St. Kitts and Nevis’ CARICOM Youth Ambassadors complete regional strategic plan

Patrice Harris

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JUNE 24TH 2012 (CUOPM) – Two of the Federation’s CARICOM Youth Ambassadors joined their counterparts from across the Caribbean for the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Corps (CYA) Regional Meeting at Suriname’s Torarica Hotel to complete the development of a strategic plan to guide their work in the region over the next three years.

Kevington Pemberton and Patrice Harris joined the corps members in a review of the corps structure, the report of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD), and the CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan.

“We are the voice of our generation and through the CYA Programme we work together to influence the direction of youth programming in the region,” said Pemberton and Harris in a joint statement.

They said the regional meetings give them a chance to share the concerns of the young people of St. Kitts and Nevis with youth representatives from the other member countries of CARICOM along with policy and decision makers within the CARICOM Secretariat.

Among the issues discussed during the Suriname session were avenues for establishing and strengthening collaborations with local youth organizations, NGOs, Government Departments and Ministries, as well as tools for effective marketing of the activities of the CYA Corps.

Kevington Pemberton

Pemberton and Harris also joined their fellow ambassadors in meetings with representatives of the Government of Suriname, and engaged in discussions on issues relevant to young people across the Caribbean.

During the Suriname meeting they were presented with their instruments of appointment as CARICOM Youth Ambassadors for St. Kitts and Nevis for the year 2012 by the Chairman of the Heads of Government Conference, His Excellency Desiré Delano Bouterse at an opening ceremony of the CARICOM-UNASUR High Level Youth Exchange held on Thursday 14th June 2012.

Speaking to the conference attendees during the opening session, Suriname’s Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Hon. Ismantho Adna told the youth leaders that the Government of Suriname – particularly the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs – “stands ready to implement the outcomes of the meeting and the recommendations in the Paramaribo Declaration and to integrate the outcomes in Suriname’s youth policy.”

The meeting was supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Youth Innovation (Youth-IN) project, a Caribbean network for youth development work.