The Second Meeting of Directors of Youth of the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held in Trinidad
and Tobago May 7 - 9, 2001 under the chairmanship of
Mr. Wilton John, Director of Youth Affairs.
Participants were drawn from Member States and
included Directors of Youth and representatives of
regional and international agencies, educational
institutions and youth organisations.
The primary
objective of the meeting was to consider the
appropriateness and feasibility of the goals,
targets and indicators contained in a Draft Regional
Strategy For Youth Development (DRSYD). The DRSYD is
a broad framework intended to assist Member States
in consolidating and integrating the outcomes of
previous assessments and initiatives; and planning
and adopting integrated inter-sectoral approaches to
youth development and empowerment.
Delegates discussed a range of issues subsumed
under the thematic priorities of the DRSYD, namely
research, institutional strengthening and human
resource development (HRD), youth participation,
youth poverty and youth health; and identified
initiatives on the ground, gaps and actions required
to facilitate the goal of creating an enabling
environment for building youth capital with equity,
inclusion and social justice.
The major recommendations arising out of the
meeting are summarised below.
Research
The meeting identified the
need for a regional youth development data base to
inform policy formulation, planning and evaluation
processes; and proposed that the CARICOM Secretariat
appoint a task force to develop the data base
structure, including indicators to measure regional
and international commitments made in various
sectors, data sets and mechanisms for standardising
information on youth. It was further
recommended that the process begin with the
compilation of existing information such as rapid
assessments, school leavers surveys, adolescent
heath surveys and youth profiles.
Institutional strengthening and HRD
Delegates identified the need to professionalise
youth work and develop a career structure for youth
workers from the grass roots to the professional
level, and in this regard recommended that CARICOM
appoint a task force to design a comprehensive
credentialing system linked to the regional
accreditation process and informed by both the
experience of training Regional
Youth Ambassadors (RYAs) and the findings of the CYP
diploma pilot study. The meeting further recommended
that the Commonwealth Youth Programme take the lead
in training youth workers, and the CARICOM
Secretariat in the development of young leaders.
Youth Participation
The meeting recommended that
CARICOM develop a model for effective participation
in decision making as a guide for Member States; and
provide technical assistance to strengthen the
institutional and leadership capacity of the
Caribbean Federation of Youth (as the regional
representative of youth), focusing on the
establishment/ strengthening of Member Councils. The
consultant's report on the modalities for
establishing and maintaining youth parliaments is to
be circulated to National Youth Councils for
comment.
Youth Poverty
The meeting highlighted the
need to provide attractive social and economic
alternatives for vulnerable and marginalised young
people, and recommended that CARICOM, UNICEF and
PAHO collaborate in the expansion of the
school-based regional Health and Family Life
Education Programme to out-of-school youth.
Governments, with the assistance of regional and
international agencies, are encouraged to sponsor
skills training and entrepreneurial programmes which
would empower young people to become involved in
industry and set up their own businesses in areas
which would permit them to enter the labour market
above entry level such as information technology,
culture, theatre arts and tourism.
Adolescent Health
The meeting highlighted the
need to equip young people with appropriate
knowledge, skills and attitudes to make informed
responsible decisions about health and well-being;
and for youth organisations be more proactive in
ensuring that youth perspectives inform the design,
delivery and evaluation of national (health)
programmes executed by organisations empowered to
implement regional and international agreements
entered into by governments. These agreements
include the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
the Regional Action Plan on Adolescent Reproductive
Health and the regional Strategy for HIV/AIDS.
The Way Forward
Agencies within the United
Nations system have agreed to set up a youth theme
group to support the operationalisation of
the DRSYD. The CARICOM Secretariat will circulate
the revised DRSYD to Member States and request them
to provide feedback on national priorities,
weaknesses, gaps, indicators and resource
requirements. The Secretariat will submit a report
on the DRSYD to the Vth Council for Human and Social
for consideration and action.
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