World Leaders Join the Humanitas360 Institute Launch in Mexico

“We have started to create a new Latin America.” The Humanitas360 Institute had its launch with an event prior to the Latin American edition of the World Economic Forum in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Humanitas360, headquarted in the United States, has as its mission to strengthen citizenship in order to forge a new social pact between individuals and their gorvernments in the Latin American continent.This initiative seeks to build a vibrant, active and more connected region for future generations through citizens that are engaged in improving the public institutions of their countries. Humanitas360 wants to create safer societies, more transparent governments that are able to develop public policies that are focused in citizens’ needs.

The event counted with the participation of 50 guests, among whom there were world leaders, professors, media professionals, activists and other specialists. Enrique Acevedo, anchor at Fusion and Univision, moderated the debate. The special speakers included Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Óscar Naranjo Trujillo, one of the leaders in the process of pacification in Colombia, professor Ricardo Hausmann, Director of the Center for International Development at the J.F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and technology and citizenship activists Eduardo Salcedo from Vortex and Jorge Soto from Citivox.

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Opening remarks by Patricia Villela Marino, President of the Humanitas360 Institute, at the launching of the organization on May 6th, 2015, in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

“Raising a New Latin America Citizen”

“Impropriety is everywhere: around us, amongst us in Latin America. Citizens have little HOPE for real change, disillusioned by ineffective policies, shortsighted and unaccountable politics, unresponsive institutions and weak governance. Citizens are at the core of democracies and citizenship is about democratic participation, which can channel legitimate frustration and grievances. We want to empower citizens to give them back full citizenship able to challenge and change our reality. We want to restore HOPE hearing and empowering the young generations, future leaders and future citizens. They carry the responsibility of changing the next generation.

Two institutions guide teenagers of our region on the path of adulthood: college and prison.

In my life path up to five years ago and more intensively for the past three years, when my friends and I started off the PL|PD (Latin American Platform on Drug Policy), I have seen teenagers to be more consistently driven to prison (situation of incarceration) than to college. Some of them ended locked up and some of them were given another chance based upon their skin color, social level and financial situation and background.

Eduardo, born and raised in a violent favela of São Paulo with a father who paid his debt to justice and society, had the strength and the courage to pursue his dream of being a journalist. Eduardo inspires HOPE in thousand of teenagers every day.

Judge Jayme Garcia created SEMEAR an innovative programme of restorative justice, supported by civil society and institutions together. Judge Jayme inspires HOPE in the criminal justice system and in society.

UPDATE is an initiative by young activists to trigger citizen’s participation to bring back political processes closer to individuals ensuring transparency and accountability of the institutions. They inspire HOPE amongst the youngest.

“Illegal” is the passionate, powerful, desperate fight of Brazilian mothers to turn medical marijuana, de facto illegal in Brazil, legal for the benefit of the most precious gift life gave them: a creature in need. Medical marijuana regulation has been loosened, Brazilian society accepted to talk openly about what was a taboo. Those mothers inspire HOPE in the power of citizens to change the law.

We have HOPE in them and we trust they will prevail. HOPE is important. However we don’t want only to inspire and spread HOPE. Through empowerment of our fellow Latin Americans, we want to create renewed Latin American citizens able to discuss the importance of today for generations of tomorrow by addressing the urgent problems our region is facing. We trust all the visionary judge Jaymes, all the dreamers like Eduardo, all the compassionate Tarsos and Raphaels, out there. We are connecting them and we need your support for that.

Do Latin-Americans want to be kept the victims of their times or do we want to be known as the protagonists of the well planned changes we must take forward?

For much too long experts and governments have tried wrongly to alleviate poverty with wealth. It has not truly worked. Look around!

Social and entrepreneurial inclusion of the poors must be dealt with justice, sound governance and citizenship empowerment.

By being here and by carrying on the call for citizenship empowerment with Humanitas360 we can collectively engage to address the question in a fashion that future generations will remember as the game changing years!

My friends, we have great institutions, well established foundations, innovative and disruptive initiatives that shall be known by each other and therefore connected and engaged to create synergies and noise, to foster hope and to promote knowledge to empower Latin Americans who are not in this room but who are our people and shall be our citizens, our responsibility!

Thank you.”