Star

We have heard or said the word nini, neither studying nor working, when we want to refer to young people who face obstacles in accessing a quality education and employment or work in decent conditions.

This term identifies us as young people who are not capable of acting for our future and places us as passive beings, who only see life go by when there are really many obstacles that are difficult to face and also to eradicate, which are really what make it almost impossible to change our destinies despite all the efforts that are made day after day.

So, we really build from language and today we are here to make a call and to really express the need to be able to eliminate the labels that generate segregation, exclusion, discrimination and, above all, also because we are, we have been, and there are young people who are an opportunity.

So, we will say that we build that it is essential to start changing the way we refer to ourselves because we do not really know the conditions in which these barriers are actually experienced.

Pearl Lily

Hello, I want to tell you that the term youth opportunity means our life story. 

My name is Perla Azucena, I am 26 years old, I have a hearing impaired person. Since I was young I have faced many barriers to access quality education and to continue fighting for equal opportunities for people with disabilities. For this reason, we express the need to support people with disabilities who are young opportunities. It is essential that projects are also carried out with us in mind. 

Let us remember that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in Article 27, recognises the right of persons with disabilities to work under equal conditions. Unfortunately, the reality of this situation is very different.

All we need is for society to understand that we can be hard workers, since our intelligence, determination and passion are intact.

My story is just one of millions and so we call for the recognition of the potential of young people and their opportunities.

We are willing to change the world in our range of being part of the development of our community.

Star

And because of this, we want decent opportunities for education and employment. We want and are creating spaces for dialogue and collaboration and, above all, we want to be able to make entrepreneurship a life of decent work.

We know that there are barriers and obstacles, but there are also many hands and hearts working hard every day to make them smaller and make them disappear.

What we are really saying is that we can raise our voices, we can raise our hands, ask for help, fight for our rights and, above all, create extraordinary changes for young people.

Pearl Lily

Young people are not the future, we are the present, and we are present, building and changing our reality, as necessary and as many times as necessary together. We are resilient, we are capable, we are young people with opportunities.

Thank you.