(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Dr Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development, of the CARICOM Secretariat has described as 'opportune,' the call for Caribbean youth to participate in the Conference on the Caribbean scheduled to take place in Washington DC on June 19-21, 2007.

The CARICOM Caucus of Ambassadors in Washington, D.C – the main organisers of the Conference - had issued an early appeal for youth to maximise their participation in the Conference ,and had extended an invitation through the Caribbean Youth Ambassador Programme, for their participation in the Diaspora Forum, one of the major features of the Conference.

Speaking in an interview with the Public Information Unit, Dr Greene, who oversees the Secretariat’s Community and Youth Development programmes, says it would have been an error of judgment not to have included Caribbean youth in the Washington Dialogue, considering that the Conference will be dealing with critical youth impacting issues, such as social capital formation and human and social development.

According to Dr Greene, it is imperative to engage the youth especially in the Diaspora Forum to give them an opportunity, not just to raise concerns about youth development issues, but also to tell their success stories, thereby indicating a positive approach towards their own development.

He expects that a strong leadership delegation drawn from both the Caribbean Youth Ambassador Programme and the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development will form part of the youth delegation to the Conference.

The Assistant Secretary General is also advocating for the issue of youth deportation to be addressed at the Diaspora Forum, noting that many youth, deported to the Caribbean after living in the United States for most of their lives, are 'anchorless' and have very little relational ties with the Caribbean.

"The Forum must evolve an appropriate policy mechanism to deal with this problem as it causes a fair amount of social destabilization in the Caribbean," Dr Greene asserts.

In addition, he says, the youth should also explore the possibilities of exchange programmes between the Caribbean and its Diaspora.

Contact: piu@caricom.org