
little bit about the subject we’ve been
covering what is how each individual
from where he is with what he has and with
what he knows can transform lives and
communities to make a better world and
a better country that is panama for
start a little in it
in the framework of the talk we are going to
understand the challenges a little
environmental social issues that we
we face in our country that much
you know for maybe some
we do not know that two out of every 10 Panamanians
that is 20 percent of the population
lives in poverty in our
country even though panama has had
stellar economic growth in the
last decade for both america
Latin as for the world there are still
certain people who are
excluded from the development process
next please and especially the
people who are excluded from
this process of development are the
people who live in rural areas
indigenous people while at 2 percent
represents the whole country when
we disaggregate by geographic area we
we realize that poverty is much
deeper in those areas
specifically in the regions
indigenous peoples as well as in
provinces that are near these
comarcas as they would give and mouths of the bull
the proportion of people living with
less than one dollar a day
in the rural area in panama can
amount to more than 60 percent and in
the indigenous areas to more than 90 by
hundred
in that sense poverty affects
disproportionately to children
under five who are
just the enormous potential that it has
our country if we invest
strongly in early childhood
because science has shown that what
that we invest in those first five
years when the human brain is more
moldable and have greater capacity
learning are skills that are
they install and they thrive for the rest
of the life
however in panama half of the
Children under five are poor
and in the case of malnutrition that is
a conditioning factor to be able
learn later in life and that
builds on all those capabilities that
people need to grow and
reach its maximum potential continues
being very tall
19 percent of children under
five years in panama suffer from
chronic malnutrition is to say that
they are short for their age and in the
indigenous area that proportion can
go up to 68 percent
another of the important challenges that
face our country
on capital accumulation
human is education and then I do not know
are left there will talk much more about
that but only to illustrate some
of those challenges
although very important programs
investments that is being panama
as the universal scholarship and others and others
investments still six out of ten
students between 15 and 17 are the
who are in school is to say that 40
percent of young people between 15 and 17
years in panama is not in school
they are not in a school like this as
the one you are studying is
doing other things are working or
they are simply what we call neither
study or work
in that sense in that sense another of
the important challenges that
we face is that 70 percent of
professional human resources in
panama are concentrated in just one
province and in the province of panama
that is, people who have some
university degree is licensed
in some profession engineers
architects lawyers who can contribute
to the development of the country in a way
much more substantive are found
concentrated in one place the
next province that has higher
concentration of professionals
chiriquí where is the 10 percent
even to the gap between the first and
the second province is huge and up
very high concentration makes many
of panama’s talent those minds
creative those people who are capable of
make the change
they are where they are right
obviously the economic poles and little
of that capacity permeates the areas
where there is just more poverty and
marginality in the country a little bit the in
that sense what we’ve been
experimenting in panama has been a
huge economic development not
necessarily a development that
frames in a paradigm of development
sustainable is the first paradigm that
we have to change in panama and not
is new brand ac in spoke of he is the
paradigm of human development and that
now it has become more complex and many
countries of the world have subscribed
through what is called the objectives
of sustainable development
right now in September of 2015
our president together with heads of
state from around the world subscribed a
agreement of united nations
choose a development agenda towards
year 2030 in the development agenda that
you the young people who are here
they will live and they will help to build and
those people recognize that growth
economic is important how it speaks to us
goal number 8
as you will not know target number 8
because without economic growth there
there may be employment there can not be
entrepreneurs can not have the
conditions to get out of poverty
but that economic growth has
that come accompanied by a production
and responsible consumption to be sustainable
with our environment and also of
solidify those bases that will create
human capital education and
health about everything the most important and
that’s where we come then a little
to today’s talk
in that framework with those challenges those
Challenges so complex and so difficult
that seem to escape our capabilities
and they are of competence of the states that
they meet to sign big agreements
what I come to say is a change
a second paradigm that states do not
they will be able to do everything without money
in the world to be able to fulfill all the
sustainable development agenda that we
we have raised and that not only the
state but also the private company
and individuals have a role that
fulfill in the construction of that
sustainable development agenda and there
This is where the volunteers come in power
volunteers of power as you
he said at the beginning to transform lives and
communities through action
individual
obviously accompanied by policies
public that are pointing towards those
objectives in the world of volunteering
a huge movement 140 million
people in the world practice the
volunteering
if we add them all together in one
country would be the ninth largest country
of the world and if we could quantify
the dollar value of the hours that
contribute the volunteers would be the eighth
the world’s largest economy
it’s not an economy that transacts money is
an economy that transfers solidarity that
Trace accompaniment that where not
there is a coin like money saying but
there is a coin
very valuable that is the time and the
talent of all those volunteers in
our country also volunteering
has been around for decades is nothing
new
you know the great work that
they perform the clubs and nicola
Social Organizations
we try to measure then
how many people in panama practiced
in volunteering to understand which
is the dimension of this action
individual and we found that in two of
every 10 Panamanians in urban areas
that was the area that we could cover in
the survey claimed to have
practiced volunteering and if
we put together the hours that they
they had donated they had given more than three
millions of hours of volunteer work
in the last year
if you see it is a very strong force
important and if any of you I know
that several who are here that the
I know they work in organizations without
profit
you know that the volunteers are
a fundamental piece in the work that
they perform the NGOs
in fact in that same survey of
volunteering we asked the
volunteers as they channeled their action
In other words, they did it in a
individual organizing committees or clubs
in your neighborhood committee hop oo things in your
school and we found that 93 by
hundred of the people that were
Volunteers in Panama channel their
solidarity action through NGOs
through those house hope through
FANLYC through our home
through all the organizations
social issues that exist in the country
then through that action
individual volunteers are
helping in multiple causes
related to the protection of
animals the protection of the environment
environment the fight against hunger is
say the individual action is
having a huge impact on what
we can achieve to transform our
country
in that sense then it does not suit us
as a country as a society as it is hanging
at the institutional level promote the
volunteer and promote a culture of
solidarity and action on the part of
each one of the people because
volunteering obstructs capabilities the
organizations depend so much on the
volunteers without them could not
work the volunteers inject
dynamism energy
new ideas great new capacity
ways to see and do things and help
in that sense the organizations
to do more with fewer resources
and doing more quality will come more
community and expand its range of action
the volunteers also allow
build social capital
that capital that is not a capital
financial is not a capital of money nor
physical and it’s not the networks that we have
as a society
the social capital is the capacity that
we have to trust each other
when people practice
volunteering I am sure that many of
you do interact with
people who might never have
interacted we watched the talk of the
balboa academy mates when
they coming from a sector of the city
they move to another sector of the city
with a social economic reality
totally different from the one she lives
and in turn children interact with
they
this exchange is social capital that
exchange that trust that is
builds between people is to form
social capital and that’s what the
volunteering also encourages
citizen participation every five
years those who are older than 18 who are
the minority that do not vote we
we mobilized the women to the polls to do
our true vote to vote for a
change for hope but the
democracy is much more than participating
and vote every five years
democracy is done every day
participating being an actor in trying to
build the reality that we
we want to see not only waiting for
another does it but by getting involved in the
solution of all those challenges that
has panama and finally the
volunteering helps build a new
generation of committed leaders
with transforming the country and the world and what
we have seen today with the incredible
youth leaders who have preceded me
that they are people that through the
values that have learned the things that
They are doing their volunteering has
allowed to learn not only
When you are volunteering, you
you give you get a lot of
things
receive as said the love partner
receives satisfaction on the way
strengthens its leadership capacity has
than working as a team you have to
communicate you have to be assertive
have to do a lot of things that
is what the market today talks about as
soft skills those skills
zubsky two that the labor market wants
have all the young people who do not know
can buy in a university or a
diploma but they are skills that a
Through experiences as
volunteering
one can cultivate and really today in
day more than I think in no
moment in the world and just when
I got involved with volunteering and a
school very similar to this one in chile
I was 16 years old when I started
practice volunteering and there was very
few resources for people who
we wanted to help
one had to go knocking on doors one
by one
looking for who could
accept trying to invent something that
take to see if I could help was
extremely difficult rejects times
reciendo rejected in many places
because people the ngos either
They knew how to interact with volunteers
but at that time when I lived in
chile there was a foundation that
called will and they had a call
center and it ‘s the call center was a
booklet because at that time there was no
internet in a physical booklet that
it came in the directory directory
phone that is no longer seen
and then one in that guide found
the different organizations that
existed then you called her and
made an appointment and that he rode on his
metro in your car was going to places one
for one until I found a good
match where you could make your contribution
and where you can participate today in
already there are many tools
so that people get involved and
from a phone and a printed guide
now the internet has facilitated the
technology has made help
come back a very simple very simple thing
and that just a click away
you have the opportunity to change
in that sense inspired by the for the
experience that I had before
knowing the transforming power of
volunteering and wanting in my country the
people can also live that
experience is the world uses and the background
united is a case for good messina
create volunteer foundations the panama
and create a virtual center of
Volunteering breaks out at some point
com
we started with approximately 20 ongs
who believed in the project today are more
of 150 civic social organizations
environmental issues that belong to the network
many things have happened in the sense of
power or a sector of the social sector that
it is always scattered and what does
border something for those who do not know in
a website an online platform
that allows a thousand causes with people who
they want to give what they do not have what they need
with people who want to help
allows people to search the
topic they are interested in or passionate about
protection of the environment in
fight against poverty and protection
of animals that allows you to filter by
topics that can be filtered by areas
geographical I am and I want to do something
where can you find a place that
also allows you to search directly by
the organization that interests you
help and basically what it does is be
a bridge that facilitates people to
get involved in solidarity action in
three years that we have already served our sentence
something has achieved as I told them to mobilize
150 organizations that are part of
the platform has received thousands of
visits
we have expanded our tool to
encompass many more people in
terms of volunteers from
volunteer training opportunities
have spread more than
and without volunteer opportunities
training in many organizations
volunteer at some point have
built houses for roof have created
web pages for some organizations
have been the photographer for
calendars of organizations have done
advertising campaigns that is to say we have
achieved that people find
with their abilities they can support
all these organizations to justly
what we talked about earlier expand your
ability to expand your mission
they have also spread more than two
thousand events and news from the entire sector
social and has contributed to what
we call an ecosystem of
volunteer in panama
as I said before volunteering
it ‘s nothing new
That is something that has always existed
ability to mobilize
people has always existed that we did
enter a market understand that there was
a need to connect those who
they want to help with those who need it
and create tools so that
people would take that step and in that
meaning we have also achieved
contribute to not only generate
tools but also contribute to
form that with system with policies
publics promoting voluntary law
regulation institutions like the
national volunteer council creating
networks with other associations and pulling
lots of people to build a
true solidarity movement for
Panama
so I do not have more than
congratulate them for this initiative the
young people to reiterate the importance of
that if you want to see that world that
you dream that it is better that it be
more sustainable looking for a development
where we can all be included
can be put on something as of today
with just one click
you are already entering a world
where they can have a big impact
many thanks
”
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