YOUTH EMPOWERMENT TAKING SHAPE IN REGIONAL DECISION-MAKING MACHINERY

Caribbean Youth's contribution to the decision-making process of the regional integration movement specifically as it pertains to the social development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) could impact on the deliberations of one of CARICOM's principal organs, the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), which will convene its Fourth Meeting in Georgetown, Guyana from 4-6 October, 2000.

This move signals a breakthrough by Caribbean Youth in addressing one of their primary concerns, that of empowerment and, with their focus on securing a place in the Region's decision-making machinery, they are also expected to contribute to the resolutions to be put through the parliamentary process when the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians (ACCP) holds its Third Sitting in Belize City, Belize later this year.

The Consultations and Resolutions of the Youth Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians, which sat earlier this year in the St. George's National Assembly in Grenada, were submitted by the Caribbean Youth Explosion 2000. The Youth Explosion explored issues pertaining to the implementation of regional and international agreements, and integrating them into the youth empowerment agenda. The event, which was hosted by the Government of Grenada, was a joint initiative of the CARICOM Secretariat, the Commonwealth Youth Programme and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The three-day deliberations of COHSOD, which will cover a range of issues, is expected to focus on the establishment of an Inter-Sectoral Agenda to meet the challenges of Youth under a wider agenda item relating to integrated themes on social development of CARICOM.

The Youth Assembly was represented by youth leaders drawn from CARICOM Member States and Associate Member State, the British Virgin Islands. It considered issues of Empowerment, Representation, Health and the Rights of the Child.