Chief Youth Officer, John Roach has called for the installation of a Youth Parliament for Dominica which he said is an integral element of the constitution of the National Youth Council (NYC) of Dominica.
Speaking at the NYC Executive Inauguration ceremony held at the Fort Young Hotel on Monday night, he said young people must be given the opportunity to have their voice heard.
“Young people need the opportunity to have their voices heard and to be included in the decision-making process,” he said. “Debatable issues which speak to the economic and social development of the country, how much weight do the views of young people have on influencing policies and legislation. Hence the need of the installation of Youth Parliament which is an integral element of the constitution of the National Youth Council of Dominica, where the young people of Dominica can participate in shaping the social and political landscape of the society which the youth envision.”
Roach continued, “It does not matter how many programs you put in place or opportunities that we open for the youth if we do not have the participation of the youth in the development and planning process we are wasting time and resources.”
According to him, to know the full impact of issues on the lives of the youth they must be fully engaged in the decision-making process at all levels.
“Youth participation allows creativity and passion to come into play in successfully addressing youth development issues,” he stated. “Creativity, passion and participation are critical elements of strong leadership.”
Roach stated further that with the changing environment, youth must lead the way in national and regional development, “therefore we must position our youth leaders in Dominica to be change agents in the Caribbean.”
In addition, he said, the Youth Development Division and the National Youth Council are in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat on crafting a new National Youth Policy which will be in sync with the post- millennium development goals era and coherent with the new dispensation of youth development during the era of the 2016-2030 sustainable development goals.
He stated that it is anticipated that this new National Youth Policy will be ready for submission to cabinet by the end of this year.
Roach added that the Youth Development Division and the NYC are now finalizing a National Youth Ambassador’s Core to be submitted very soon for Cabinet’s approval.
“The mission of this entity is to adequately prepare a dynamic core of youth leaders who are committed to provide quality service and high level representation at national, regional and international forums on behalf of the young people of Dominica,” he noted.
Roach remarked that since the resurgence of the NYC in 1996 the young people of Dominica have been representing themselves and making tremendous contribution to the political, social, educational and economic development of Dominica and the region.
“This is evident today in the number of young people who serve on the village and city councils across the island and also serve as chairpersons of these councils,” he noted.
He advised young leaders that they must not make social ills dictate the changes in their society, “instead you must be creative and introduce the changes which you wish to see.”
Meantime; President of the NYC Senator Jahisiah Benoit said he is committed in representing the council as its leader.
“This is not a jeans and t-shirt council and I keep making that point and I am hoping by now we can see that dressing nicely for a function is not as important as making sure that the arrangements are totally in place for the function,” he said. “Planning and preparation leads to an increase in quality and that is what we are going to continue striving for as a National Youth Council. There will be hiccups, there will be shortcomings but rest assure that I will never waiver and I will apologize a million times on behalf of this council and on my personal behalf for the shortcomings as the leader, and to assure you that I will demonstrate to you as young people we can learn not only from each other successes, but from each other shortcomings and in fact some of our failures.”
He explained that there will be times the council plan an activity and it doesn’t come out with a 100 percent success rate.
Benoit went on to say that in every event the members will continue to raise the calibre of the NYC, “whether it is an inauguration, whether it is an inauguration, whether it is a youth awards, a youth caucus or a youth group meeting in Bataca which by the way is just as important as any other community in Dominica. ”
The ceremony was celebrated under the theme: “Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development”.
The list below shows the 2015-2017 Executive of the National Youth Council of Dominica
President- Senator Jahisiah Benoit
Chairperson of the General Assembly – Bert Paul
First Vice President -Sharla Gabriel
Second Vice President -Deion Anselm
General Secretary -Nadege Roach
Treasurer – Malik Stuart
Publicity Coordinator – Karla Henry
Committee Member -Michelle Belle
Committee Member -Annel Lewis(youngest member)
Female Youth CARICOM Ambassador -Keriah Jno. Baptiste
Male Youth CARICOM Ambassador – Eardley Pierre
Administrative Coordinator – Ken Joseph
Kalinago Youth Representative – Natasha Green
The members did not take their oath during the ceremony; however they are expected to do so at the council’s next Executive meeting before Chief Youth Development Officer, John Roach.
Young people need jobs and opportunity.
I like this and I hope other nations will take note.
A good percentage of any population is what could be called ”youth”. We educate our kids. If we fail to provide the practical and hands on training to use what they know we are not equipping them. At this level they should be introduced to responsibility without being weighed down.
Young people know the heartbeat of the nation’s youth. They should have reasonable input when it comes to addressing the issues of the day without being left alone. They can best do this when they understand that wisdom comes from experience and they honor the values of those who have gone ahead of them.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Evangelist.
Please John, don’t we have a bloated, regular government already? Two governments for a small, poor nation like Dominica? More, conferences, more meetings, more meaningless positions? What we really need:
– cut costs
– create real jobs
Please, no more empire building. Let’s get on putting our hand to to the plow and work!
Yes Sir, we are top heavy already, soon we will capsize. Too many captains and not enough sailors. Below deck empty except rats and the commodore steering the ship on a part time basis only.
They are too thick in the head to understand that.Doing so much in this little island which makes no sense,any country who that cannot rely on its self to succeed will always have serious economical ,social and health problems..instead of wasting money on building offices build a factory to transform our agricultural products,we have wild lif that people consume build a place of reproduction then let them loose in the wild ,by the way Soufriere and scotts Head needs their own bakery,bread and cake should not be coming from Roseau to feed two villages ,what about when Roseau will not be able to supply them?they must eat also,help them to help themselves …all these new school of politicians that you all are trying to build up ,this is not necessary for the moment..