National Delegations Comprised of College Students Represent their Countries at the Y20 Youth Summit in Puebla

National Delegations Comprised of College Students Represent their Countries at the Y20 Youth Summit in Puebla

Puebla, Mexico, May 9, 2012 -- Mexican authorities launched the G20 Youth Summit (also known as the Y20 Summit), which looks to analyze the challenges that young people around the world will face and define solutions to these issues from a global perspective. 

Chancellor Patricia Espinosa Cantellano kicked off the forum at the William O. Jenkins Convention Center in Puebla and insisted that the participants focus on formulating proposals that address issues that will be discussed the G20 Summit.  

She expressed her enthusiasm for the meeting, as it unites a vast multicultural mosaic of young people. 

“The G20 is much more than an important global forum for addressing economic issues, it is also a process in the evolution of addressing social issues”, said the chancellor.

She highlighted that half of Mexico’s population – more than 50 million people – are under the age of 26, which reflects a young country that will have to face poverty, inequality, and lack of decent job opportunities. 

At a global level, she said, an important percentage of the three million young people inhabiting the planet remain unemployed, which is why it is urgent to identify mechanisms, such as public policies, that permit their inclusion into the labor market. 

On his end, Erick Clavel Benítez, president of the Planning Organization and a member of the Mexican Y20 Committee, emphasized that the national delegation will plan out realistic and concrete proposals for including all social sectors into an equitable growth dynamic. 

Miguel Ángel Carreón, general director of the Mexican Youth Institute, stated that the global youth unemployment rate is over 12 percent, which is why their findings should not only foment the participation of the youth sector but also all social spheres to prevent the unemployment phenomenon. 

On his end, poblano leader Rafael Moreno Valle emphasized the relevance of the forum, attributable to the discussion of issues such as youth employment, food security, and environmental policies, among others. 

Throughout the Y20, each participating country has a delegation of seven college students and each group will work on developing a document addressing an economic and labor issue in the youth sector, which they will later present to their own government.