their programs and success stories throughout
the region. Inviting key decision makers and donors
provides a chance for the young people to increase their
activities and programs, as well as to collaborate in
creating new strategies for the development of young
people along with the government officials. Participants
from various sites, including young people, and OAS
and government officials have requested follow up dialogues
similar to this one for the coming months.
For more information on Youth Entrepreneurship related
activities in GDLN, please contact Bari Rabin at brabin@worldbank.org,
or Rafael Pinto (YBIZ2@oas.org).
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