(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has re-affirmed his commitment to advancing the youth agenda within the Community and to strengthen the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Program (CYAP).
During a one-hour vibrant exchange between the Secretary-General and more than 70 youth leaders at the High Level Youth Exchange between CARICOM and the Union of South American Countries (UNASUR) on Thursday afternoon, Ambassador LaRocque said that the Secretariat would be working to provide greater technical and financial support for the CYAP in order to boost its sustainability and to maximize its capacity to assist with the development challenges of the region.
Ambassador LaRocque had joined the CARICOM-UNASUR High Level Youth Exchange via Skype and won the hearts of the youth leaders, fielding questions ranging from trade issues to communication issues.
The Secretary-General reiterated that one of his priorities for his tenure was youth development, and told the delegates that he had started listening to young people through a series of dialogue, during his visits to Member States. To date, he had already interacted with youths in St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Barbados and getting ready to visit Jamaica in the near future.
He said he planned to increase and strengthen the communication channels between the Secretariat and the young people of the Region as he sought to work with them in developing job creation initiatives.
“We have some ideas on how to improve the well-being of our youth but we want to test them with you (the young people) before we roll them out because we believe that the greatest emissaries of youth issues are the youth themselves…” The Secretary-General said.
In response to a question relating to the accountability of CARICOM Heads of Government and their commitments to youth development as explicit in the 2010 Paramaribo Declaration on the future of youth in the Caribbean Community, Ambassador LaRocque emphasized that Member States were facing severe fiscal challenges. However he acquiesced that Heads of Government were accountable to what they had committed, but youth leaders should also work to ensure that they were kept on track.
In responding to a query from the Cayman Islands’ Youth Ambassador, the Secretary-General told the delegates that plans were already in train to deepen relations with Associate Members and that a Technical Working Group was set up to address the matter.
He closed the session by underscoring the importance of youth in advancing the regional integration movement and applauded the President of the Republic of Suriname H.E. Desire Delano Bouterse for his vision in hosting the High Level Youth Exchange, describing him as a “tremendous advocate for youth.”
