 |
| SIV Youth Ambassador Samal Duggins |
Basseterre, St. Kitts (March 04, 2004): Small Islands Voice Committee members recommitted themselves to encouraging the voicing of opinions pertaining to development and environment and their collection, at a meeting held February 25, 2004.
In the first instance, collected opinions will contribute to the 10 year review of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, adopted in Barbados in 1994. The meeting takes place in Mauritius in September of this year. In the longer term, the information gathered will also be useful to policy makers, business entities and individuals who would like to research and get a feel for the issues of importance to the people of the Federation.
During the mentioned SIV meeting each of the committees, specifically the education, display board as well as media and public relations each presented a time-line of proposed activities that will be undertaken in Phase II of the project. Upcoming activities include a special forum for students, a display board exhibition at the Agriculture Open Day and SIV coordinated radio call-in programmes on development and environment.
A highlight of the meeting was a report presented by SIV Youth Ambassador Samal Duggins about his trip to Seychelles in the Indian Ocean late last year.
Initially Duggins had been invited to a workshop on “Democratic Governance for Sustainable Development in Small Island Countries”, the findings of which would contribute to the UN meeting to review the Barbados Plan of Action (Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States). The workshop had been postponed, however Duggins was still able to go to Seychelles and participate in several youth related activities enabling him to interact will fellow islanders in the Pacific Ocean and share issues and concerns.
Since the meeting, SIV members including Duggins have made guest appearances on WINN FM’s “Breakfast with Toni” and “Voices.” Upcoming activities include a ZIZ “Prime Talk” on the topic “Is the popularity of new technologies creating an environment for the increase in crime and violence in society,” scheduled for Thursday, March 11.
