Caribbean Youth Day Message 2007 by Mr. Henry Charles Regional Director, CYP Caribbean

Greetings and best wishes to all the young citizens of the Caribbean and indeed to the many other persons and organizations engaged in the delivery of youth development services.

This year 2007, we commemorate Caribbean Youth Day (CYD) with the theme “Making Caribbean Youth Leadership a reality.” We at the Commonwealth Youth Programme are proud to announce this timely and relevant theme was proposed by an outstanding regional youth leader and former Dean of the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Corps.

“Making Caribbean youth leadership a reality” provides youth development stakeholders with a platform to reflect on the various development challenges which impact our young women and men but, most importantly it also encourages us to celebrate and pay tribute to many young citizens and youth leaders who have made, and continue to make significant contributions to the development of their communities and society.

Above all this carefully chosen theme is a clarion call for youth empowerment. This issue of youth empowerment assumes great urgency and importance in the emerging regional development panorama where today’s youth must take full charge, upholding democracy, good governance and equity for a widening and more complex Caribbean. It is therefore axiomatic that young men and women should be strategically engaged now as active and enabling partners in the development process. It is equally axiomatic that Governments, civil society, the private sector, our education and socialization systems must jointly and severally create unique and innovative ways for young people to assume an effective leadership role in community and national development.

As you ponder on this important responsibility I urge you to seek guidance from the many protocols and strategy documents which have clearly defined the parameters of youth empowerment and indeed provide a road map for sustainable youth development.

In this regard, I want to commend various national youth policies where these exist and where they sound a clarion call for continuous learning and development of young women and men, through their varying life stages as a fundamental right for youth, and as a proven enabler in creating the core competencies that young people need for their holistic development. Most importantly, I want to commend the recently launched Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE) which is the comprehensive rights-based guide for all youth development in the Commonwealth, and indeed the CARICOM Regional Strategy on Youth Development,

CYD 2007 is an opportune moment and milestone to solicit your support for the work of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development and indeed the commendable efforts of regional governments, youth networks, private sector, and other youth development stakeholders to forge strategic partnerships for the purpose of formulating and executing effective youth mainstreaming strategies. CYPCC is proud and privileged to be a key part of this ever growing network.

Even as we acknowledge the tremendous efforts of young people and their networks in schools, clubs, sports associations and peer associations, youth councils across the Region, as well as the valuable contributions of our Commonwealth Caribbean Regional Caucus and the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Corps, I must refocus attention on the unfortunate absence of a fully functional coordinated regional youth network, which is a source of concern for youth leaders everywhere. I take this opportunity to pledge the commitment of the Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Centre (CYPCC), as mandated by our recently concluded Regional Advisory Board meeting, to assist with genuine efforts to revitalize and rebuild a vibrant, democratic regional youth movement.

I urge all young people first of all to recognise that each of you has a very positive contribution to make to your own lives and development, and to challenge you all to get involved. We are hearing your voices, we are listening and more spaces are being created every day that wait to be filled by your own unique contribution.

To all youth, partners and stakeholders in youth development, have a very productive Caribbean Youth Day 2007.

Henry Charles

Regional Director
Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Centre

September 28, 2007

Download:

Caribbean Youth Day Message 2007