Ministry holds youth mainstreaming workshop

KINGSTON — Consultations have begun on a National Youth Mainstreaming Strategy, to incorporate youth issues and awareness into the policies and programmes of the Government.

The findings from work already done towards the creation of the strategy were unveiled at two day workshop, which started Wednesday June 29 at the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

The overall aim of the strategy is to strengthen youth involvement in governance, and to invigorate the institutions directly involved in serving Jamaican youths. 

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon. Olivia Grange, explained that the youth mainstreaming strategy is complete with generic action plans, a promotion strategy and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

She said that the Ministry arrived at the national youth mainstreaming strategy, after analysing the status of Jamaican youth and looking at international best practices.

“One of the key concepts of mainstreaming is that all key players must work towards common goals, through increased collaboration, alliances and coordination,” Miss Grange said. She added that undertaking a youth mainstream strategy will bring the Government closer to recognising its commitment and mandate in the youth sector.

“This strategy is about specific goals, such as inclusiveness, participation and empowerment, institutional capacity building, accountability and maintaining sustainable livelihoods for youths,” she stated.

Miss Grange also encouraged the youths to participate fully in the workshop, as their feedback will be included in the strategy. The final document will be made available to all stakeholders, to be used as a guide in development polices impacting youth.

Director of the National Centre for Youth Development (NCYD), Roberta Ellis, said the strategy provided a strategic approach to incorporating the concerns of youths into development.

“We want to ensure that our young people are engaged at every step of the way, and when you look at the youth population, over 500,000 of our young people are between 15 and 25, it is critical that whatever programmes and policies we put in place to engage them, we do it well, we have to get it right,” Mrs. Ellis said.

Some of the key thematic areas and goals highlighted in the proposed strategy include: increased respect and facilitation of the rights of young people to participate in decision making; expanded inclusion of the concerns and aspirations of youth in deliberations on policies and programmes and assessment of the implication of positive impact on youth; and increased opportunities for employment and promotion of an entrepreneurship environment.  

The National Youth Mainstreaming Strategy is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank/ Government of Jamaica Youth Development project. The project aims to facilitate the transition of unattached youths to the world of work, and is being implemented by the NCYD, with the Ministry of Education as the executing Agency.

The two-day workshop was organised by the Centre for Leadership and Governance, UWI, in collaboration with the National Centre for Youth and Development, under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.

During the workshops, project coordinators will engage stakeholders from public and private sector organizations and civil society, on how best to execute different phases of the mainstreaming programme. 

The workshop will continue on Thursday, June 30 at the UWI, Mona.

By LATONYA LINTON, JIS Reporter