During the five-day meeting, 11 Delegates of Youth Ministry, 16 provincial representatives of social works, directors of social works, representatives of 4 Salesian NGOs, people from the administrative areas of social works, and members of the coordination and operational teams of RASS participated.
Among the Salesian figures who animated the work to ensure that every person in the American continent lives with dignity and has adequate opportunities for his or her own integral human development were:
- Fr Rafael Bejarano, reference person of Social Works in the Youth Ministry Sector.
- Fr Hugo Orozco, Regional Councilor for Interamerica.
- Fr Gabriel Romero, Regional Councilor for South Cone America.
- Fr Francisco Sánchez, Provincial Councilor for Ecuador.
- Fr Juan Linares, President of "Jóvenes y Desarrollo".
Besides sharing and disseminating the good practices of Salesian social works and services of the 18 provinces of America, various experts spoke: Saúl Pérez, from the Mexican Institute of Christian Social Doctrine, invited us to reflect on the challenges the social sector of the Church must face, taking the social encyclicals as a point of reference.
Thus, on the second day, they worked in groups around the questions, "What objectives do we set ourselves as RASS to align ourselves with the challenges of the Church? What activities do we propose?" A series of ideas, goals, and concrete activities emerged that will be part of the Strategic Planning for 2022-2026.
Then, accompanied by Elena Proden, from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, they addressed the social sector approach of international organizations: according to the Sustainable Development Goals, what are the challenges presented by the UN in the Americas? They then discussed what propositions and actions to activate to achieve the SDGs.
Fernando Saade, from the Province of North Argentina, retraced the General Chapters that have dealt with this theme, to understand the challenges of the Congregation at this time.
In the second part of the meeting, the results and challenges of the strategic lines of articulation, communication, and formation were shared, along with the SWOT analysis that was carried out in a participatory way with the contribution of each of the Provinces at the end of 2021.
The meeting concluded with the definition of the basic lines of work for strategic planning 2022 - 2026, aimed at giving fulfillment to the vision: "By 2026, to be a Salesian reference point for networking in the social sector, promoting evangelization, social transformation, and sustainable development."
1. With obligation holders: government advocacy to reduce inequality in America.
2. With accountability holders: societal empowerment through communication, inter-institutional work, and training, leading to the creation of a culture of change.
3. With rights holders: strengthening local Salesian social works through formation, visibility, and networking.
Three working committees have also been established to contribute to ongoing analysis in the development of the three operational lines of RASS: articulation, communication, and training.
Learn more on the RASS website: http://americasocialsalesiana.org
All documents can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ECveZaQQtLs8X4IgX4ra5YCsix9d-Lkb
