It is said that the youth are the future of the country; however, they have few spaces to make their voices heard. According to the National Youth Secretariat (Senaju), Peruvian citizens between 15 and 29 years of age represent one-fourth of the population, but they are not adequately represented. For example, our Bicentennial Congress has only five Congress members under the age of 30. Some people even exclaim, “What do young people possibly know? But how can we build a future without including the new generations, and are we listening to them?
On the occasion of International Youth Day, we talked to four young people from Redpública’s Youth Program, a space promoted by UNDP and AECID to boost citizen participation in Peru, especially for the more than 8 million young people, based on a perspective focused on diversity. Therefore, this program has been launched with young people who lead different citizen participation initiatives in seven regions of Peru with diverse backgrounds, interests, and ideas, but with a common goal: to achieve the Peru we want.
Xiomara
Xiomara Villalobos Quispe is the youngest in the program. Only 20 years old, this Political Science student at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos is part of the Círculo de Estudios e Investigación de Políticas Públicas — CEIPOL (Circle for Public Policy Studies and Research), a youth organization at her university that is now part of the Youth Participation District Council of Lima Cercado. “ I believe that one of the pillars of democracy is citizen participation. That is why I have always been interested in being involved and generating opportunities for others,” she says. She has been interested in politics since her childhood, since her maternal grandfather, who was always very informed and read her books from his library and the political news despite not being able to finish his studies.
Xiomara is currently making a documentary via Redpública to highlight the women’s movements at her university in collaboration with the Proyecto Bicentenaria (Bicentennial Project). She considers the program to be a space where she can interact with young people from different regions. “It allows me to get to know other realities while not centralizing the viewpoints. Besides, our sessions are horizontal and collaborative; young people are not seen as people having any voice.
Even though Peru is below the average for citizen participation in Latin America, Xiomara devotes several hours to this mission. “I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time; I feel that when I share what I am passionate about as a citizen, I am adding value to society,” she states. “ Also, at the same time, I am learning; it’ s a win-win situation.”
On the 200th anniversary of Peru becoming an independent republic, Xiomara believes that one of our priorities must be to reduce inequalities, such as those experienced by young people who are unable to study because they must work; those suffered by women because of gender discrimination; or those exercised by the State itself when services do not have an intercultural outlook to benefit indigenous populations. “I hope that in this bicentennial, we can look at each other, realizing that we have the same rights and that the State promotes the closing of these gaps so that all people can fully develop.”
Gabriel
Gabriel Choque is a 27-year-old from Puno, located in the southern Andean region of Peru. When he joined the military service in the Santa Rosa Barracks, his vision of the country changed: “There I had contact with people who talked about the reality of the country, that was my first spark,” he says. After finishing this service, and thanks to a public scholarship, he entered university to study the International Relations program.
“I am aware that these scholarships come from people’s contributions. Therefore, I want to retribute it to society, and that is why Kalinka Peru was born”, he says enthusiastically about this initiative he created with his colleagues after asking himself: “What contribution have we made to society? Now, he offers young people tools to enhance their job opportunities while facing the pandemic, and they have coordinated actions in alliance with municipalities and ministries.
According to Gabriel, the purpose of citizen participation is to add value to people’s lives, but it must go alongside diversity. Indeed, this is precisely what stands out in the Youth Program. “There is a diversity of young people, ideas, and narratives, and it also has the Sustainable Development Goals incorporated. For this reason, I decided to be a “redpublican”, and I was not wrong; we are already doing joint projects; for example, we coordinated actions with a partner from Iquitos for the Recycling Day”.
For Gabriel, Peru is above political posturing. “Young people and organizations, as well as entrepreneurs, are the ones who move the country. We have a privileged geographical position close to the ocean. We are copper producers. We possess great diversity; we must be confident, standing strong, and moving forward with our projects. Thus, I wish a Peru that generates job opportunities, where the response of the State to entrepreneurs is quick”.
Thinking about how he started his projects, Gabriel remembers his former co-worker. “He used to tell me: if you study, you will progress, so I started to read more. My father also always brought books to the house, and that’s how I started to learn more about the world; they opened my mind and gave me ideas for a better country”.
Fernanda
Fernanda Soria is 27 years old; she is from Arequipa, a region in the country’s south. Although she studied law and psychology, the subject she is passionate about is addressed in Yo Podría Ser Ella — YPSE (She could be me). This initiative, which she started with her psychology classmates two years ago, tackles gender violence, especially against girls and adolescents, using listening spaces in alliance with schools. Today they count on a network of volunteers who help to expand the impact of their work.
Connecting with other people’s problems can be something that encourages our civic participation. This was Fernanda’s case. “ I was an intern at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, there I read about a case of sexual violence against a girl, and I broke down. Then I became interested in a career in psychology. Today I am more empathetic, and I don’t feel satisfied if I don’t do something for my community, it completes my existence”.
YPSE began by addressing street sexual harassment with the participation of students from a school in Barrios Altos, Lima. “We realized that we have all been through this terrible experience, and in talking to the girls at the school, we found very harsh cases, even from family members and teachers who blamed them.” “We can’t take them out of that environment, but we can offer them tools to cope with these situations,” she says with some hope.
Thanks to this good practice, YPSE won support from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú to continue its operations. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, the project has been reduced to schools with technological possibilities and depends on the maintenance of its platform, but above all on its network of volunteers.
Fernanda and her colleagues consider citizen participation to be more than just a vehicle for making demands. “As citizens, we have rights, but also duties. If your country is like your home, why not contribute? If there is something we can do to reduce violence, even if it’s just talking, I think we can make a big step forward”. However, citizen participation is not something a single person can do alone. “ Luckily, I found people who felt the same way as I did.”
For Fernanda, Peru still lacks a lot of support in training, financing, and alliances to promote citizen participation. “In Redpública, I have found people who share my vision, who are willing to give their time and energy, and organizations that work on the same issues in other regions. I am very proud to be part of its driving group because it has also enriched me in terms of training, and I hope to become a better leader”.
Jhonn
Jhonn Keler Diaz Coronado, 26 years old, lives in the Amazonian city of Iquitos and identifies himself as indigenous because of his ancestors from the Kokama Kokamilla tribe. He is an ecologist engineer and a grantee of the State’s Permanent Scholarship and was a member of the Youth Parliament in 2019. He founded Espíritu Verde Amazónico — EVA (Amazon Green Spirit) four years ago, bringing together young people to promote the conservation of Amazonian resources and create a sustainable Amazon.
Jhonn considers that schools are also spaces for participation. “Something that marked my life was when I ran for student council and lost, yet this allowed me to relate to various people and institutions. I was part of a group of school environmental monitors and hence my interest in this topic”.
Jhonn states that the youth often identify the problems but do not go beyond that. Therefore, EVA is a call to action, working in dialogue with rural and urban areas to generate the change we want, in his case from activism and socio-environmental education, rescuing the knowledge of the Amazonian flora and fauna.
Redpública has allowed Jhonn to link up with organizations from different regions and carry out academic activities together. “Recently, we organized a virtual forum with the participation of allies from Argentina and Guatemala; that is, we have been able to generate synergies to learn about other realities and reproduce them.”
Currently, EVA is developing virtual activities and will implement a library in a community in Loreto. “ Most of our work was focused on our relationship with communities, and the pandemic has impacted this,” regrets Jhonn.
“When I was a child, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered that I wanted to be president, but now that seems more and more distant because of the way processes are built from politics, because of corruption.” “I hope we can have a bicentennial Peru with a different politics, in which we are vigilant and make an impact, but above all, we must begin to communicate more with the environment, seeking inner peace, developing ourselves without affecting the resources we have.”
Stories written by Sonia Perez Unzueta / PNUD Peru
