More than 20 young people from St. James, with mild intellectual disabilities, have benefitted from employment training at a three week non-residential camp organised by the National Youth Service (NYS). The camp, held at the St. John’s Methodist Church Hall in Montego Bay from February 2 to 23, represents the first phase of the NYS’ Empowerment Programme, which is being...

The Government has allocated $70.2 million in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure, for the Youth Development Programme. The Estimates were tabled in the House of Representatives on February 19 by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips. One of the main objectives of the programme is to facilitate the transition of unattached youth to adulthood and the...

The Minister of Youth and Culture, the Honourable Lisa Hanna is expressing sadness at the passing of former Executive Director of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), Dr. Clover Thompson Gordon, OD, JP. In a statement the Minister described Dr. Thompson Gordon as a master educator and an astute leader who contributed enormously to the socio-cultural development of the Jamaican...

The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) is reminding songwriters and performers to submit their entries for the 2015 Festival Song Competition by the deadline of Friday, February 27. Entry forms and guidelines are available on the JCDC website, www.jcdc.gov.jm; its head office at 3-5 Phoenix Avenue, Kingston 10; and all JCDC parish offices island-wide. “We encourage all the producers, singers,...

Minister of Youth and Culture, the Hon. Lisa Hanna MP, has indicated that she is pleased with the progress the National Secondary Students Council (NSSC) has made over the past two years in increasing the level of participation in students’ governance. The Minister was speaking at the NSSC Thanksgiving Church Service, which marked the beginning of NSSC Week 2015, held...

The Ministry of Youth and Culture, through the Child Development Agency will be observing National Foster Care Recognition Week from February 8 to 14, 2015, under the theme ‘Foster a Child… Change a Life.’  The week will commence with a regional church service to be held at the St. Ann’s Bay New Testament Church of God on Sunday February 8th...

As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the Child Development Agency (CDA) hosted an awards ceremony for the participants of its poster competition, on February 5. Under the theme: ‘Protecting Children, Transforming Lives, Securing the Future’, the CDA invited children from across the island to express their views surrounding child protection in Jamaica and the role of the agency, through...