Ambassadors return home

A three member team including CARICOM Youth Ambassador for St. Vincent and the Grenadines Joel Richards, Vice President South of the Caribbean Federation of Youth (CFY) Israel Bruce, Youth Ambassador Modonna Corke and Michael Johnson, president of the National Youth Council (NYC), returned home last Saturday, August 6, after attending back to back meetings in St. Kitts and Nevis. {{more}}
The first meeting of the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and other youth networks in the region including the Organisation of Latin American Youth, the Caribbean HIVAIDS Youth Network, CFY, UNICEF Adolescents and the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors, who hosted the meeting, ran from July 31 to August 3.
This meeting further cemented the process of collaboration among the various youth organizations who were able to forge a way forward in planning and executing programmes for the region’s youth. Although the meeting primarily dealt with issues pertinent to HIVAIDS, presentations and discussions were also facilitated as it relates to the Caribbean Court of Justice, the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, the use of theatre and drama in education in fighting HIVAIDS, among others.
A major highlight of the workshop was the induction of 34 new and reappointed CARICOM Youth Ambassadors including Modonna Corke and Joel Richards of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The workshop was heralded a success by the over 80 delegates in attendance.
At a second meeting, Carlos James, youth officer from the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports, joined Bruce and Richards for sessions under the theme “Managing Change: Placing Caribbean Youth at the Centre of Development, Integration and HIVAIDS Responses”.
The directors explored issues affecting Caribbean youth including HIVAIDS, unemployment, crime and violence and they also looked at areas of best practice in the region for dealing with these ills such as the case of Belize in fighting crime and violence and that of Jamaica in devising a comprehensive strategy for youth work.
Another meeting is expected to be convened within three weeks in St. Lucia.