Basseterre, St. Kitts - The St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association in conjunction with the Department of Youth and the Commonwealth Youth Ambassadors has organized a National Youth Parliament Sitting for Wednesday March 11, 2009 at 9:00 am at the National Assembly Chambers, in commemoration of Commonwealth Day.

The young parliamentarians will be debating two pieces of legislation- the Integrity in Public Life Bill 2008, along with a Resolution for the Adoption and Prioritization of Study Tourism as a sustainable alternative to Cruise Tourism. Additionally, questions will be tabled that are designed to address critical issues in the areas of Education, Sports and National Security.

Commonwealth celebrates 60 years of existence this year so it against that backdrop that the Association felt that an issue as critical and highly sensitive as the Integrity in Public Life legislation could be addressed. The Commonwealth is one of the agencies who strive to secure and develop sound democracies and good governance practices. Critical to the attainment of these tenets are legislations such as Integrity in Public Life and Freedom of Information.

Additionally, in light, of what seems to be a challenging time for our Tourism Sector, the group attempts to offer suggestions on alternative types of tourism by proposing for the adoption and prioritization of study tourism as a sustainable alternative to Cruise Tourism.

The participants are as followed:

Speaker of the House: Commonwealth Youth Ambassador Mr. Tavo Sergeant
Clerk: President of the St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association, Ms. Azilla Clarke

Government Benches:  Melissa Bryant (Leader), Cosbert Woods, Cindy DeSuza, Shermaine Pemberton,
                                        Patrick Walters, Jabari Trotman, VonDez Phipps, and DeHaan Henry.

Opposition Benches:    Azard Gumbs (Leader), Clauja Bradshaw, Jesse Astaphan,
                                        Asha DeSuza, Gabbriele Ruban and Wricherley Gumbs.

The St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association is a non-profit, non-governmental youth organization launched in 2001 with a mandate to be an enabling agent for the open and honest discussion of national issues and a driving force for positive youth involvement in the political and legislative processes in St. Kitts and Nevis. The motto of the Association is “Equality and Justice in Nation Building.”