Shamfa: Youth affairs is youths business too

Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe yesterday said young people often spoke about their rights but did not pay attention to their responsibilities.

“We have the responsibility to be educated about the issues that affect youth and the issues that affect our country as a whole... That’s youth business too because you are going to get out there to be the leaders of tomorrow, and you’re leaders of today too. So you have the responsibility to remain educated on the issues. You have the responsibility also to be reasonable and pragmatic.”

She was speaking at the Vybzing Regional Youth Outreach Forum which was part of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Board of Governors meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Wrightson Road, Port of Spain. The two-day meeting takes place on June 5-6.

Cudjoe said people tend to assess governments by their ability to develop physical infrastructure or keep sometimes unproductive public services running rather than promoting self-sufficiency and private sector development. And youth development had to compete with this mentality.

She told the youths present that they could not have everything immediately as most countries in the region were going through an economic downturn so they had to prioritise. She added that when they left Vybzing and returned home they should act on the information received because everyone had work to do to take the Caribbean and the world forward.

She said often in Caribbean development and Caricom in particular, authorities stopped programmes or activities because they did not immediately work out and instead started something else, many times something very similar. However, she said it was “important to stay the course and run the full distance” because Caricom people had to save themselves as no one else would do it.

Also speaking at the event was vice president of corporate services and bank secretary of the CDB, Yvette Lemonias-Seale. She explained that Vybzing was designed to build the capacity of the youth in TT, the host country this year, and the region in the areas of innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.

The programme provided career guidance, life skills training, and gathered insights on the effectiveness of the CDB’s programmes and policies for sustainable development. “CDB is committed to the sustainability of its support to youth. One of the key objectives of the Vybzing programme 2019 is to identify innovative ideas that can actually be translated into tangible business and services... Indeed Vybzing is anticipated to be a feeder mechanism for potential youth-targeted bank investments.”

Lemonias-Seale said all segments of society had to be given opportunities for there to be equitable development. Therefore, Vybzing targeted youth engagement and participation “in the development process,” allowing them the opportunity to express their understanding of development issues and actively participate in developing solutions.

She added that unemployed, underemployed, and poor youths under-represented so the CDB intended to change things. It therefore started developing its first youth policy and operations strategy which was expected to be completed this year. The bank also intended to expand the reach of Vybzing beyond its host country and to involve the region.

Also at the Hyatt was an innovation expo where young entrepreneurs displayed their goods and services. These included virtual reality public service demonstrations by carigamers.com, cosmetics by Vin Natural Cosmetics, hidden GPS trackers by Glam 99, jewellery, spa products and more.