México, D.F., a 22 de julio de 2013.
By Carlos Molina
London was the world’s stage of this year’s Y8+ summit: one of the most important world-wide gatherings of some of the most salient young talents, discussing some of the main global issues and social challenges of our time. The event took place at the astounding University of Greenwich; within this precinct, polemic discussions occurred and intense negotiations prevailed among the different international delegations. Nevertheless, respect, tolerance and concord were always at the core of the interactions at the summit. Difference was an opportunity for learning and complementarity, rather than an excuse for conflict.
Mexico had the opportunity to be a part of this great event. The mexican delegation gave its utmost effort to meet the demanding requirements of the discussions. The obligation, as members of the summit, was not only to acquire a comprehensive view of some of the most complex issues shared by nations on a global scale, but to innovate, to think differently and to address these topics with a different attitude. To do what the youth is supposed to do: think outside the box, with our sight set on the future.
The national delegation members came form all over the country, from different states such as Oaxaca, Puebla, el Estado de México, Chiapas and the Distrito Federal, among other federal entities. The amount of universities represented within the delgation was a matter of equal importance and diversity: students from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), the Colegio de México (Colmex), our Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM), the Universidad Libre de Derecho of Puebla, and the Universidad Panamericana, among other prestigious academic institutions, were part of the final draft for the summit.
René Dominguez participated as Minister of Defense, Ramón de la Torre as Minister of Justice, Raúl Manzano as Minister of Energy and Sustainable Development, Rosalina Arteaga as Minister of Foreign Affaires, Carlos Andrés Molina as Minister of International Development, Carlos Matienzo was the Sherpa of the mexican delegation; Gilberto Vargas, Carlos Ruiz and Eurípides Flores were the mexican delgates of press and Alejandro González partcipated as the mexican Chief of State on the summit.
Diálogos was the civil association that brought them all together and facilitated the participation of Mexico on this event. Besides, Diálogos is an organization member of IDEA: an international body of civil associations that organize the Y-8 and Y-20 summits around the globe. This web of organizations gather some of the best and brightest young leaders internationally and Diálogos, as a memeber of this project, carried out the selecting process of delegates for both summits in Mexico, along with other public instituions, and dealt with the financial and organizational issues regarding their participation at Saint Petersburg and London, for the Y-20 and Y-8 summits respectively.
The final comuniqué of the summit is available for all of those who are interested on the youth’s perspective on some of the most important world-wide issues. You can download it or read it online on this website: http://www.youthdiplomaticservice.com/2013-final-communique.html. We kindly invite you to read the comuniqué, it will be worth your while.