(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The first Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity Workshop (CEBO) workshop being implemented with funding from the CARICOM-Spain Citizen Security Initiative is currently underway in Grenada.
CEBO is a tool to engage, inspire and create entrepreneurial interest and action among young CARICOM nationals in and out of school and from all walks of life. It addresses psychological and social development issues and makes the link between entrepreneurship, the dreams and aspirations of young people and regional integration.
The workshop in Grenada is scheduled to run from 28 April – 3 may 2014. It started off with an opening ceremony at the Grenada National Stadium on Monday.
Speaking at the ceremony, CARICOM Deputy Programme Manager for Youth Yldiz Pollack-Beigle said CEBO Grenada was part of the implementation of the CARICOM/Spain Citizen Security Project – Support for Youth Empowerment and Resilience,” which is intended to enhance the capacity for sustainable livelihoods among unattached youth across CARICOM.
Ms. Pollack-Beigle explained that with support from the CARICOM Spain Initiative, CEBO will be implemented in five CARICOM Member States (Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, Grenada, Montserrat and Trinidad and Tobago).
She outlined that the workshop is a follow up to work previously started with CEBO in the five countries that were part of the pilot phase of the CEBO project. She added that CEBO was introduced to Guyana in November 2013, with support from UNDP.
The CARICOM Deputy Programme Manager expressed that CARICOM had a strong partnership with USAID under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (the CBSI) which supported CEBO Bahamas in the pilot phase, and which will enable the implementation of CEBO workshops in Suriname and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, later this year.
Ms. Pollack-Beigle said the workshop was intended to emphasize creativity and teamwork and is delivered through hands-on, interactive youth friendly methodologies. She explained that over a period of six days, participants would set up staff simulated companies, develop a basic business plan and create, market and sell products and services using seed money provided by the by the simulated Bank of CEBO.
She also explained that at the end of the workshop companies will prepare a profit and loss statement, analyse their mistakes and successes and share profits in accordance with criteria which they themselves develop. “The workshop therefore provides practical experience in addition to business training” she said.
