Simmons takes over as Acting Director of CYP

Recently appointment acting Director of the Commonwealth Youth Affairs Division, Vincentian Andrew Simmons, is expected to address the 2006 World Youth Summit on International Youth Day on August 10, 2006.

The summit, in which Simmons is expected to be the keynote speaker, would be the first major international outing for the Vincentian as Director of the Commonwealth Youth Affairs Division.{{more}}

Simmons, who has been Deputy Director of the Commonwealth Youth Division for the past two years, would now take the lead role in overseeing the operations of the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) in 53 Commonwealth countries across the world.

“My main challenge would be to focus my energies on enhancing the management programmes and operation systems both at regional centres in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and South Pacific, along with the Pan Commonwealth Office in London,” Simmons told Searchlight Business earlier this week.

Simmons, who last year was recognized by the United Nations for his contribution to the development of small island states, would also play a lead role in developing a new Plan of Action on Youth Empowerment for 2006-2015 in collaboration with global partners such as the World Bank and the United Nations. This Action Plan, which coincides with the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, and the development of the Youth Development Index, have been two of the major policy initiatives the Vincentian had been credited for. Simmons, a past director of the St. Vincent Teachers’ Credit Union (SVTCU) and founding member of the JEMS Progressive Community Organisation in Enhams, is the recipient of a number of prestigious international awards including the United Nations Global 500 Award and the International Goldman Environment Prize.