SKNVibes | Young People Express Strong Opinion on CSME

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Posted: Thursday 14 February, 2008 at 2:26 PM

Young People Express Strong Opinion on CSME

Sherwin Bridgewater (left) of the CARICOM Secretariat facilitates while Kyle deFreitas and Dr. Heather Johnson take notes of the feedback

Basseterre, St. Kitts (February 14, 2008): YOUTH in St. Kitts and Nevis emphatically expressed their opinions on the Caribbean Community’s Single Market and Economy to visiting officials from the CARICOM Secretariat.

“That’s exactly what we wanted,” CARICOM’s Deputy Programme Manager for Youth Development told SKNIS, when describing the lively session held at the Newtown Community Center on Monday. “We need to hear the honest opinions of young people so we can design effective strategies to educate persons about the opportunities available to them under the CSME.”

If Monday’s session is any indication, officials seemingly have a lot of work to do as person after person voiced concerns about the perceived shortcomings of the arrangement designed to facilitate the pooling of the Region’s natural, human and financial resources in order to combat the pressures of globalization.

Sections of the young people in attendance

St. Kitts and Nevis CARICOM Youth Ambassador (CYA) Ian Richards said his counterparts around the Region have hosted a number of informative CSME forums for their peers. He stressed that the work of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) will take a more comprehensive and organized approach in this task.

The CCYD was launched in March 2007 and has been mandated by Heads of Government to “provide a full scale analysis of the challenges and opportunities for youth in the CSME and to make recommendations on how to improve their well-being and empowerment.”

The task will be carried out by twelve Commissioners, CYAs and CARICOM Youth Focal Points. The latter two will coordinate activities on the national level in support of this initiative. This week’s session was the first such related activity. Sherwin Bridgewater of the CARICOM Secretariat facilitated the event and asked poignant questions about the CSME and how youth perceive its impact on the 102 square mile twin-island Federation. He was ably supported by Commissioner Kyle deFreitas of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

~~Adz:Left~~ Issues mentioned by the 20 young people and youth leaders at the meeting touched on the free movement of people, access to tertiary education, maintaining the unique Kittitian-Nevisian culture and an equitable salary scale. The instruments governing the CCYD were also tested at the event.

Mr. Richards thanked participants for their candid responses and valuable contributions. He noted that similar forums on CSME will be organized nationally and encouraged all young people to attend and ensure their voice is heard at the highest level.