(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) At least two CARICOM Youth Ambassadors (CYAs) have ensured that the voices of youth resounded on the issue of Sexual Health and Reproduction, through their participation in a panel discussion held Tuesday 11 July in Saint Lucia, in observance of World Population Day.

The exercise was staged by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and involved more than 30 CYAs, as well as local and regional officials. It was moderated by Dominica’s CARICOM Youth Ambassador, Fenella Wenham.

Wenham, along with CYA of Grenada, Devon Roche, were joined by six other regional panelists from UNFPA’s Youth Advisory Programme for the discussion which is expected to be broadcast across the Region.

Wenham credited UNFPA for organising the event in what she termed a “youth-oriented” way. “I find that young people of the Region are quite informed on issues relating to sexual health and reproduction,” she said, adding, that the panelists “did justice” to the questions that were posed.

“In the past, we’ve had the same discussions, but the panelists and moderators were … older professionals,” Roche said. “Young persons don’t necessarily like to sit and listen to scholars and PhD persons talking about issues relating to them. I also found that it was livelier and the information coming from these persons was received openly by their peers,” he added.

He supported the comments of Wenham and encouraged the organisers to go a step further in finding ways to attract more young people. He suggested changing the location to an outdoor setting in order to make a greater impact on all youths.

An opening ceremony for the World Population Day launch was held prior to the panel discussion at the conference room of the Bay Gardens Hotel. A number of local and regional dignitaries attended the launch, along with more than 30 CYAs. Minister of Health, Human Services, Family Affairs and Gender Relations, Hon. Damian Greaves gave the feature address.

The CYAs are now participating in a three-day workshop on Behaviour Change and Communication, which ends on Friday 14 July.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org
                 hjohnson@caricom.org