New Caricom Youth Ambassador for SVG appointed

On Tuesday, 22nd April, a new CYA received his instrument to function as a Caricom Youth Ambassador for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Renando Henderson spent the previous four days in Barbados developing new strategies to boost the effectiveness of the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme (CYAP) for the period 2008 to 2011.{{more}}

Henderson, who was appointed in January as the second CYA, replacing Kyle De Freitas, is one of the 15 CYAs serving for the first time. There are 26 Corps members attending the workshop. The regional youth advocates, who are mandated to promote CARICOM issues on the national level, are meeting for an April 21 to 23 workshop at the United Nations House in Christ Church, Barbados. An opening ceremony was held on Monday to welcome the new and returning Ambassadors who were presented with their instruments of appointment by the Permanent Secretary of Youth (Barbados) Lionel Weekes. CYA Altoscha Anderson was unable to attend the workshop.

Deputy Programme Manager for Youth Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Heather Johnson, applauded the members for their commendable volunteerism and dedication to the CYA programme (CYAP). She told the CYAs that they are important tools in the effort to educate young people on the national level and encouraged them to network with their peers and related associations such as national youth councils to ensure a wide range of youth are positively impacted by the programme. Dr. Johnson thanked the Government of Barbados for hosting the three-day workshop, which was the first for the year.

Henderson said that he was extremely impressed with the coordination of the meeting and the subsequent structures in place to boost the reach of the programme. What was particularly impressive was the high level of skills and knowledge possessed by his colleagues and the passion with which they advocated on behalf of the young people.

The CYAs touched on topics such as : the Caribbean Youth Agenda; Engaging Youth on the CSME; Youth Response to HIV/AIDS; and finalizing a draft for a Regional Framework for Youth Governance.