A three-day series of interactive training invited public officials from the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean to advance the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) Agenda. The virtual workshop was organized by the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean and its YPS Support Group (YPS SG) composed of young people from the Caribbean, in partnership with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
On 27 June, the Network of Directors composed of policy-makers and public officials of youth-related national Ministries of CARICOM Member States gathered to reaffirm the principles of meaningful youth engagement and acquire tools and knowledge to design policies, programmes and projects for and with youth, in particular to accelerate the YPS Agenda.
“Despite the multiple challenges faced by youth, the Consultation on Youth, Peace and Security also demonstrated young people have a hopeful outlook of the future,” Saadia Sanchez-Vegas, Director and Representative of UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean, opened the training series with perspectives from Caribbean youth. She shared that “young people envision the Caribbean as a regional united and peaceful space: transcending its differences and emphasizing its commonalities.” Helen Royer, Director of Human Development at the Directorate of Human and Social Development of the CARICOM Secretariat, also emphasized youth’s crucial role in the Caribbean, which is reinforced through the UN Youth Strategy – Youth2030, the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda, and the CARICOM Strategy 2020-2029. The training series was composed of three consecutive modules, during which the participants actively shared their experiences and interacted with youth representatives from the Caribbean.
MODULE 1 | Meaningful Youth Engagement (MYE): Principles, Conditions and Good Practices & Lessons
Sharing the context of what youth engagement is in their country, the policy-makers and public officials were able to unpack the key principles and conditions for MYE. Representatives from youth-related Ministries identified empowerment, participation, communication, gender-sensitive and culturally appropriate as key principles of youth engagement while indicating that allocation of resources is one of the key barriers to further advancing youth work in the region. Thematic case studies, including from Grenada were discussed to identify lessons learned and opportunities for MYE in programmes and policies in the Caribbean.
MODULE 2 | Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) and Young Peacebuilders in the Caribbean
Different levels of youth participation as well as how to ensure youth engagement throughout the programme cycle were discussed during the second day of the training series. Public officials agreed that having policies and programmes that address different development stages of youth was important, as well as the inclusion of youth in the planning and decision-making process. Furthermore, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) was introduced to unpack the YPS Agenda at global and national levels. The five pillars of the Resolution were shared, which laid out key actions that Member States should take to support social cohesion.
Youth played an integral role in facilitating the next part of the module, with five young people presenting their perspectives to the participants. Two members from the YPS SG presented key insights from the UNESCO YPS Consultation held in November 2021, while three young activists shared their experiences as youth leaders and what are the challenges and opportunities, they see in advancing meaningful youth engagement in the region. The interaction with youth speakers proved to have a motivational impact on the public officials and policymakers. Through discussions that followed the presentations, some of the participants shared how their views on involving youth have changed, and many expressed how they were inspired to continue to work with devoted young people.
MODULE 3 | YPS in the Region: Implementation in Practice
The final day of the training series hosted several professionals to share their expertise and discuss their context for localizing the YPS Agenda in the Caribbean. Sherwin Toyne Stephenson, Programme Manager for Crime and Security at the CARICOM Secretariat, shared information about the currently existing infrastructures and CARICOM coordination mechanisms that could support the implementation of the YPS Agenda. The workshop counted also with the expertise of Celina del Felice, Senior Advisor on Youth, Peace and Security, Agency for Peacebuilding, and the lead author of the YPS Guide for Public Officials, who introduced different ways how the YPS Agenda was localized through policy and action plan examples for the participants to explore. Nigeria is one of the two countries worldwide to have adopted a National Action Plan on YPS. In order to foster South-South learning experiences, the workshop also hosted Theophilus Ekpon, Centre for Sustainable Development and Education in Africa (CSDEA-Africa), who shared his experience accompanying the development of the Action Plan in Nigeria.
Through the YOUth Matters! Training series, the public officials and young participants were able to identify entry points to jointly advance MYE and the YPS Agenda. Recognizing youth as rights-holders, partners and actors with their value that need to be included, the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean will continue to work with national institutions and the CARICOM Secretariat in creating opportunities for meaningful youth engagement.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development positions youth as critical agents of change and full-fledged partners in the United Nations’ work to build a better world for all, as indicated in the UN Youth Strategy, Youth2030. UNESCO’s global comparative advantage in meaningfully engaging with youth is its capacity to leverage the multidisciplinary expertise of its different thematic units, beyond specific projects. With around 63 percent of the population in the region being below the age of 30, youth are recognized as a UNESCO key priority for Caribbean Small Island Development States. UNESCO engages with youth as knowledge bearers, change agents and problem-solvers to advance positive social transformations in the Caribbean region.
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