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News : International : Organization of American States (OAS) Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


OAS Peace Leaders Programme Held at The College at The Bahamas
By The College of The Bahamas Office of Communication
Mar 11, 2016 - 5:33:51 PM

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OAS event held at COB

NASSAU, Bahamas - On February 24th and 25th, leaders from different institutions of the Bahamian community – the Ministries of Education, Youth and Foreign Affairs, The College of The Bahamas (COB), and Young Marine Explorers - came together for a workshop on Peace and Citizenship Education delivered at The College of The Bahamas by facilitators of the Department of Human Development, Education and Employment of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Dr. Eslyn Jones, Coordinator and Vice President of Student Affairs at The College of The Bahamas, explained how the workshop attendees were invited.

“This is a unique group that we designed for this inaugural workshop. We knew that we wanted to cover all sectors of influence. This is why various ministries, private entities and non-profit organizations were invited. We made sure to invite the students from The College to take part in the workshop as well as their voice is crucial to the leadership of tomorrow,“ she said.

This workshop is part of a series that has been implemented in the Caribbean sub-region, in collaboration with tertiary institutions, and represents the first cooperation initiative implemented after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Human Development, Education and Employment of the OAS, and The College of The Bahamas on November 2015. This partnership aims to strengthen the capacities of COB to promote civic and citizenship education programs in the community. It was made possible thanks to the OAS Partnership Program for Education and Training (PAEC), directed by Mrs. Juliet Phillips, former OAS Representative in The Bahamas, and executed by the Technical Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee on Education (CIE).

The workshop was inaugurated on February 24th, with welcoming remarks from Dr. Jones, who welcomed Ambassador Castro de Perez, Education Coordinator and Technical Secretariat of the CIE, and representatives from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of The Bahamas. Ambassador Castro thanked Dr. Rodney Smith, President of The College of The Bahamas, for his continued support to education initiatives in the country and the hemisphere through his ongoing participation in OAS activities. She also applauded COB’s strong commitment to quality education and community outreach.

The two-day training delivered by Ms. Romina Kasman, Education Specialist of the OAS, and Ms. Paulina Valdez, Education Consultant of the OAS, aimed to provide participants with key knowledge and tools to develop civic and citizenship education programs aimed at building a culture of peace in their communities.This objective was achieved through a series of interactive activities that participants conducted in groups, while developing project ideas for community engagement.

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OAS Workshop attendees including VP of Student Affairs Dr. Eslyn Jones.

As a youth representative who took part in the workshop, College of The Bahamas Union of Students Senate Speaker Travis Robinson touted the event as “excellent.” He was pleased the workshop took into consideration the point of view of youth in regard to peace and the leadership programme.

“One of the focuses of the discussion was Youth Empowerment and how do we get more young persons engaged in this type of conversation, because often times we implement programs and make decisions in the country and we don’t look at how it impacts the nation as a whole,” he said.

In an effort to include more young persons in the conversation surrounding global citizenship Robinson added, “I think we need to educate young persons about who they are and what their role is as it regards national citizenship.”

Participants expressed their gratitude and satisfaction with the workshop and specifically with the tools and skills earned that will allow them to pursue and develop local community projects that will positively impact the community and engage youth. The workshop concluded with each group’s presentation of the local community projects they developed throughout the two-day activities. Ultimately, all participants received a certificate for the completion of the course.

“We look forward to expanding to our own Peace Leaders Programme here in The Bahamas coming out of The College of The Bahamas,” Jones declared.

The OAS will continue to provide the COB with technical assistance to provide young people in The Bahamas with the citizenship and leadership capacities to be agents of change in their communities and the country.



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