Youths Urged To be More Proactive

A call has gone out to the youths of St. Lucia to become more involved in the decision-making, as well as in executing the initiatives formulated to help tackle the plethora of problems facing that often marginalized demographic.
Mr. Henry Charles, Regional Director of The Commonwealth Youth Program Caribbean Center, based in Georgetown, Guyana, made the plea to the modest gathering that attended the National Youth Month Lecture held on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at The Central Library in Castries.
Mr. Charles underscored the point that the crippling effects of unemployment, illicit drug trading, HIV/AIDS, gang violence and the lack of adequate social planning are just some of the debilitating factors contributing to the growing apathy among today’s youths.
He further emphasized that these issues often override the strides made in the technological advances achieved in recent years and issued the challenge to the relevant policymakers to ensure national youth development programs receive added priority on social planning agendas.

He lamented the cultural ad hoc approaches adopted by some agencies acting on behalf of the youth that are often out of synch with the true realities facing our young people. According to him, any solution deemed to elevate the status quo of youths should have the important input of that sector as a key benchmark.
Governments, he added, must not just do short-term patchwork responses but should make a concerted effort to fund the relevant programs needed to remove the stereotypical superlatives often attached to the more vulnerable in our society.
For its part, the Commonwealth Youth Program has pledged its support for the strengthening of the support structure for youths. But, Mr. Charles admonished, the only way these positive changes can be brought about is for youths to be more proactive and participatory in the process of realizing their true potential. This, he says, can augur well as a key factor in nation-building.