OAS launches Essay Contest to engage youth in Fifth Summit of the Americas

The Summits of the Americas Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) launched the “Summit of the Americas Essay Contest”, within the framework of the Fifth Summit of the Americas that will be held in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17-19, 2009. The initiative, organized in coordination with the National Secretariat for the Fifth Summit of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, will provide youth a space to consider major hemispheric concerns from the youth perspective.

The Essay Contest aims at encouraging undergraduate or graduate students of the OAS Member States to focus on the themes addressed in the Draft Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain presented by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago: Securing our Citizen's Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability, to be adopted at the Fifth Summit of the Americas.

The Essay Contest is part of extensive efforts on the part of the OAS to raise awareness of the Summits of the Americas Process among social actors and encourage their participation in the formulation of ideas and recommendations about the central topics of the Fifth Summit. Other OAS initiatives in this area include the online forums taking place in the Summits Virtual Platform, the series of regional and sub-regional forums with civil society, and the Young Americas Forum (www.ybiz.net), among others.

Essays are expected to analyze the principal areas engaged in the Summit theme: promoting human prosperity, environmental sustainability and energy security, and strengthening democratic governance and the Summits Process. The authors of up to the 7 best essays will be awarded the opportunity to participate as observers in the Summit and have their prize-winning essays published on the Summits website and distributed to OAS Member States during the Summit. To assess eligibility and for additional information on the Essay Contest, students should review carefully the “Terms and conditions” available at the Summits of the Americas Information Network. The deadline for submission of essays is December 15, 2008.

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