Cross-section of Directors of Youth, Youth Leaders and stakeholders at the Directors of Youth meeting held on Saturday, 23rd June 2018 at the Hilton Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

The Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago convened a Youth Entrepreneurship and Directors of Youth meeting from the 20th the 23rd of June 2018 at the Hilton Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Present were Directors of Youth, Youth Council leaders and young entrepreneurs representing fourteen countries from across the Caribbean region. The meetings were two-fold as each country produced an action plan for the development of a Youth Entrepreneurship Policy and the Directors agreed to a Statement of Priorities for Action.

Several partners were in attendance for this technical meeting including the Caribbean Development Bank, Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs,

CARICOM, ILO, UNECLAC, Commonwealth Youth Council, Tobago Youth Council, Mr. Henry Charles, Ms. Dwynette Eversley, CANARI, Peace Child International, Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, Youth Business Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica Youth Business Trust. 

Representatives of the Caribbean Regional Routh Council; Ms. Kimberly Gilbert Board Member for Training and Development and Mr. Marcos Ambrister Jr. Vice Chairperson for Resource Mobilization.

The Caribbean Regional Youth Council (CRYC) was represented by Kimberly Gilbert, Board Member for Training and Development and Marcos Ambrister Jr., Vice Chairperson for Resource Mobilization at the Directors of Youth meeting held on Saturday, 23rd June 2018 they presented on the role and work of CRYC and its plans for youth council development, director engagement and grass-root youth engagement. Resulting from this meeting, the Directors of Youth agreed to support CRYC’s major project, the Caribbean Youth Leaders’ Summit. In addition, they specified how CRYC will be supported in both the Funding for Youth Development and Regional Coordination of Youth Development Initiatives priority areas they highlighted. 

Moreover, the Directors of Youth agreed to a Statement of Priorities for Action called the Port of Spain Statement of Priorities for Action. This focuses on five areas; Policy and Legislative Environment, Funding for Youth Development, Institutional Arrangements to Support Youth Development, Regional Coordination of Youth Development Initiatives and Communication for Partnership Engagement. The Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs met simultaneously and drafted youth entrepreneurship policy recommendations for the governments.

The Caribbean Regional Youth Council thanks the Commonwealth Secretariat and all stakeholders for hosting and including us in this initiative. CRYC continues to work with all partners towards furthering youth development and empowerment in the Caribbean region.