Very Commendable, But No Substitute

We extend our congratulations to the organizers of last weekend’s Youth Excellence Awards that rewarded the accomplishments of young Vincentians over the past year. The event was an initiative of the Prime Minister’s National Advisory Council on Youth, and in keeping with the high profile given to this youth body.

A total of 23 young people received awards at the ceremony based on their outstanding contributions in various categories over the year. It was part of the continued emphasis on youth by the Unity Labour Party- ULP- administration, and by Prime Minister Gonsalves in particular as best demonstrated by the emphasis on providing educational opportunities for young people right up to the tertiary level. These are commendable initiatives which, in spite of what shortcomings that may exist, should make our country proud and be of great encouragement to those who were so rewarded. However, by itself, an appointed body is no substitute for independent self-organization, whatever the category of people involved. If anything, it would be best that appointed bodies like the Youth Advisory Council have a central task to encourage, support and facilitate independent self-organisation of youth. Our country has had a proud history of independent youth organisation for fully six decades now. It was visionaries knowing the worth of youth organisations, who took the historic first step to mobilise youth at the community, student, religious, sporting and other levels to form the National Youth Council (NYC) in 1966. In spite of political pressures from various governments over the years the NYC managed to maintain its independence and to become an invaluable part, a leading light in fact, in civil society organization in this country. The NYC went on from its humble beginnings to provide the backbone of the future leadership of our country in many areas of endeavour, so much so that the NYC was perhaps the most popular acronym among civil society organizations in SVG.

Not only did the pioneers build an effective national network, but attention was paid as the entity figuratively spread its wings to helping youth at the community levels to organize, including in rural areas and the Grenadines, despite the challenges of those days. Additionally, the NYC paid particular attention to encouraging and supporting student activism, and several active Student Councils were formed providing a training ground for popular participation in the democratic process.

The NYC distinguished itself in its leading roles in many areas of the democratic process. It is to its eternal credit that we owe the constant education and organisation around the contributions of the Garifuna people led by our sole National Hero, Paramount Chief, The Right Excellent Josef Chatoyer. It is that body of young people which deserves the highest praise in ensuring the erasure of the colonial and humiliating “Discovery Day” from our calendar and the institution of the noble National Heroes’ Day.

Over the years though, for one reason or another, the fortunes of the NYC have declined, and it no longer exists as a national body, like many other civil society organisations. One would therefore have thought that paramount among the advice to be given to the Prime Minister by the National Advisory Council on Youth, would be how to encourage, facilitate and support the independent organisation of a body like the NYC, open to all strands of thought and belief. Unfortunately, there is no indication that consideration is being given to that. But do we expect young people, traditionally affiliated to, or associated with, whether by family or community history, the political opposition, to want to be part of the current set-up? As we said at the outset, it is always good for young people to seek to organize, but central to it must be their own right to independent organisation.