(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Critical issues relating to youth and culture development in the Caribbean will be the focal point of the Sixteenth Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) set to take place in Georgetown, Guyana on 10-12 October 2007.
The meeting, chaired by Belize, will review proposals to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation framework for the Regional Strategic Plan for Youth Development (RSYD); discuss a progress report from the recently established CARICOM Commission on Youth Development as well as recommendations to reduce the incidence of crime and violence among youth from the Regional Committee of Directors of Youth Affairs. It will also review proposals from the CARICOM Youth Ambassador programme to market the CSME as a mechanism for sustainable livelihood among Caribbean youth.
In addition, the Council will also note and deliberate on strategies to scale up levels of youth participation, and realise the potential of culture in the development of the Community.
The three-day Meeting of the COHSOD will include deliberations on the staging of the Tenth Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA X) to be hosted by Guyana in 2008, the new CARIFESTA governance structure, and ways of financing culture and promoting cultural industries.
A special feature of the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday will be the signing of what is believed to be the first Public/Private Partnership between the CARICOM Secretariat and a commercial entity, telecommunications service provider of Suriname, Telesur. The Company sees signing of this agreement as signalling the start of collaboration in several youth driven information, communication and entertainment initiatives including the promotion of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.
Interventions and presentations will be made by several international organisations including the World Bank, the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP), the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Secretariat (OECS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), who will be treating with the topic: Addressing the Transition from Childhood to Youth.
The Sixteenth Meeting of COHSOD will end on Friday, 12 October following discussions and subsequent actions on mandates from the Twenty-eighth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, and a review of the criteria for the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women.
