Youth month activities in November and December

Youth month activities will be celebrated in November and December this year, under the theme: Jamaican Youth: Organising, Integrating and Participating for Development.
The activities, organised by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture through the National Centre for Youth Development (NCYD), will get underway on Monday, November 1, with a launch at Campion College, Hope Road, Kingston, starting at 3 p.m.
Speaking at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank session on Wednesday (October 27) at the agency’s head office in Kingston, Director of Youth Policy and Programme, NCYD, Roberta Brown Ellis, said that about 150 persons will attend the ceremony, which will have a young person as the guest speaker. Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon Olivia Grange, and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry, Senator Warren Newby, are also expected to attend.
“There will be displays from different youth organizations, also the participation of one of our marching bands; so we are really expecting to have a fanfare,” she said.
Mrs. Brown Ellis said the NCYD will be incorporating activities by other youth serving organizations and Ministries. She mentioned a Career Day, which will be hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November, as part of youth month activities.
“I want to make it clear that, for this year, we are taking a more multi-sectoral approach to our youth month activities,” she added.
On Saturday, November 6, a youth gospel explosion will take place in Trelawny, at a venue to be decided, while on the following day, Youth Club leaders and officers of the NCYD will read youth month messages in churches, islandwide.
“We want to ensure that young people all across Jamaica are able to participate in as many of our youth month activities as possible and, therefore, we will be having youth club leaders and our officers doing the reading of messages in churches all across the island,” she said.
Another big activity is International Students’ Day on November 17, at the Vere Technical High School in Clarendon. The event will commence at 8 a.m., with a march in May Pen, Clarendon after which there will be a youth conference starting at 10 a.m. at the school, where government representatives and persons from the academic community will discuss Government’s support for tertiary level education. On November 19, there will be a Street Youth Stakeholders’ Consultation.
Mrs. Brown Ellis said the aim is to build awareness of the situation affecting street youths. According to the Youth Director, the consultation will bring together all the organizations that are responding to the needs of street youths.
Another highlight of the month is the Youth and Ministers’ Forum, which will be held on Monday, November 22. It involves about 15 or 20 young persons, discussing issues relating to youth development with about five Ministers.
The National Youth Council elections will be held on November 27, while the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence will take place on Sunday, November 28.Youth Month culminates on December 5, with the refurbishing of the Muirton Boys’ Home in Portland.