Given the political atmosphere in Dominica since the calling of a snap election by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit on Sunday, November 6, 2022, the National Youth Council of Dominica has deemed it necessary to capture the opinions of the youth of the country on this decision.
In this regard, the NYCD, on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, launched a Politics and Governance Youth Poll on the U-Report OECS Platform.
U-Report OECS is a digital platform designed by UNICEF to engage young people in program priorities, emergency response, and advocacy actions.
The intent of this poll is to gain the views of youth on the snap elections and governance and, secondly, to decipher and present the data at a virtual panel discussion featuring local and regional youth activists, economists, and political senators.
The launch took the form of a panel discussion which was held at the National Development Foundation of Dominica under the theme: “The Future Youth Want: Political Participation and Decision-Making.” The activity started at 2:30 p.m.
U-report OECS Ambassador for Dominica, Wendy Wallace, said this platform supports adolescent, youth, and community participation; and works as a tool to share information, raise awareness, and collect quantifiable data on specific areas that impact youth and the most vulnerable.
“If we reflect on the data problem in the Caribbean, we realize that we are statistically deficient in the absence of data and information,” she stated.
“Policies adopted and implemented by governmental agencies, local government councils, local community groups, and organizations have arrived to draft policies and initiatives on the basis of little to no data, so U-report OECS is here to bridge that gap as the information will be utilized by these various stakeholders to inform their respective policies and programs as they seek to formulate relevant youth-focused initiatives.”
She noted that this platform is being managed across all nine OECS member States and would have recently conducted numerous outreach activities both at school and in the communities in Dominica.
“Our partnership with the National Youth Council of Dominica has been quite instrumental in mobilization efforts to increase the number of U-reports land we would have engaged over 200 students at Saint Mary’s Academy as well as Saint Martin Secondary, the Arthur Waldron Seventh-day Adventist Academy as well as Dominica State College and the Academic School of Learning.”
Wallace said U-report also prides itself in the inclusion of all youth and as such, they would have also engaged with the Kalinago youth and explored possible opportunities for the platform.
“A joint stakeholder meeting would have also engaged various youth groups in Dominica like the National Youth Council, the National Youth Parliamentarians, JCI…as well as Leo Club, to discuss possible opportunities through the platform,”
She said one of the most exciting engagements was when they received the green light from the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education to go into the schools to continue the outreach which will be continuing in 2023.
“U-reports goes far beyond your imaginations and U- report would have launched a partnership with an organization called ‘Generations Unlimited’ which led to the creation of FUNDO which is an aspect that focuses on skills training for cognitive abilities, problem-solving critical thinking, and skills that are not taught in the formal curriculum at schools, to basically improve employability and to improve the personal and professional development of youth in Dominica,” Wallace noted.
This platform is open to everyone but the data is specifically collected to highlight ages 13 to 29.
The organizers encouraged young Dominicans to become U reporters and sign up for the platform because their “voices matter”.
To sign up, persons can text via WhatsApp Messenger the word “JOIN” to the number 1 758 287 2124 or via Facebook Messenger or Instagram messenger at ‘U- report OCES’.
who was the poll sent to? friends and family only?