(Oranjestad)—On May 12th, the initiation of 22 young Arubans into the Youth Parliament of Aruba took place. President of the foundation, Dave Martinus, elaborated on this celebration and shared what this means for the organization.
With this initiation, Martinus remarked that the foundation will begin a new trajectory, where they will be working towards development. The Youth Parliament stands for the rights of children, but also for the development of youths on Aruba. Martinus states, “Today marks the initiation of our standpoint and it’s for that reason that this is a significant moment for us.”
He further explained that the Youth Parliament and of Parliament of Aruba is no directly related to each other, but the idea is to sufficiently help youths develop into their own person, so that when they decide to join the parliament, they are a fully development MP with the skills required.
In terms of skills, he gave the example of skills that are sometimes missing amongst people, skills such as respectful debating and showing sympathy for others’ opinion, among others. Mostly importantly, he states, is for the youth to develop into their own person, so that they could use their voice as confidently and clear as possible.
“At the end of the day, we wish that MPs could really pay attention to the voices of these young initiates; that is what we are working towards,” Martinus highlighted.
In order for these young initiates to form part of the Youth Parliament of Aruba, the president of the organizations explained they must first complete a few courses and projects.
In this case, they started with an extensive structure, in which the initiated will be going through different trajectories with the goal to be included in the youth parliament.
In terms of what comes after, Martinus explained that there many projects that they will be working on. One of these projects will focus on education, in which the initiates will have the opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas.
“We are very happy that the Aruban government has given them the opportunity to work on this project. It’s also great that we receiving much support from both the initiates’ parents as well as the parliament,” Martinus expressed.
Lastly, Martinus stated that this initiation is the first stepping stone for the youths to work on their future, work on their personal development to be a respectful, honorable person that could represent the people of Aruba.
Misha Raymond, MP from the Raiz party, was also present at this initiation ceremony. She indicated that for her, this is the first time she is experiencing something like this: “I’m deeply proud to see how many young people are initiated into the Youth Parliament. It’s very heartwarming to see the seats in the hall filled with youth inspired to have a career in politics and to put in the work needed to fill the seats of the parliament,” she expressed.
During the ceremony, the initiates presented different articles concerning the treatment of children. Raymond explained that during the course of a year and a half, the Parliament of Aruba have indeed mentioned these articles several times, and she is extremely proud to see that the Youth Parliament is taking on this issue, because “not only do we lack the implementations of many of the articles, but they are standing for the principles of the articles and what they mean, so that they could do their job.”
Henrick Tevreden, MP from the MEP fraction, was also present at the ceremony, and he expressed how impressed he was: “It’s an impressive moment, because you see these young locals showing up in hopes to be empowered, established and united, so that in the future they could also occupy the seats of parliament and serve in the highest and most important position in the island,” he stated.
In terms of the constitution of the organization on child treatment, the MP shared that the parliament itself has been attending this matter for many years now, and the rights of children have become an especially important focal point for the government of Aruba.
“The parliament is indeed doing their best; they have amended certain laws, have pressed on certain budgets and the social crisis plan has been implemented,” he added.
Lastly, he stated that the Youth Parliament is firmly fighting so that the focal points concerning the treatment of children are more widely known across the island in within the Dutch kingdom in general. As MP, he expressed that the parliament is surely supporting these initiates and they think that this is the focus that they must keep an eye on, so that the rights of children can resonate across Aruba and are respected within the community.
