Profound social change is not achieved in one generation. Moreover, young people must take up the baton so that the gains made are not lost. The same is true for gender equality: those who are now girls or adolescents will have to ensure that the world does not go backwards and persevere to continue on the path towards equality.

One example is the three participants in the Instagram Live Equality and empowerment: what the new generations think, organised by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation for International Women's Day: Three young women from Spain, Colombia and Peru, with inspiring stories.

Lucía Muguerza lives in Palma de Mallorca and has a degree in Global Studies. A few months ago she returned from the Dominican Republic, where, thanks to the DIME (Development, Inclusion, Microfinance and Entrepreneurship) grant from the BBVAMF, she has seen how microfinance changes the lives of vulnerable entrepreneurs.

Valery Martínez is studying Industrial Engineering at university thanks to the ‘Transforming realities’ scholarship, which enables vulnerable young people like her to fulfil their dream of going to university. BBVA and Bancamía, the Colombian microfinance institution of the BBVAMF, have been offering this scholarship for more than five editions’. Valery lives in Tagachi, a community affected by the armed conflict and poverty, where the educational offer is scarce and this scholarship makes the difference to access a quality education. For Valerie, the Transforming Realities scholarship is the way to ‘change my story, transform my reality and be able to think about a better entrepreneurial future’. She says this with the conviction of someone who has overcome obstacles and looks to the future with new hope and the dream of seeing other young people in her village prosper.

 

She shares this desire with Victoria, who wants to set up an organisation to support ‘young people who are studying at secondary school and who have financial difficulties or face various barriers that life brings us’ in their academic preparation.

These three testimonies demonstrate the value of education. In the case of Valery and Victoria, it should be right guaranteed to all young people, and not a privilege.

And in the case of Lucía as an opportunity to get to know other realities very different from her own: ‘I have been able to see how, with a small loan, families and entrepreneurs can make their dreams come true’ and despite the lack of access to formal jobs, they manage to get ahead and provide new opportunities for their children, they are ‘a source of inspiration’, she said.

When these three young women reflect on how to improve the current situation of women, words and expressions such as ‘digitalisation’, ‘breaking down barriers’ or ‘changing the mentality’ come up. And it is on these premises that they are determined to participate in future changes.

Victoria will do so by teaching entrepreneurs like her mother to use digital platforms for content production, such as Instagram and TikTok, to increase their sales and take advantage of the window to the world that is online advertising.

Lucía wants to work ‘on something that really has an impact’, connecting with the realities of communities like the ones she met in Santo Domingo, ideally in fieldwork projects where she can see the needs up close and work to improve well-being, especially access to education.

And Valery wants to create her own company and hire young people from her community because it is necessary that ‘companies bet on young people, there are opportunities to be seized’, he explains.

They also agree in their assessment of how women should commemorate International Women's Day.

Lucía emphasised the importance of continuing to give ‘tools to women in all sectors’. She recalled that although there has been progress, there is still much to be done and it is essential to ‘work as a team and build bridges so that more women can have these opportunities’, without forgetting the struggle of past generations and the need to continue working as a team.

Valerie passionately calls for education that empowers girls from childhood and the creation of public-private partnerships to facilitate women's access to the labour market. ‘We young people are the future of the country, and we are also the present,’ she says with conviction.

Victoria points out that women have demonstrated their ability throughout history and advocates ‘breaking down stereotypical barriers’ and building a society with ‘greater values and greater awareness’.

They are the voices of a generation demanding a better, fairer and more egalitarian world.