New Young Andean Parliamentarians and representatives of the Andean Parliament declared their commitment to Colombia

More than 20 students from the educational institution Tomás Carrasquilla of Bogota officially took office as new members of the Andean Parliament, with the objective of being a part of the organization that seeks to promote leadership and the political participation of youths, in the framework of a culture of peace in the Andean countries. 

The event, supported by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, included the participation of Mauricio Gómez Amín, Andean Parliamentarian representing Colombia, a graduate form CAF's Governance, Political Management and Public Policies Program in the 2013 edition, who highlighted that Andean Parliamentarians firmly believe that youths can contribute to make Colombia an increasingly better country. He stated, "The role that you will play is one that generates great expectations but, at the same time, forces you to work with discipline to achieve the objectives". 

Eduardo Chiliquinga Mazón, General Secretary of the Andean Parliament, focused on the responsibility that each new Parliamentary has, and thanked Mauricio Gómez Amín for the support to the event, and Christian Asinelli, CAF's Director of Institutional Development, for promoting a dialogue with the new parliamentarians, opening the possibility that young leaders, politicians, and officials from the National Government may start training in the programs organized by the multilateral bank.  

Parliamentarian Gomez, together with Christian Asinelli, gave every student a diploma and an identification card that identifies him/her as a new young parliamentarian. Asinelli also stated the importance of the meeting due to the representation of students as new Young Parliamentarians.  

After the ceremony, Christian Asinelli presented the master conference "Liderazgo en América Latina" (Leadership in Latin America), where he stated CAF's commitment to youth participation, as it supports the improvement of institutional efficiency in each Nation. "Generating spaces for discussion and proposals, and knowing what is going on in the country is essential to improve the quality of public policies. We try to search for political and local leaderships and bring them together at times when they are catalysts for future debates". 

This support for young Andean Parliamentarians is aligned with the objective of CAF's Direction of Institutional Development, by strengthening the participation of youths in the regional public policy scenarios to impact on the development of the country.