75Th Anniversary Conference in Brazil Issues Call to Action
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NotíciasNews from da América Latin America Latina eand Caribe the Caribbean• Número •8 Number• Dezembro/janeiro 11 • June/July 2004-2005 2005 75th Anniversary Conference in Brazil Issues Call to Action The conference Partner- Meeting gathers leaders of the projects sup- ity of youth to develop forums and actions ing with Youth to Build the ported by the Foundation, to facilitate intra and intergenerational dia- Future, held at the Latin governments youth activists from social logue; American Parliament (Par- movements, lawmakers and • Empower alternative socialization latino), in São Paulo, Brazil, and civil representatives from a vari- spheres to enhance youth's initiative and from May 30 to June 1, society from ety of civil society organiza- its cultural creativity. issued a Call to Action tions. Among the main points The points listed above appear here in directed at governments, the continent incorporated into the final the same wording as they were voted at companies and civil soci- to define text are: the plenary session of the conference. ety organizations from • Develop programs and However, they will be published together around Latin America and public policies actions that improve the with the other items in an annotated edi- the Caribbean. The docu- for youth economic autonomy of tion with notes by the panelists, and this ment contains 25 items and youth, including dignified will be released as the final document. is intended to promote work and access to land, regional development policies that take credit and technical assistance; Cultural Program – Also occurring dur- into account the needs and interests of • Promote a democratic and participa- ing the 75th Anniversary Conference youth. The Latin American Conference is tive system of education that strengthens was the festival Youth: The Art of Trans- part of the Kellogg Foundation's 75th the organizational and participatory forming, which brought together social proj- anniversary commemoration. capacity of youth in the comprehensive ects drawing on a variety of artistic Panelists received a file of five docu- development of their community; expressions. The festival was intended ments centered on youth to help guide • Promote the visibility of a positive to draw attention to the strategic role the discussions in the thematic working youth image and youth actions through that art and culture can play in the devel- groups organized at the event that the various social media, avoiding stereo- opment process. “Art helps strengthen debated the topics Public Policies, Sub- typical imagery; intergenerational relations, encourages jectivity, and Youth Movements and Orga- • Develop institutional mechanisms to the recovery of traditions and the relay- nizations. incorporate the organized and effective ing of knowledge that is part of a com- The Call to Action was voted by the participation of youth in the conception, munity's cultural identity,” said Andrés event's 250 participants and contains formulation, implementation and evalua- Thompson, Kellogg Foundation Program the proposals approved by a two thirds tion of laws and public policies in general; Director for Latin America and the majority. Comprising the group were • Recognize and strengthen the capac- Caribbean. INTERVIEW | Hanmin Liu Kellogg Foundation Board of Trustees Chairman Points to Progress Hanmin Liu has been a member of the Kellogg Founda- What can society learn from its youth? tion's board of trustees since 1996 and is currently its Chair. Youth possess a natural tendency in favor of change. They He founded the United States-China Educational Institute are full of energy. They have the resolve to get a lot of things (USCEI), in San Francisco, California, and the Wildflowers done. They are not resigned. This is why they do not accept Institute, of which he is both president and a member of the board as irreversible realities situations that are often considered so of trustees. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Union by adults. for Experimenting Colleges and Universities and a doctorate How does the Latin American Conference link up with the other sem- in dental surgery from the New York University's School of inars organized by the Foundation in 2005 Dentistry. Dr. Liu is a member of the Asian American Pacific The topics of these meetings were chosen from a diagnosis of Islanders as well. the main problems encountered in the countries and regions where the Kellogg Foundation operates through its support for innova- What did the Foundation expect from the 75th Anniversary Confer- tive social projects. The seminars will serve to help us make adjust- ence in Brazil? ments in our vision on these issues and will enable thousands of We wanted to hear from the youngsters themselves their con- people to get involved in the debate. They will have a multiplier cerns, to encourage them to share their experiences and, sub- effect on the actions of the Foundation, injecting new energy into sequently, develop the strength to meet the challenges they have the actors participating in these projects and also contributing ahead of them. to the growth and qualification of the youth involved with them. Number 11 • June/July 2005 Documents and Panel Open Debate at Conference Five documents delivered to panelists at the Kellogg Foun- ican Parliament (Parlatino). Thereafter, the panelists discussed dation 75th Anniversary Conference were the starting point for the topics that had already been raised, suggested others discussions at the event's working groups: Addressing the and finally selected those they agreed should be submitted to Topic: Preliminary Document, presented by Andrés Thomp- the plenary session to determine which points should be con- son, the WKKF Program Director for Latin America and the tained in the conference's final document: the Call to Action. Caribbean; The Context of Youth in Latin America: Interrogations, The Kellogg Foundation document reconfirms the premise of Searches and Perspectives, by Bernardo Kliksberg; Youth in Latin the work developed in Latin America and the Caribbean, America and the Caribbean: Social Dimensions, Subjectivities according to which youth should participate also as leaders in and Life Strategies, by Dina Krauskopf; The Youth of Today: (Re) the development process as a means of overcoming the inte- Inventions of Social Participation, by Regina Novaes and generational cycle of poverty. “Youth are important actors Christina Vidal; and Morphology and Scenarios of Youth Pub- when it comes to advancing the struggle against poverty. The lic Policies: An Interpretation of the Regional Profile and the Latin question is not how to transform youth – but rather how youth American Expectation, by Yuri Chillán. can contribute to transform society.” The five documents in their The content of these documents was presented by their entirety are available on the Kellogg Foundation website: authors during the panel held in the auditorium of the Latin Amer- www.wkkf-lac.org. Bernardo Kliksberg Dina Krauskopf The Context of Youth Youth in Latin America and in Latin America: Interrogations, the Caribbean: Social dimensions, Searches and Perspectives Subjectivities and Life Strategies A sociologist by profession, with a doctorate in economics and A member of the Ibero-American Youth Organization's business administration, Klinsberg is an adviser to the United Network of Specialists in Youth Policies and a professor Nation (UN), the Organization of American States (OEA), Unesco, emeritus from the University of Costa Rica, Dina Krauskopf Unicef and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), among raised the discussion on the construction of youth identity. others. In the text he prepared for the conference, he draws atten- “The juvenile stage has become a sufficiently lengthy chrono- tion to the role youth can play in the development of Latin America, logical period for acquiring a sense of oneself, and should while also warning about their escalating marginalization. “Youth rep- not be seen merely as a transition into adulthood,” she resent 40% of the region's population, they are the future, and they claimed. “Youth can incorporate unpredictability and inno- possess an enormous potential,” he said. “Nearly 25% of youth between vation, absorb the rhythm of the times, and cope with uncer- the age of 15 and 29 are in neither the job market nor the educa- tainty. For youngsters that grow up in exclusion, the prolon- tion system. They are excluded.” Kliksberg drew attention to what gation of life does not constitute an existential promise. (...) he calls the intergenerational trap: “Only one out of five children of “Societies need to rely on their youth, their capacity to learn, parents who have not completed their primary education will man- to flexibly recycle their skills and attitudes, their creative age to complete theirs. The other four won't. Youth reproduce the joy and their vital energy.” hardship of the parents. This weighs very heavily on their future.” Regina Novaes and Christina Vidal Yuri Chillán The Youth of Today: Morphology and Scenarios of Youth Public (Re) Inventions of Policies: An Interpretation of the Regional Profile Social Participation and the Latin American Expectation An anthropologist, professor from the Federal University of Rio A lawyer and the former secretary general of the Ibero-Amer- de Janeiro and the current deputy secretary of the Brazilian gov- ican Youth Organization, the Colombian Yuri Chillán decided to ernment's National Youth Department, Regina Novaes associates discuss the topic of public policies. According to him, youth became youth participation with the future of democracy and the develop- a significant topic on an international level in the 1980s and grad- ment of Latin America. “It is the youth that will define the continu- ually became incorporated into national agendas. “International ities or changes in society and its institutions,” she said. The organizations, cooperation agencies and various sectors started anthropologist notes that the topic that most appeals to youth to reserve the role of protagonist for the young population,” these days is social inclusion.