CARICOM youth development goals endorsed by Suriname

Nov 09, 2011 News

Suriname’s Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Paul Abena,, has endorsed the CARICOM Youth Development Goals (CDYGs) and accompanying Youth Development Action Plan (CYDAP) as a step in the right direction in advancing the Region’s youth agenda.
In accordance with last week’s CARICOM Regional Meeting of Directors of Youth Affairs in Suriname, the Minister stated that the initiative to develop an action plan was directly in response to the Paramaribo Declaration which contained the hopes and aspirations of the youth of the Region who make up approximately 66% of the region’s population.
The 2010 CARICOM Commission on Youth Development Report highlighted the challenges confronting Caribbean youth. Abena noted that “we have to put our heads together to formulate policy that can guarantee a good future for our young people…” based on the findings of the youth report.
In the quasi Cabinet of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government Suriname has a responsibility for youth development among other things. Suriname is the only country with a constituted youth parliament in the Region and has recently developed a sport academy for the Region’s Youth.
According to Minister Abena, Suriname has established a Think Tank that would be a Caribbean network to advance regional youth development.
Dr Heather Johnson, CARICOM Secretariat Deputy Programme Manager, Youth Development thanked Suriname for its efforts in promoting youth development, and pointed to the Declaration of Paramaribo as the context for the meeting.
She explained that the Declaration of Paramaribo “…affirms the importance of regional integration in advancing the interests of young people, and highlights their importance to economic resilience and economic integration.”
According to Dr Johnson, “the commitments enshrined within the Declaration, flow from a stated philosophy that youth people are invaluable assets and partners in development, and not problems to be solved.”
The CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) put the Declaration of Paramaribo into operation based on their research and findings that began September 2010. It is being done by a Technical Working Group (TWG) comprising individuals with professional expertise and experience in youth leadership and development sourced from academic institutions, Departments of Youth Affairs, the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme and development partners.
The TWG has elaborated six CARICOM Youth Development Goals that speak to the formulation of a policy and institutional environment to ensure the following youth outcomes: resilience, safety and security; health and holistic wellbeing; education and economic empowerment; youth participation, governance and partnerships; and culture, identity and citizenship.
The process has gained the support of the United Nations Development Programme Youth Innovation (Youth-In) Project. This project, funded by the Italian Government, has adopted an integrated the approach to addressing youth challenges and giving support to Caribbean youth. It was designed to strategically address human development and optimize youth potential through linked environmental, economic and social inputs.
The project’s coordinator, Dr Paula Hidalgo-Sanchis, added that the Youth-In project existed to promote innovative ways to empower young people. “It considers young people not as passive recipients of support but as active agents of change,” she concluded
The outcomes of CARICOM Regional Directors of Youth Affairs Meeting will assist the TWG in improving the draft integrated by CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan as well as the UNDP Barbados Office and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in ensuring effective implementation of the Youth Innovation project.

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CARICOM youth development goals endorsed by Suriname

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