Sharma to Caribbean heads of public service: invest in youth, technology

Commonwealth countries should invest in youth and technology to be better prepared to deal with the world's emerging challenges, Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said on 8 May 2009.

“It is about investing in young people and turning their mindset. The investment should transform young people to see themselves as job creators and not job seekers; they should not see themselves as dependent on others in pursuing achievement and success,” Mr Sharma told a meeting of public service heads and cabinet secretaries from the Caribbean region.

The meeting was convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat's Governance and Institutional Development Division. The Secretary-General encouraged the meeting's participants to continue to promote public services that responded to the needs of modern times, that constantly sought to improve in efficiency and effectiveness, and that built on the lessons that could be learned from each other.

“The Commonwealth is working on identifying the best examples of Public Private Sector Partnerships around the world. This will add quality to public expenditure on large development projects, and is an excellent example of the added value that the Commonwealth can bring to the public sector and to national development,” he commented.

Mr Sharma also told the public service leaders that the Commonwealth was working to promote socio-economic growth through stronger networks between member countries, stronger public services within countries, and improved access for all to information about models of best practice.

“The Commonwealth is one of the most successful networks in the world. In a computer age, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure that modern information and communication technologies keep our governments and people in contact with each other, informed, and better able to share wisdom and experience,” he said. “A 'Partnership Platform Portal' (P3) is being designed over the next four to five months to provide the foundation on which we can take a giant step to improve the quantity and quality of Commonwealth networking.”