(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Dr Heather Johnson, CARICOM Secretariat Deputy Program Manager, Youth Development was decorated in the Order of Grand Officer of the Yellow Star of the Republic of Suriname by the Government of Suriname, last week.
The Honour was conferred during the closing ceremony of the two-day CARICOM-UNASUR High Level Youth Exchange hosted by Suriname’s President, H.E. Desire Delano Bouterse.
The High Level Youth Exchange brought together more than 70 youth leaders from CARICOM and the Union of South American Countries (UNASUR) to develop a framework for cooperation between young people of both regions and to build leadership capacity and explore solutions to the many issues and challenges which youth of the two regions might have in common. The Meeting spawned a framework for a regional youth policy and deepened relations between both regions.
In conferring the National Honour, the Government of Suriname cited Dr Johnson as “the oldest youth in the region,” noting that “this appellation is one born of the fact that throughout the years she has engaged intimately with youth throughout the region and the full range of issues that attend their development. She took the time to learn the youth language of the day, shared in their joys as well as their pain in both work related and social settings and she is recognised and loved for this.”
The citation – the text of which is appended below – also noted that Dr Johnson “…has a lucid vision for youth development and the pivotal role of youth in the regional integration movement.”
In accepting the Honour, Dr Johnson simply stated that whatever she had accomplished over the 15 years, she did so, in the interest of developing the Region’s youth and consequently, the Region.
Citation for Dr Heather Johnson
Dr Heather Johnson joined the Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat in 1989 and served in the Education and Organisational Development Programmes of the Secretariat between 1989 and 1997. In 1997 she assumed responsibility for the newly created Youth and Sport sub – programme, which was later revised to focus on issues of Youth Development, and has served in the capacity of Deputy Programme Manager, Youth Development from 1997 until the present time.
Dr Johnson’s signal achievements include the resuscitation of the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme, into which we have the honour of inducting new members today, the development of the Regional Strategy for Youth Development, the coordination of the work of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development- CCYD and most recently, the Development of the CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan and Youth Development Goals, based on the Declaration of Paramaribo on the Future of Youth in the Caribbean Community. These are all initiatives which she has led and worked effectively with Member States, Youth and Development Partners to bring to fruition.
She has a lucid vision for youth development and the pivotal role of youth in the regional integration movement. It is this vision which ignites her passion for mobilising resources, negotiating and horse-trading when and where necessary and in the face of competing interests and scarce resources, to promote the programs which address the needs and concerns for young people. Many projects involved working with youth in communities and also bringing youth from various Member States together to foster regional integration and cooperation in its truest sense. She worked hard, juggling figures and scenarios to see how many she could accommodate in activities with the limited resources available.
Dr Johnson has paid particular attention to addressing issues of youth governance and participation in the deliberation of regional decision making bodies. It is now established practice that CARICOM Youth Ambassadors participate in the Council for Human and Social Development and other regional fora. It must be a source of great pride and pleasure for her to see former Youth Ambassadors assume significant positions in their home countries and beyond. As shining examples we have here with us the Head of the CARICOM Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Suriname, Ms Pollack-Beighle who served as co-chair of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development and Mr Melvin Bouva, Member of Parliament, who also served as a Commissioner on the CCYD.
Over the past fifteen years, she has earned the distinction of being the ‘oldest youth in CARICOM’. This appellation is one born of the fact that throughout the years she has engaged intimately with youth throughout the Region and the full range of issues that attend their development. She took the time to learn the youth language of the day, shared in their joys as well as their pain in both work related and social settings and she is recognised and loved for this.
Suriname has always held a special place in her heart, not only because of the fact that the Member State has portfolio responsibility for Youth in the CARICOM Quasi – Cabinet, but also because of the friendliness of the Surinamese people, the excellent cuisine, the supportive environment for national as well as regional youth development and the resulting lessons and models which Suriname has been able to share with the region a fitting tribute that this is the place to which we have come to say well done to Dr Johnson and recognize her remarkable contribution to regional and national development through the development of the Region’s most valuable and valued resources – its young peoples.
