The five members of the jury for the Mbarete National Youth Award 2022 chose the five people who will travel to Manchester, England, from September 5 to 8, to represent Paraguay at the One Young Word world summit.
In this first edition there were four designated categories: Innovation, Care for the Environment, Empowerment of Women, and Social Volunteering; while the Entrepreneurship category was left empty. Likewise, there was a special mention, in case some of those selected cannot represent the country at the world summit.
The young people and projects chosen by the jury are: Patricio Muñoz in Innovation, with Automated Irrigation; in Environmental Care: Ninive Méndez, Composting Center; and Alberto Núñez, Guerrilla Verde. In Women’s Empowerment: Liliana Estigarribia, Girls Code. In Social Volunteering: Alejandra Benegas, Genifer Servín, Yára Theater; and as special mention Nelly Peralta, Teaching to Write Journalistically.
The award, organized by the National Youth Secretariat, the Office of the First Lady, and the international youth organization, One Young Word, seeks to recognize young Paraguayan talents, aged 18 to 29, whose prize is a free trip to Manchester .
The event was attended by the Minister for Women, Celina Lezcano Flores, as hostess; and the prominent jurors: Ramin Navai, British ambassador to Paraguay; Adriana Ortiz, Executive Director of the Itaú Foundation; the wife of the Chinese Taiwan ambassador in Paraguay, Melva A. De Gracia-Han; the coordinator of Governance Projects of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Víctor Vidal; and Camilo Guanes, president of the Federation of Creative Industries of Paraguay.
the grand finale
The opening of the selection act included the words of the Minister of the National Youth Secretariat, Edgar Colmán, who highlighted the level of the projects, that of 170 that were presented, 17 were shortlisted, demonstrating the talent, creativity and work youth.
“I am surprised by all the presentations, for me they are all winners, but only five will represent us in Manchester, England. We were seeing, talking and talking about many of the programs that they are carrying out, we want to amplify, we want to spread, and give them the opportunity to be replicated throughout the country, ”he emphasized.
During the grand finale, the members of the jury highlighted the ability of young Paraguayans to promote impact initiatives in the community.
Ambassador Navai said that since his arrival in our country, what has struck him the most is the capacity of young Paraguayans, and what he likes most about his diplomatic work is connecting with them; highlighting the level of the projects presented, which leave him with a lot of optimism, despite the latest events in the national life.
“Today they have left me very optimistic about the future of the country and that is the most important thing. Today I leave with a positive emotion thanks to you and on behalf of the Embassy we will continue to support you and I hope it will be more. But apparently today. All of you have won and the future of the country is in your hands, thank you very much for all the presentations”, she expressed.
