You Should see what CARIBBEAN YOUTH said in 16th Parliamentary Session with CPA

Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, July 31, 2023 – The 16th Session of the Youth Parliament of the 45th Annual Conference of the Caribbean, The Americas, and the Atlantic Region, was held at The Shore Club, Turks and Caicos Islands on Wednesday July 26.

The Youth Parliament was comprised of young people from across the Caribbean. Mirroring the arrangement of the Turks and Caicos’ House of Assembly, they debated the motion “To urge Regional Leaders to engage the voices of Youth to build resilience in the face of Global Challenges.”

The Minister for Education who moved the motion made the point that: “Young people represent the largest generation in history yet are often left out of policy decisions despite their social activism and even though it is the youth who will bear the burden of the global challenges we currently face.”

The statement opened the floor for what would be a lively and spirited debate from both the Opposition and the Government.

Comments included:

A call for regulations to protect youth; from the Governors Appointed member (No. 2). “These regulations would ensure that the youth whose voices hold the power to create change and initiate progress do not simply become spokespersons for the Government, arbiters of their personal and political agendas,” he said.

A call for youth to be accepted into the House of Assembly; from the Government’s Appointed Member. “Some may think that the three-year gap between being able to elect (18 years) and being elected (21 years) is insignificant but I wish to posit that those three years, are sufficient to turn a young person’s mind from leadership in their own country and this needs to be rectified immediately,” he said.

A call to give youth more credit as they were already leading; from the Leader of the Opposition. “Countless youth are already leaders and innovators in the workplace, their diversity and strengths should be highlighted. Our youth have never been anything other than strong.” He stressed that youth were already well represented.

A call for current parliamentarians to create actionable opportunities for youth; from the Opposition Elected Member from Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill, who stressed that he would not disagree with the Government just because he was an Opposition member. “We have come to a point where we need to understand that it is a collective effort. If we can do this together, we will not have to worry about where the future will lead us.”

The one-day debate allowed the young people to connect to the overarching theme of the event (“Building A Resilient Region In The Face of Global Challenges”) and argue in the presence of the parliamentary leaders of the region as to why they should be included in efforts to tackle said issues.