(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)     Over thirty-seven thousand hits were received from users of the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors Facebook page leading up to a Social Media Interaction with CARICOM Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque on Tuesday.

The social media interaction was hosted at the Secretariat’s headquarters in Georgetown Guyana. Its purpose was to expose young people across the Region to the work of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Secretariat and the institutions of the Community.

The forum was hosted in two parts. The first was spearheaded by Assistant Secretary General in charge of Human and Social Development Dr. Douglas Slater. Issues related to the CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan, which was developed to guide national policy, integrated planning and action regarding youth were discussed.

Dr. Slater said he had a vision that the youth would carry on the role of CARICOM within the Region. “You have to arm yourselves with all the tools available including proper education and soft skills” ASG Slater told participants.

CARICOM Youth Ambassador Sade Jemmott and President of the Caribbean Regional Youth Council Timothy Ferdinand were also panelists during this segment which was moderated by Youth Ambassador Kishore Shallow.

In the second segment Secretary General LaRocque engaged the youth, and spoke to issues such as the progress made by the CARICOM Secretariat in the area of youth engagement and development including the CYDAP, free movement of CARICOM nationals, climate change as it related to CARICOM and the CARICOM Reform process.

He also explained that communication was a top priority for the CARICOM Secretariat.  “We have stepped up our communication, you will continue to see us improving our communication… we will continue to rely on the media and not just the traditional media,” Ambassador LaRocque said.  This session was moderated by Dean of the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Corps Cindy Morquette.