About 300 young people from 11 departments and 19 municipalities of the country have participated in an innovative School of Thought that seeks to teach them in a totally different way the importance of politics and citizen participation.
Such has been the success of this project led by the NGO Primero País, that 65 young people decided to apply to the Youth Councils of their territories without any traditional political party to back them up and with the aim of making known what they had learned in the School of Thought.
“From school we are developing 3 modules that start from the basics, contextualizing young people about what politics is, tools, rights and duties to generate spaces for citizen participation without the need for them to belong to a political color. It is extremely necessary that men and women rise up to participate in the decisions of their country, ”said Nelson Aparicio, coordinator of Primero País in Bogotá.
The proposals of these candidates are based on 3 central axes: The individual, the community and the environment. The first of them is consolidated with the idea that to change the world must start with the subject itselfFor this reason, the creation of youth welfare committees will be sought where there are spaces to deal with issues that directly affect this population such as mental health, drug addiction, family stability, work projection, among others.
From there, it will start with the second axis that understands the transformation of the individual as a change for the community, so the creation of a job bank through social networks that can link to the MSMEs of each locality with young people strengthening their first work experiences and the opportunity for entrepreneurship, it will be the main bet. Adding to this, an artistic training program that seeks to generate hope and new alternatives for young people who are socio-politically in high conflict contexts.
Finally the ecological committees will be the main proposal for the environmental axisIt is expected that from each locality and territory the inhabitants will be made aware of the care and environmental protection, working together with the colleges and community action boards.
“No matter how many seats we win in this first election, we know that this is the time to bet on the youth and carry out all these proposals together with the community. We want our voice to be audible and clear so that the proposals come to mind but are also capable of impacting the heart and improving the quality of life in our cities ”, added the coordinator.