(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) CARICOM Youth Ambassadors on Monday, with the strong support from directors of youth affairs resolved to approach their mandate more seriously, and work assiduously to implement strategies to strengthen and sustain the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme (CYAP).
Twenty-seven youth ambassadors met jointly with their directors of youth affairs at the Courtyard Marriott in Paramaribo, Suriname to evaluate their programme, develop strategies for its sustainability and orient 17 newly appointed ambassadors.
The meeting is organised by the CARICOM Secretariat with joint support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Population Fund Agency (UNFPA).
In frank discussions, youth ambassadors and youth directors acknowledged that while the programme was critical to the development of youth leadership within the Caribbean Community, the CYAP needed fresh vigour and vision for its sustainability. They resolved to ‘knock heads together’ in developing workable solutions to advance the programme.
The CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme (CYAP), established in 1993, is the Community’s institutional arrangement for deepening levels of youth partnership and participation in the regional integration and development processes. It was also set up to equip a cadre of exceptional young persons with leadership skills to promote regional integration and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Over the years, the CYAs have been actively engaged in initiatives to promote the CSME and to assist in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
In the evaluation session, youth ambassadors, in many instances, acknowledged the staunch support they had been receiving from their directors of Youth Affairs, but noted that more effective governance mechanisms and increased resources were necessary to boost the impact of the CYAP. The Directors of Youth Affairs agreed that there was need for greater collaboration and effective communication as primary building blocks in fulfilling their mandate as well as giving full support to the youth ambassadors. Other issues cited by both parties included the need for greater institutional and political support at the national level; a solid budget to aid the programme in operating efficiently at both the regional and national levels and a more firm commitment from some youth ambassadors in executing their mandate.
Director of Human and Social Development in the CARICOM Secretariat, Ms Myrna Bernard, emphasised the importance of addressing youth governance issues; and in this context pointed to the analysis and recommendations of the Report of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD). This, she noted could serve to provide a background against which the deliberations on the CYA programme could continue.
The evaluation exercise is being facilitated by Consultant Henry Mangal who was convinced that based on the solid foundation on which the CYAP was established, the challenges were not insurmountable.
