More than 100 adolescents from Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela will participate in this digital initiative in the context of COVID-19.

With the aim of providing tools and strengthening the digital communication and activism capabilities for adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean, Save the Children and Chicos.net launched the virtual course "Activism for your rights" with the support of Discovery and Ormusa.

This initiative seeks to strengthen the communication skills of adolescents in organizations that are part of Save the Children's Civil Society Support Program for Latin America and the Caribbean (PASC) and to promote their right to freedom of expression, access to information and participation.

This new edition will aim for the collaborative development of a regional digital campaign focused on the right to Comprehensive Sex Education, a topic of interest for adolescents.

“The challenges of schooling or social isolation as a result of COVID-19 have led us to look for creative and viable alternatives for children and adolescents to strengthen their communication, expression and voice channels, and as a result we have this initiative adapted to the new normal”, said Victoria Ward, Regional Director of Save the Children for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Through an online modality, we will discuss? in nine sessions the role and functions of the media in democratic societies to critically evaluate the content that is consumed. In addition, we will also reflect on the importance of making an ethical and responsible use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), as well as provide tools for the strategic development of the campaign and the design of the communication pieces.

"The pandemic has highlighted more than ever the need for young people to develop digital skills so that their voices can be heard, even behind the masks and confinement," says Marcela Czarny, director of Chicos.net.

Adolescents and young people from Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela will participate in the course. It is expected that, at the end of the course, the participants will make a qualitative leap in their use of digital media to exercise their rights and advance the good of society as a whole.

As Julieta Goldsmidt, one of the workshop teachers, says in a video that will be part of the classes: "let's make the most of the technologies, so that we can use the networks and that the networks don't use us."