The Youth Secretary, along with the Youth Parliament, took some work to get going, but now we are well on our way to becoming a stable entity. The first step was planning a forum where more than 100 local youth participated in needs assessments and democratically elected three candidates for the Youth Secretary position. Then I had to nag the mayor to choose between the three candidates. Finally on September 1st, only three and a half months after the forum and one year after I initially heard about the project, a resolution naming the Youth Secretary was signed. The resolution also established the Youth Department at the Municipality and the Youth Parliament.
Since the establishment of the department we have planned several events. The first was a celebration for annual Youth Day on September 21st. Together with the Associacion de Rock Ovetense we planned a rock concert that was held in front of the Town Hall.
The Set-up
The Concert
Eco Ajos, an environmental youth group
Parliament members working hard
Next we planned a debate for the candidates for mayor, held on October 20th. Three of the five candidates were present. There were over 200 people in the audience.
Martin Giret, the democratically elected Youth Secretary
The Youth Parliament and Candidates
Signing a Promise Letter to continue with the Democratic Election of the Youth Secretary
Debating
We are currently planning events to support World AIDS Day on December 1st.
You can join our group and see more pictures on Facebook by searching for Secretaria de la Juventud, Coronel Oviedo.
