After ten days of intensive discussions on a variety of issues related to youth empowerment, Hon. Walter Sandriman, Minister of Education and Community Development of Suriname brought the Caribbean Regional Youth Ambassador Conference to a close. In his address, the Minister placed emphasis on the role of leadership in the Region and noted that success hinged on challenging or accepting the current process, initiating change, enabling regional development and encouraging other youth towards positive goals for strengthening the Caribbean as a Region.
Dean of the recently inducted group, Ambassador Valarie Lalji, in her closing statement emphasized that the Workshop was “the beginning of a new period for us in making a difference in improving the quality of life of young people in the Region. We remain committed to the idea of regional integration”.
One very important outcome of the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors (CYA) Workshop, which included twenty-eight (28) representatives from fourteen (14) Member States, was the establishment of a CYA Bureau comprising a Dean, Ambassador Valarie Lalji of Suriname; a Deputy Dean, Ambassador Michael Alexander of Trinidad and Tobago and outgoing Dean, Ambassador Joel Richards of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This novel initiative is intended to strengthen the management structure of the Youth Ambassadors Programme as officers of this Executive Bureau will be appointed on a rotating basis.
At the Closing Session, held Tuesday 27 August in Paramaribo, members of the Bureau signed the Pan Caribbean Partnership Commitment and endorsed the Regional Proposal to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is being coordinated by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat. The proposal, “Scaling up the Regional Response to HIV/AIDS through the Pan Caribbean Partnership” stresses the care and treatment for people living with AIDS; prevention and human rights; and the reduction of stigma attached to the pandemic. These three elements all have implications for Caribbean youth who, as a group, are the most highly vulnerable to the disease.
The Workshop centred on interactive sessions which emphasised the role of Caribbean youth in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the reduction in demand for drugs and in achieving sustainable development with special reference to environmental protection.
The Meeting approved the Declaration of Paramaribo as a significant instrument calling on CARICOM to make provision for broader participation of youth in an annual Regional Youth Forum coordinated by the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors Corps.
