Survival and development of Region dependent on youths

Mar 04, 2016 News

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– Opening of 29th COHSOD meeting hears
“One million strong, it can’t be wrong,” was the notion embraced by Tarun Butcher, to emphasise the importance of youth in aiding the sustainable development of the Caribbean.

Butcher, who hails from Belize, was at the time speaking in the capacity of Caricom Youth Ambassador, when the 29th Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) commenced yesterday at the Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Caricom Secretariat.
The meeting is one intended to allow the Ministers, along with other key officials with responsibility for culture and youth, within Caricom Member States, to engage in discussions aimed at forging ahead with developmental plans.
But Butcher, during her remarks during the opening ceremony of the meeting, stressed that the youths are not only the future of the Caribbean, but also the present, and are therefore assets who are ready and willing to be used to advance the developmental effort.
She noted that even as COHSOD seeks to address various issues ranging from sustainable development to the repositioning of the youth ambassador programme, a number of searching questions must be taken into consideration.
“Are you as committed to us as you say that you are? Are you serious about us the young people? And are you prepared to (not only) utilise us as your assets but also to equip us?” a passionate Butcher asked those gathered at the meeting yesterday.
She continued by insisting that “the youths want to participate now. If not now, then when? If not us, the youth, then who? The survival and development of our young people is directly related to the survival and development and sustainability of our Region,” Butcher emphasised.
Caricom Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, in presenting remarks yesterday, also acknowledged the important role of young people. He pointed out that since being appointed to his current portfolio, he has had the privilege of interacting with some of the Region’s finest young people who serve as professionals in various fields – youth leaders, activists and as academics.
“Meeting young people during my visits to Member States and participating in Social Media interactions with them across the Region have been important engagements for me personally, and I have seen and heard first hand that we have exceptional young people all over the community who are committed, who are passionate and who are contributing in meaningful ways to national development and regional integration,” Ambassador LaRocque asserted.
But attaining sustainable development, with a focus on culture and youth, would require a shift in the thinking of policymakers among other stakeholders. This notion was emphasised by Minister of Youth Development and Sports of St Lucia, Mr. Shawn Edward.
According to Edward, the Region and the world at large have had the opportunity to focus specifically on emerging paradigms for development over the past few years. In addition to this, the United Nations’ post-2015 developmental agenda, and its accompanying goals and targets, have issued a call to action to address sustainable development in all its facets, and to do so in an integrated manner.
Edward, moreover stressed that “we need to engage our youth, envisioning and transforming education and youth development,” as he added that “leveraging our human and cultural assets for the sustainable development of our Region would require a shift in thinking on the part of policymakers, youths, parents, teachers, students, administrators and others in the community”.
The deliberation of the COHSOD Chairman yesterday was in keeping with the theme of the meeting ‘Leveraging Caricom’s Human and Cultural assets for the sustainable development of the community’.
Representing Guyana at the forum was Minister within the Education Ministry with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Ms Nicolette Henry. In her remarks at the opening ceremony, she noted that “perhaps this is the forum at which we have finally brought together the two most critical pieces of the puzzle for sustainable regional integration and development and that is youth and culture. Perhaps this is what is needed to truly invigorate the process,” Henry speculated.
The meeting, which will culminate today, was preceded by a two-day youth and culture forum on Monday and Tuesday, and a meeting attended by the Directors of Sports and others related to the sports and culture fields, that was held on Wednesday. The outcome of those meetings are slated to be incorporated into the COHSOD deliberations following which final decisions are expected to be made by the Ministers, according to Dr. Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary General, Human and Social Development at CARICOM, who chaired yesterday’s opening ceremony.

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