 October
2nd, 2007: The
Inaugural National Conference on Youth and Development, was
held from the 27-28 September, 2007 under the theme,
Promoting youth involvement in governance, The future is
Now. The conference drew an average of 120 persons per day
over the two days. The participants who ranged in age from
13-29 were involved in a wide range of activities which
included the presentation of papers, group collaboration and
reporting, interactive sessions with key policy makers among
other things. Though the review of participant evaluations
is still to be completed, the general consensus was that the
conference though packed and tiring was a well appreciated
opportunity for participants.
Present for the opening ceremony were the Governor, Deputy
Governor, Chief Minister, Minister of Social Development,
Minister of Infrastructure among others. In his remarks at
the opening ceremony, the Hon. Evans M. Rogers, Minister of
Social Development, assured participants that their
recommendations were reasonable and would be given due
consideration. Remarks were also delivered by Director of
Youth and Culture, Mr. Lenox Proctor; Ms. Sherri-Anne
Roberts, President of the Anguilla National Youth Council;
and Mr. Henry Charles, Regional Director of the Commonwealth
Youth Programme, Caribbean Centre.
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| Participants engage each other at conference.
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The conference was chaired by CARICOM Youth Ambassador,
Mr. Eduardo Samuels who was ably assisted by Ms. Georgia
Mathew and Ms. Olufunmike Banks-Devonish. Papers were
presented by Ms. Kiesha Gumbs, Social Development Planner in
the Ministry of Social Development on Child Protection; Mr.
Alexander Orchard, member of the Albena Lake-Hodge
Comprehensive School’s, Literary and Debating Society on
Labour and Employment; Ms. Shantelle Gumbs, Projects Officer
at the Ministry of Finance on Access to Education; Ms. Calyn
Harrigan, member of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive
School Literary and Debating Society on Lifestyle Diseases;
Ms. Natasha Carty, Probations Officer on – Juvenile Justice;
Ms. Farah Mukhida, Protected Areas Manager at the Anguilla
National Trust on sustainable Land Use and Mr. Henry
Charles, Regional Director of the Commonwealth Youth
Programme, Caribbean Centre on Crime and Violence.
The papers presented the participants with stimuli for
discussion in working groups where they were required to
identify particular issues and provide appropriate responses
to those issues. This work formed the basis for the
conference resolutions produced at the end of the
conference.
Young people were also provided with the opportunity to
interact with various policy makers in government and the
public service. In the session Sharing Our Collective
Vision, the Hon. Chief Minister Mr. Osbourne Fleming and the
Hon. Minister of Social Development, Mr. Evans M. Rogers
along with National Youth Council Secretary Treasurer Mr.
Eduardo Samuels shared their vision for Anguilla. This
session proved to be popular and an additional half hour was
allocated, extending the session to one and a half hours.
Questions ranged from issues of labour, employment, national
security, immigration, education planning, and tourism
development to name a few.
The other scheduled interactive session saw Permanent
Secretary Public Administration, Ms. Aurjul Wilson, P.S.
Home Affairs, Labour, Immigration, Environment and Planning
Mr. Foster Rogers and P.S. Education, Sports, Youth and
Culture share with participants initiatives being developed
within their various portfolios. |
