The Ministry of Social Welfare, Equality, Youth, Childhood and Families awarded youth talent this Friday with the presentation of the Joven Canarias 2024 awards in an event held, for the first time, on the island of La Graciosa.
The Minister of Social Welfare, Candelaria Delgado, highlighted the role of Canarian youth in building a more supportive and prosperous Canary Islands. “When I think about the future of our islands, I think about you, about everything you will be capable of doing. I see you as the future, but, above all, as the present, and I feel, more than ever, as a society, as an Administration, that we have to help you so that you can grow, so that you do not decline and so that you can carry out your projects.”
For his part, the general director of Youth, Daniel Morales, thanked the interest and involvement of the young people of the Canary Islands, but also of the entities that have proposed the candidatures that have finally been awarded. “They have been able to see the potential of our youth and have wanted the rest of the society of our archipelago to see it too. The Canary Islands needs innovative ideas, dedication, perseverance. And we are fortunate to see that we do not lack it, because that way we can say, without fear of being wrong, that the Canary Islands will continue to advance,” he said.
The event was organized in collaboration with the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the City Council of Teguise.
Awards
The Pro Inclusiva Association, social action in Tenerife, will receive in this edition the “Joven Canarias” 2024 Award, in the “8 Islands” category for its work to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and promote their inclusion and normalization, fostering social and community awareness among young people. Specifically, it recognizes the activity they carry out through the + Pro Quo (+PQ) project, Classrooms for Inclusion, a socio-educational project of solidarity service learning that has been developed since 2017 in the Canary Islands, whose purpose is to make visible and raise awareness among students in the 3rd and 4th year of ESO, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training, about the reality of disability through direct contact with people belonging to this group.
In the “Collective” category, the KAUA Youth and Cultural Association of Tenerife has been chosen, for its intense trajectory since 2016. Its origins go back to the voluntary activity carried out by a group of young people from the San Luis Gonzaga neighborhood in Taco who, after years of designing, organizing and participating in community initiatives informally, decided to form an association in order to reinforce the work that had been carried out.
The accésit of this category is for the Association for the Liberation of Anorexia and Bulimia in Tenerife (Alabente) of Tenerife, in recognition of its trajectory initiated in 1995, to promote and provide information and advice to families of people with Eating Behavior Disorder (EBD).
In the “Individual” category, the award is for the activist Inés Rocío Rodríguez Martínez of Tenerife in recognition of her social activism and work as a speech therapist specialized in brain damage and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as the use she makes of 21st century technologies to give visibility to disability in networks and promote inclusion.
The accésit in this category is for Ubai Alemán Benítez of Lanzarote, for “the entrepreneurial trajectory achieved as founder of a production company that has played a crucial role in promoting young local talents, providing them with the opportunity to develop and show their potential through projects and entrepreneurial initiatives. His commitment to the promotion of creativity and talent from an inclusive approach, highlighting at the same time the role of Canarian culture in each of his works.”
As recognition, the winners will receive in the 8 islands category, a prize of 4,000 euros, diploma and a commemorative sculpture, in the collective and individual a prize of 4,000 euros and diploma and in the accésits, to the collective and individual prize: 3,000 euros and diploma.