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Fifty exceptional youth leaders were invited to the 8th Biennial Diaspora Conference, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre, in Downtown Kingston, from June 16-20.
State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, who spoke on June 17 at the event, pointed out that the conference gave the young people an opportunity to network, to see the global picture of where Jamaica is, and where we are going.
The youth leaders represented organisations, such as Equality Jamaica; Youth for Change; National Youth Council; Youth Parliament; Jamaica Union of Tertiary Students; Students Council; Prefects Association; Caymanas Police Youth Club; Southborough Youth Club; Hampton Gardens Youth Club, and Newlands Youth Club.
“This is the kind of youth engagement we need in Jamaica,” the State Minister said, emphasising that youth involvement is vital to Jamaica, especially in preventing brain drain.
“We must create opportunities for our young people,” Mr. Terrelonge said, noting that Jamaica is going in the right direction in this, as in the last three years there has been a trending down of the youth unemployment with the rate now at 19.7 per cent, with various programmes focusing on the issue, including the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) programme; the Career Advancement Programme (CAP) and the Technology Advancement Programme (TAP).
Additionally, he cited the HEART Trust’s mobile training Unit, which is traversing t island certifying young people.
He explained that the Unit invites persons with a particular skill, such as hairdressing, barbering, masonry, tiling to come and demonstrate their skill, and receive certification on the same day.
The State Minister also listed several outlets for youth engagement by the Government, including the Youth Advisory Council, which meets with several Ministers on various matters to ensure that proper policies are effected; meetings with the Students’ Council; and Youth Empowerment Officers working with community-based youth clubs.
Courtesy of JIS
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