Book
In one of their most recent projects, UnidosMX developed a citizen handbook in collaboration with other NGOs like “Ciudadanos por la Transparencia”. The aim of the book is to give the youth an easy tool to know how to report issues in their communities, make use of public institutions, and know how to contribute their voice and ideas to public policies. The handbook was disseminated in two local schools, where young students participated in artistic workshops dedicated to public space rehabilitation.
The Riviera Maya has been a hostile place for the local youth since its birth as a destination icon of Mexico and Latin America.
The youth population in this area is usually ignored until its presence makes powerful people uncomfortable, or when they put their personal interests in jeopardy.
On November 9th, 2020, more than one thousand young people, mostly women, went to the streets to protest against the lack of public safety and policy that led to the femicide of Alexis (Alejandrina Lorezana). The government’s response to these acts was violent, they started shooting the protesters and they unreasonably detained, injured, and raped women.
All these situations contribute to a space in which common youth citizens do not get involved in public issues, which has been very favorable to local governments. It is easier to act improperly when at least 40% of the population is not watching. A clear example is that the budget to develop programs to empower and aid the youth only represents .04% of the total Quintana Roo’s budget.
Despite all of this, a minority of youth understand the importance of awakening more youth as community changemakers through action. A survey led by Unidos MX showed that 88% of the youth in the Riviera Maya would be interested in participating actively in their community. To achieve all this, we developed a citizen handbook by the hand of other NGOs like “Ciudadanos por la Transparencia”, in order to give the youth an easy tool to know how to report issues seen in their communities, make use of the public institutions made for them, and also to know how to contribute with their voice and ideas to the work that public institutions do.
After this, the citizen handbook was taken to two public schools, one in the Northern Zone of the Riviera Maya (Cancún) and one in the Southern Zone of the Riviera Maya (Mahahual), through a youth citizen empowerment workshop and the most important, taking action, youth of the two extremes of the Riviera Maya intervened their schools with color and art, reflecting and raising their voices for what they dream for their future.
In one of their most recent projects, UnidosMX developed a citizen handbook in collaboration with other NGOs like “Ciudadanos por la Transparencia”. The aim of the book is to give the youth an easy tool to know how to report issues in their communities, make use of public institutions, and know how to contribute their voice and ideas to public policies. The handbook was disseminated in two local schools, where young students participated in artistic workshops dedicated to public space rehabilitation.
This book was produced with the support of the Global Support for Democracy Unit of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union. It is part of the dossier "Youth & democracy in Latin America. Young voices on the rise".