Daniel Valbuena

Two weeks ago, Peruvians - with the exception of some heroes - were called to stay at home to prevent COVID-19 from spreading and reaching the most vulnerable populations. However, confinement does not imply standing idly by. This is well understood by many young people, who are willing to offer their unconditional help during these times which have already made their mark on the history books.

“We always referred to inclusive volunteerism, where there are no restrictions, for example, of age. The selected volunteers are at least 16 years old, but above that age there is no limit. Diversity is one of the fundamental pillars of the volunteers engaged with the Games. Around 61 percent of the trained volunteers were women, and their participation was critical for the success of the events,” said Angela Morales, the head of the Volunteer Office in Lima. 

“We always referred to inclusive volunteerism, where there are no restrictions, for example, of age. The selected volunteers are at least 16 years old, but above that age there is no limit. Diversity is one of the fundamental pillars of the volunteers engaged with the Games. Around 61 percent of the trained volunteers were women, and their participation was critical for the success of the events,” said Angela Morales, the head of the Volunteer Office in Lima. 

The Pan American Games are considered the third largest sporting event in the world, behind only the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. This will be the first time in history that Peru will host the competition, with close to 10,000 athletes from 41 national sports teams across the American continent competing in 39 sports and 62 disciplines. The competitions will take place from 26 July to 11 August 2019 (Pan American Games) and from 23 August to 1 September 2019 (Parapan American Games) in various venues: Lima (Metropolitan and province), Callao and Ica.

According to the National Employment and Income Survey (ENEI), in Guatemala, 58.6 per cent of women live in poverty and 22.8 per cent in extreme poverty. Poverty is greater in the rural population, particularly in the Maya, Xinca and Garífuna peoples, communities that live under a constant condition of injustice and deprivation of their basic rights, affecting their women, girls and adolescents with greater ferocity.

Volunteerism enables youth engagement, leadership and participation Within Latin America and the Caribbean, young people between the ages of 15 and 24 account for 20 per cent of the population. This is the largest percentage of youth in this region, ever.  The statistics are dire: 35 million of these young people never attended school, 39 per cent live in poverty and 25 per cent are unemployed.

Lima, Peru: I first became interested in HIV issues a number of years ago when I learned that close friends had acquired the virus. At that time, I was in Peru working on rights, citizen participation and health issues. Soon after, I left for the Netherlands to study. My Master’s dissertation, which focused on citizen participation of people living with HIV, brought all of these issues together.