(Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat , Turkeyen, Greater, Georgetown, Guyana) It is a pleasure and honour for me to represent the Secretary General of the Caribbean Community, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque at this High Level Youth Exchange between CARICOM and UNASUR, and to bring warm greetings on his behalf. The Secretary General has asked me convey his highest commendation to the President of Suriname for this very important initiative that has brought CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and young leaders from UNASUR together to share experiences, cultures and to build bridges of friendship and understanding. I extend a special warm Caribbean welcome to the young delegates visiting from the member countries of UNASUR. It is a pleasure to have you in our region and among us and I look forward to meeting and interacting with many of you over the next two days.
The Caribbean Community is engaged in a dynamic regional integration process that began in 1973 when CARICOM was established. The main pillars of our integration are Foreign Policy Coordination; Human and Social Development; Trade and Economic Integration; and Security. In 1989, the Heads of Government of CARICOM took a decision to deepen our integration movement through the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, to allow free movement of people, goods, services, capital and the right to establish a business, in order to enhance the quality of life of the people of our Region.
Young people under the age of 30 comprise 63% of the Community’s population and are therefore important partners and beneficiaries in the regional integration and development of CARICOM. The Community has had a long history of implementing youth governance structures, at both national and regional levels, including Ministries and Departments responsible for Youth Affairs, National Youth Councils and a range of non-governmental, faith and community based organizations for youth. The National Youth Parliament of Suriname, with its democratic structure and process, is one model of best practice. Another is the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme, which fosters youth participation and partnership in regional integration and development through advocacy, peer to peer education and community outreach. CARICOM Youth Ambassadors perform a dual role, by networking with their peers to address national youth issues and by bringing national issues to the attention of the Region’s policy makers and planners.
The CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme was launched in Saint Lucia in 1993 by the Heads of Government to mark the Twentieth Anniversary of CARICOM and was formally instituted in 1994. Since its inception, the Youth Ambassador Programme has contributed to increased youth knowledge and awareness of CARICOM issues and priorities; has raised the profile of young people at the national and regional levels; and has assisted in integrating the views and perspectives of young people from across the Region into national, regional and international policy and programmes.
Three former CARICOM Youth Ambassadors were appointed by Heads of Government to serve on the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) two of them from Suriname : Mrs. Yldiz Pollack Beighle as Co-Chair, and Mr. Melvin Bouva). The Commission conducted a regional assessment of the situation of youth in CARICOM and produced a Report that was presented to our Heads of Government in January 2010 here in Suriname at a Special Summit on Youth. That Report documented and analyzed the vision, dreams, aspirations and concerns of more than 4000 young people across the region, and conducted research to highlight a range of social and economic issues that needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency, including employment, education and crime.
The study concluded that CARICOM youth have made and continue to make outstanding contributions to development at community, national and regional levels. They are intelligent, full of potential, creative and ideally positioned to be at the centre of any state or private sector-driven development plan, which has the creation of new technology platforms, research and innovation as a principal objective. The Commission issued a strong call for increased investment in youth to address risk factors and enhance youth potential; for mainstreaming youth development across all sectors; and inclusion of youth of the Region in all governance processes.
CARICOM Heads of Government endorsed the Commission’s report and issued the Declaration of Paramaribo on the Future of Youth in the Caribbean Community. The Declaration clearly establishes young people as valued partners and resources for development – not merely beneficiaries; and regards youth as assets to be developed, not problems to be solved.
One of the important lessons learned by CARICOM over the years is that youth participation is an important strategy to empower young people to define and articulate concerns of interest to them and to design, negotiate and implement solutions to those concerns. Meaningful youth participation reduces the incidence of youth marginalisation, alienation and exclusion and enhances the relevance and responsiveness of development policies and programmes.
I do believe that this invaluable insight is shared by the Member Countries of UNASUR and that is surely one of the reasons for your participation in this High level Youth Exchange. I also believe that the challenges confronting our CARICOM youth may be interpreted within the context of their unique realities but are by no means exclusive or unique to them. This Exchange is therefore significant in developing a framework for cooperation between young people of both regions – cooperation in areas of integrative regional youth policies, youth leadership and governance structures and also in exploring solutions to the many issues and challenges which youth of the two regions might have in common.
I also wish to point out that in this very flat world brought about by globalization, the need for cooperation and collaboration for survival cannot be over-emphasized. This is an era in which giants learn to dance; an era in which we collaborate or perish. A perspective which causes us to view new groupings such as UNASUR as vehicles through which we can forge collaboration and partnerships for mutual sustainability in a globalized Community, is therefore one to be encouraged.
To the youth of both regions, I envisage a vibrant and vigorous exploration of the challenges and issues that you both face but more importantly, we look forward to the youth-oriented recommendations that you will place on the table in moving forward. Who can best advise us of your needs and concerns are and how we can address them together, but you?
The profound assertion that ‘the Youth of a Nation are the trustees of Posterity’ made by British Statesman and author, Benjamin Disraeli way back in the nineteenth century still holds true today. I charge you therefore young people of both regions, to move beyond trivial nationalistic turf to assess and embrace as you find appropriate, the integration of global ideas, skills and cultures. I charge you to seize the opportunities, which exist for personal and collective development; I charge you to lead with vision, integrity and moral courage that connect sense of identity and self to the mission and ideals of both regions.
Your peers expect of you, the kind of leadership that enhances their motivation, morale and performance to achieve positive social change and promote human dignity through improved quality of life.
The induction of the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors during this morning’s proceedings affords them an opportunity to reflect on, and affirm their commitment to such a mission.
I look forward to the Declaration that this Exchange will spawn. I know that it will serve as a youth vision of collaboration and will inform the design of future cooperation.
I wish to again applaud the Government of Suriname on this important initiative and to pledge the support of the CARICOM Secretariat to this process of cooperation among our youth. I would also like to invite our visitors from UNASUR to enjoy that special brand of warm Surinamese hospitality to which we have come to look forward, and which is also characteristic of the Caribbean Community. We thank Suriname for the excellent arrangements put in place for this CARICOM –UNASUR High Level Youth Exchange.
I thank you
