The two-day event ,which was conducted in both English and French, brought together more than 250 officials, academics, policy-makers, youth NGO’s, experts and practitioners from a range of institutions and disciplines from across the world, to share experiences, highlight gaps and explore options in reducing the internet as a tool for youth extremism and radicalism.
The conference highlighted the need for more media and information literacy programmes, along with education for global citizenship and the integration for human rights in all education and life-long learning, to better nurture the new generation of ‘digital citizens’ who are on the rise. It also called for the internet to be better supported by the public and private sectors, as a tool to empower young people, while assisting with reaching their full potential and achieve their goals.
According to the Youth Ambassador, the conference was very educational and timely. She said the average person may think there is not an issue with Radicalisation and Extremism in St. Kitts and Nevis, and needed to recognise that the world is a global village.
With the use of the internet and other avenues of ICT, we cannot play naive to the other issues that are more prevalent in other jurisdictions, thinking they would not reach our shores,” she said.
Ms. Bodie said the Region must begin dialogue with the youth on these issues and discuss creative ways to minimise their susceptibility to the negativity that is on the internet, and must encourage them to be more responsible when online.
The CARICOM CYA said one of the things that stood out for her at the conference was a discussion on Hate Speech, Freedom of Expression and the abuse of the Comments section on websites and social media. She said she has seen it in her country, where persons abuse the comments section on Facebook and other popular news websites, defaming others and even partaking in libel and slander in some cases. She pointed out that these were unethical and unacceptable behaviours.
Ms. Boddie’s participation in the event served as a fact-finding and networking mission, as the conference precedes an event of a similar nature, which UNESCO is slated to be hold in St. Kitts and Nevis in September, to continue raising awareness of the Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society. She expressed her gratitude to the Nevis National Commission for UNESCO and the UNESCO office in Paris, for facilitating her participation at this event.
