We have a responsibility to turn the negatives upside down

Apr 02, 2017 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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By Devin Sears
General Secretary, Youths for Change

The opportunities and challenges that present themselves to youths in a country like Guyana are enormous. Young people stand at the intersection of current trends that include relatively high levels of unemployment,

uneven educational opportunities and the accompanying ‘pressures’ to play the various roles required of us. We are the change makers, and we have the ability to influence the development of our youth in business, education, community development, sports and culture. We have the wherewithal to push Guyana into the global spotlight.
More than ever before we need to ramp up youth collaboration, scale up support and the delivery of quality programmes with and for young people. This is critical in ensuring that our voices, our priorities and needs remain on the table in a most constructive way.
The Youths for Change group since it was established in 2006 has been working tirelessly to represent the needs and wants of Guyana’s youths. Our organization was created to champion the causes of young people all over Guyana, in partnership with the alliance for change. One other key role is to fashion appropriate responses that find solutions for the flaws and inequalities in communities and governance which were perpetuated during the previous administration.
YFC since its inception has been partnering with NGOs to help tailor social and economic solutions and creative approaches that empower youths particularly in remote areas.
Young people in Guyana, as everywhere else, are challenged to look above and beyond the status quo. We have very active imaginations. We have a responsibility to turn the negatives upside down, make them become positive drivers and creators of events and circumstances that chart different courses veering towards full restoration of our national pride. That is when we begin to see ourselves as the drivers and implementers as well as the beneficiaries.
The Youths for Change Group, in conjunction with all stakeholders, has the unique opportunity to foster (in the truest sense) a new generation equipped with the skills to lead, to shape the future of our country as partner decision-makers, and implementers of developmental goals. Simultaneously, we are also responsible for continuously holding our leaders to account.
The wellbeing of Guyana’s youth depends on progressive and inclusive developmental programmes that should improve social and economic circumstances for all Guyanese, while it contributes to the national economy.
The current Youths for Change executive committee was elected in March 2017. Our trajectory encompasses the priorities and demands that have been brought to the table by the youths from almost every region in Guyana. We provide the Clearing House; where young people could lay out their opinions on the future of Guyana and proffer suggestions and proposals for implementation. YFC provides a platform for youths to express their views on crucial issues including education, employment, health, environmental protection and the myriad issues, big and small, that make up the mosaic of this colourful nation.
Guyana’s youth are demanding that practical steps be taken to tackle youth unemployment. We have highlighted deficiencies in the education system and are calling on the government and our stakeholders to keep on implementing new ideas to address the shortcomings. YFC has also made recommendations in relation to health education and services, e.g. to implement more active sexual and reproductive health services at regional hospitals, community clinics and health centres.
We would like to see the curricula at ‘Tech/Voc’ institutions drastically altered so as to graduate students with skills to work in the imminent oil and gas industry – either directly, or at the Crab Island Supply facility, or in the downstream businesses as employees or in their own enterprises.
YFC, in an effort to help alleviate some of the difficulties faced by young people in the sports and arts industries, has drawn up a number of practical steps to work around these issues, especially those that concern youths with disabilities.
Gender equality is another issue of paramount importance to Guyana’s youth today. Though this is a global issue, YFC intends to play as big a role as we can in this country to bring to life our vision for a truly equal Guyanese society where women of any age would enjoy equal pay, adequate protection from violence, and an equally loud voice in governmental and other matters.
It is intended that this youth movement will inform and influence Guyana’s government and stakeholders of young people’s priorities and demands, while we remain fully cognizant of our own civic responsibilities, i.e. developing the combination of knowledge, skills, high values and motivation to make that difference. It means “promoting quality of life issues in communities through both political and non-political processes” (Erlich, 2000). It involves civic engagements – political and environmental activism, and community and national service (Michelson et al, 2002).

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