Trust of the Americas holds Regional Stakeholders Meeting in Antigua & Barbuda

~~Adz:Left~~CHARLESTWON, Nevis - THE Trust of the Americas, an affiliate body of the Organisation of American States (OAS), announced that a Regional Stakeholders Meeting was scheduled to be held yesterday [June 30] in Antigua and Barbuda.

A press release informed that the primary purpose of the meeting is to reach agreement on a Strategic Plan to address unemployment among disadvantaged youth in the region, through the application of information and communications technology (ICT). 

The meeting will also provide an opportunity for Stakeholders to review progress of the Partnership in Opportunities for Employment through Technology in the Americas (POETA) Programme that is being conducted in the countries of the OECS sub-region.

Stakeholders will include Deputy Permanent Secretaries and other technical officers from Ministries of Youth Affairs, Employment, Training and Education and Information and Communication Technology from Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Private Sector Representatives and members of Civil Society Organisations from the OECS who specifically deal with issues relating to youth will also be in attendance.

The St. Kitts contingent consists of Lenard Spencer Amory, Acting Labor Commissioner; Dr. Ruth Thomas, Director of the Curriculum Development Unit; Geoffrey Hanley, Director of Youth in the Ministry of Education; Thenford Grey, member of the Advisory Council of Project Strong; Russel Williams, Director of the ITC Facility; and Terry Morris, Social Development Officer, Ministry of Social and Community Development.

Starret Greene, the OAS Representative in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis said it was important to give meaningful attention to integrating disadvantaged youths in the mainstream of society by providing them with the job-readiness and job-skills training, through the use of information and communication technology.

Greene said he was very pleased with the implementation of the POETA programme at Project Strong and expressed the view that the involvement of the public and private sectors, through the leveraging of knowledge, good will, cash and infrastructure, would serve as a true model for public-private sector cooperation.