|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Basseterre, St. Kitts (August 25, 2006): With less than two weeks to go before the start of public consultations for the St. Kitts and Nevis Electoral Reform Exercise, the Electoral Reform Consultative Committee (ERCC) is marshaling young people's support for the reformation process, and enlisting the help of the media in promoting their awareness and participation.
ERCC Chairman Mr. Elvis Newton participated Wednesday night in WINN FM's talk show UNOC "an acronym for Understanding the Need for Objective Conversation" along with committee members Mr. Elvin Bailey and Ms. Mutryce Williams. Ms. Williams, at age 27, is the only committee member who is in the demographic that the ERCC is targeting, which is the 18-35 age range typically designated as young adult. She is also the only woman on the seven-member committee. Authoritative and assured, Ms. Williams addressed listeners of the show, whose audience skews young, reflecting the youthfulness of the hosts, Ms. Jacqueline Bryan, 24, and Mr. Dehaan Henry, 21.
The population of St. Kitts and Nevis also skews young; its average age is around 27. What's more, the Pan American
 |
| Electoral Reform Logo | Health Organization says that, in the year 2000, 40 percent of the St. Kitts and Nevis population was younger than 20 years of age and 11 percent was older than 60 years of age. So it is crucial that young people get involved.
There is a lot at stake in the consultation process.
Mr. Newton explained that the Electoral Reform Consultative Committee is expected to convene public meetings throughout the Federation as well as with Nationals abroad. "Our main purpose really is to harvest the views of the populace to ensure that the concerns that they have are integrated into the report that we must of necessity produce at the end of the process," he said.
The Electoral Reform Consultative Committee will forward those concerns and its recommendations to the National Advisory Electoral Reform and Boundaries Committee (NAERBC) in November 2006.
"We realize that young people are integral to the process," added Mr. Newton. "So one of the options that we are currently exploring is meeting our young people in their natural habitats, going to the communities on the street corners where a lot of young people hang out."
~~Adz:Right~~Ms. Williams disclosed that there is a budget for youth activities. "This involves various promotions and awareness campaigns...We're going to the various [hangout] spots. We'll go through the villages, and actually sit and consult with young people. We're planning a grand beach bash. There's a tentative date of September 22, and at that beach bash we're going to have all the celebrities that we can hook up with."
The Electoral Reform Consultative Committee also intends to collaborate with the media in its attempt to engage young people. "You could write an article," she told Ms. Bryan and Mr. Henry. "You could invite different young people on this show. So we're going to use every medium possible to solicit the views of the young people of St. Kitts and Nevis, and even those in the diaspora as well," she said.
Ms. Williams stressed that youths need to educate themselves on the current electoral system and why electoral reform is important. That way they would be able to articulate their concerns and thus make a meaningful contribution to the process, she said.
"What we need to realize as young people is that electoral reform would affect every single one of us and the generations to come," Ms. Williams added.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
