(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The CARICOM Secretariat has embarked on a series of stakeholder consultations in five Member States – Belize, Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines - to solicit feedback on the draft CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan (CYDAP) 2012 - 2017.

The CYDAP which was developed in a consultative process gives expression to Declaration of Paramaribo on the Future of Youth in the Caribbean Community. The Declaration was issued by CARICOM Heads of Government following a Special Summit on Youth Development held in Suriname last year January. CARICOM Heads of Government convened the Summit to discuss the seminal report of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) titled Eye on the Future, Invest in Youth Now for Tomorrow’s Future. The Report provided a comprehensive analysis of the situation of youth in the Caribbean and made significant recommendations on how to improve the well-being of Caribbean youth.

Central elements of CYDAP include six CARICOM Youth Development Goals: Health and well being; Participation, Governance and Partnerships, Culture, Identity and Citizenship; Education and Economic Empowerment; Integrated and coordinated policy and institutional framework; and Protection, Safety and Security. These goals are driven by a strengthened Regional Strategy for Youth Development.

Consultations have to date engaged officials from public and private sector and civil society agencies, including youth and Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) in the Belize and the Bahamas.

Dr Heather Johnson, CARICOM Secretariat’s Deputy Programme Manager, Youth and Community Development said “the consultations have not only generated feedback to inform the finalization of the CYDAP and also reinforced the value of bringing a strategic cross section of stakeholders together to discuss the national policy and action in the context of a common multi-sectoral agenda.”

The consultations will move to Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Haiti in the ensuing weeks. The draft CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan will be submitted to the 22nd meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which will focus on Youth, Sport and Culture, in January 2012.