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Members of the Technical Working Group met with CARICOMs Deputy Programme Manager for Youth and Community Development Dr. Heather Johnson on Tuesday |
Basseterre, St. Kitts (March 29, 2005): Residents of St. Kitts and Nevis will benefit from a regional programme that seeks to sensitise persons about HIV/AIDS-related issues, and challenges young persons to develop projects to reduce the transmission of the disease.
The Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) Mini-Grants programme is a sub-component of the regional Global Fund for Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria (GFTAM) project. CARICOM Youth Ambassadors (CYA) will administer the Mini-Grants programme, which will be piloted in eight Caribbean countries including St. Kitts and Nevis.
Youth Officer and CARICOM Youth Ambassador Pierre Liburd told SKNIS that the purpose of the project is to create a supportive environment for increased youth response to HIV/AIDS through systematic youth participation, networking and capacity building.
Liburd, in his capacity as a CYA, heads the technical working group (TWG) the committee charged with the local implementation.
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CARICOM Youth Ambassador Pierre Liburd (standing) convened a meeting of the Technical Working Group on Tuesday, to meet with CARICOMs Deputy Programme Manager for Youth and Community Development Dr. Heather Johnson. |
The TWG has the support of various agencies including the Department of Youth, National AIDS Secretariat, Peace Corps, Red Cross and National Youth Council Steering Committee in executing duties.
The project is open to all youth groups registered with the Department of Youth, Community Affairs or the Ministry of Health. Interested parties must submit project proposals, the best of which will be selected by the local TWG and forwarded to CARICOM for approval. After the selection process, funds will be made available to the successful youth group to initiate their project.
CARICOMs Deputy Programme Manager for Youth and Community Development Dr. Heather Johnson met with the local technical working group on Tuesday, and saluted them for their efforts.
I think the group (TWG) has moved along very smartly, she said. They have mapped out how they intend to approach the project (and) which stakeholders theyre going to target. They have not let us down.
She added that CARICOMs role is merely to provide technical assistance and function as an advisor when noting that the young people will make the major decisions.
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CARICOMs Deputy Programme Manager for Youth and Community Development Dr. Heather Johnson makes a point during a meeting with the Mini-Grants Technical Working Group |
CYA Pierre Liburd indicated that the Federation was an excellent choice as one of the eight pilot countries for the Mini-Grants programme noting that Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas is the regional prime minister with responsibility for health and HIV/AIDS.
The hard work that has been done in that field to get us this support as young people nationally and regionally to implement projects such as this, he stressed. I think it is a tremendous honour, he added while extending appreciation to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Youth Hon. Sam Condor and his ministry for its support.
The Mini-Grants programme is also being piloted in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia, the Bahamas and Belize as well as in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Dominican Republic.
Additional information is available at the Department of Youth on Church Street.
