(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Representatives of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) have embarked on an information and fact finding mission across the Region to harness stakeholders’ views, and recommendations on youth governance structures in Member States.

The information gathering exercise represents one component of the mandate of the CCYD to conduct a comprehensive regional analysis of the situation of Caribbean youth aged 10 – 29.

On Monday, 19 May 2008, the team comprising Commissioners Hally Haynes (Barbados), Yldiz Beighle (co-Chair), Kyle DeFreitas (St Vincent and the Grenadines) and Melvin Bouva (Suriname) made its first stop in Barbados where they engaged representatives of Departments responsible for Youth Affairs, National Youth Councils and National Youth Organisations in vigorous discussions.

Accompanied by Dr. Heather Johnson Deputy Programme Manager Youth and Community Development and Mr. Sherwin Bridgewater, Youth Consultant both from the CARICOM Secretariat, the team focused their discussions on the strengths, challenges and opportunities of the existing youth governance structures and in the Departments responsible for Youth Affairs and National Youth Councils/organizations.

Similar discussions will be held in Saint Lucia, St. Kitts, Belize, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Haiti and Jamaica and will contribute to a regional analysis of youth development and empowerment trends, issues and gaps. This information, in turn, will inform the development of a Regional vision and model of a youth governance network.

The Commission will also harness the dreams, vision, aspirations, identity, concerns and CSME perspectives of a wide cross section of adolescents and attached and unattached youth; and analyse risk, vulnerability, resilience and protective factors in youth who have made significant contributions to development as well as those living in urban disadvantaged communities. The CCYD was established by CARICOM Heads of Government in March 2007 to advise them on sustainable forward thinking policies and programmes to improve the well-being, development and empowerment of youth. Its work will provide an opportunity for a wide cross section of Caribbean youth aged 10–29 and other stakeholders to air their views, the report of which is expected to be submitted in January 2009.