Caribbean Youth will be contributing to the regional agenda for the way forward for the development of the region. The intention is for them to participate in the decision-making process of the Caribbean Community; as well as providing an informed perspective and recommendations to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) programme on Children and Social Policy in the Americas. Additionally, they will promote an understanding and appreciation of a holistic youth development within the framework of the Commonwealth Youth Programme as it relates to Caribbean Youth.
Over twenty countries in the Caribbean Basin will be represented by more than one hundred youth who will meet for one week at St. George’s University in Grenada in July to deliberate on a range of issues impacting on their lives specifically, and regional development generally, under the theme: Young Citizens setting the agenda for the Twenty-first Century.
The Youth Forum, titled Caribbean Youth Explosion 2000, will be organised into two groups, citizens between the ages of 14-18 and 19-29 respectively. They will be engaged in a range of activities climaxing with a Regional Youth Parliament to be staged in the national Parliament Chambers of Grenada. Leading into this specific activity will be an orientation session on the democratic values and institutions, including the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians (ACCP), and its Rules and Procedures.
The 14-18 group will analyse and debate country priorities in respect of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and reach consensus on regional issues and priorities, while the 19-29 group will review recommendations on youth empowerment arising from regional and international Youth fora over the past decade, and identify strategic actions to implement regional priorities.
The Parliamentary debate will focus on arriving at a Caribbean youth position on issues relating to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
On the lighter side of the programme of activities, the inter-cultural appreciation and understanding of the Caribbean, will be promoted by the Youth Representatives through a Costume Party which will take on a cultural blend of the Caribbean people with a mix of the varied cuisine fare.
