(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)It is a pleasure to be bringing remarks on behalf of the CARICOM Youth Ambassador (CYA) Corps at this the 23rd meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) looking at Children and Youth.
As I prepared for this meeting, I asked the ambassadors “What is the message that you would like me to take to COHSOD on your behalf? As the responses came in I smiled. I smiled because the sentiments of the CARICOM Youth Ambassador were captured in the theme of this meeting “Charting Our Future: An integrated development agenda for children and Youth”.
My Ambassadors told me to ensure that I emphasize the fact that our young people need to be engaged from the inception and planning stage of programmes, policies and activities that are geared toward their development
They told me to emphasize the point coming out of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) report, that our young people are assets to be developed and not problems to be solved.
They told me to make it clear that they are fed up of the “talk shop” and that it is now time for “ACTION and not a bag a mouth!” … and last but by no means least, They told me to communicate to this meeting that we, the young people of the region, are READY!!
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READY to Lead
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READY to ACT
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READY to Educate and Innovate
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READY to highlight the positive contributions that our young people across the region are making which is often overshadowed by the few participate in negative activities.
Ladies and gentlemen, as declared by Dr. Heather Johnson of the CARICOM Secretariat, “my Ambassadors are among the best and the brightest in the region.” It is for this reason that I have no intention of diluting their concerns over the next two days of meeting, nor is it my aim to overshadow the concerns / points raised by my constituents with thoughts of my own.
Instead, I will continue to lead the efforts in strengthening the programme ensuring that it is efficient, transparent, accountable and above all sustainable. The CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme (CYAP) recently completed an exercise looking at revising our structure and have agreed to include, among other positions, a policy team and an advisory committee. The policy advisory mechanism will facilitate the participation of young people across the region in regional decision making at the highest level; and the advisory committee will enable technical support through the strategic engagement of technical experts and former CYAs in developing, implementing and evaluating CYA initiatives.
At the national level, Ambassadors have been meeting with representatives of their ministry and in some cases their Prime Ministers, informing them of their activities and the general direction in which the Corps plans to take the programme. At the regional level we have had discussion with the leader head with responsibility of Youth in CARICOM, President Bouterse of Suriname. We have also had discussions and commitment from the CARICOM Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, who continues to demonstrate his unwavering commitment to the CYAP and youth of the region at large. Our readiness has also been demonstrated through continued dialogue with PANCAP and different organs within the CARICOM Secretariat as we strive for an integrated approach to tackling the youth agenda.
We know that we cannot do it on our own! We have seen where having programmes and policies developed for youth without the inclusion of youth have failed over the years! It is now time for an intergenerational approach!
Ladies and gentlemen I leave you with this quote from my Jamaican vernacular … “One han cyaa clap” … let us work together as we find integrated approaches to chart a future for the children and youth of this region.
Thank you
