The need for governments, particularly in the Caribbean and Africa, to develop policies that will counter the impact of the global economic downturn, and climate change, on young people in these regions, has been emphasised by Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mr. Pierre Sané.
Speaking at a meeting of Caribbean Ministers with responsibility for Social and Sustainable Development, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, on January 24, Mr. Sané stressed that both crises posed serious implications for societies and their people, particularly the youth.
"The youth, not just in this (Caribbean) region, but also in my own region, in Africa, are paying the price for an economic crisis which is nothing of their doing.and will be paying the price for climate change, for which they have no responsibility. If the youth, to whom we are going to pass on the (baton), lose hope, and are confronted with a future for which they see no way out for them, then, believe me, we are sitting on a time bomb," he contended, citing the need to keep the hopes and aspirations of this group alive.
In this regard, Mr. Sané pointed to a CARICOM Summit, scheduled for Paramaribo, Curacao, next week, to review work co-ordinated and undertaken by Co-Chairman of CARICOM's Commission on Youth Development, Professor Barry Chevannes, noting that "UNESCO is very encouraged and committed to supporting this initiative."
"I'm also encouraged by the participatory work that Professor Chevannes has undertaken in order to collect the views of the youth in the Caribbean. Six thousand youth have been part of this exercise. Therefore, what the Caribbean will examine next week is really the voice of young people in the region," he said.
Mr. Sané is also optimistic that the Ministers with responsibility for youth affairs would share UNESCO's concern of the need to address issues impacting this group "as a matter of priority," through the development of adequate and sustainable public policies, "that will allow the next generation to inherit a world, as we have inherited from the previous generation, that was better than the world before."
The three-day forum, which concluded on January 26, was staged by the Government, in collaboration with UNESCO, under the theme: 'Social Development Strategies for the Caribbean Youth in the context of the economic crisis'. It was attended by over 30 dignitaries, delegates and officials from 14 regional states, who participated in discussions and dialogue on policy responses to the financial and economic crisis impacting the region, particularly the region's youth, deemed among the stakeholders worst affected.
Source: JIS
Publish Date: January 27, 2010
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