Georgetown: A major youth forum as part of the upcoming Annual Board of Governors Meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank will open this morning at the Grand Coastal Hotel, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara.
Under the theme “Youth Voices for Change”, the youth outreach programme will involve young people between the ages of 16-29 from the host country on May 21-23. Named VYBZING, the programme is in keeping with its purpose in creating an environment for dialogue. The objective of the forum is to give young people an opportunity to voice their understanding of the key development issues, which confront the region, and to support them in taking active participation in the development process.
According to a release by the CDB, approximately 55 youths will be selected by the bank’s partners and collaborators with this event. An effort will be made to ensure that representation from every region is present along with a balance of the genders. CBD notes that funding will be provided for transportation, meals, materials and accommodation. CBD will also assist in the transportation of participants from the hinterland regions, as necessary.
This three-day event will be crafted to sensitise Guyanese youth about the threats posed by climate change and climate variability, and enable them to structure responses that are in tandem with priority actions endorsed by Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, as well as priority areas endorsed by the Office of the President, Office of Climate Change and outlined in Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy.
Resource persons from Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (5Cs) (Belize), Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (Trinidad) and the Office of the President, Office of Climate Change will facilitate the forum through the use of a blend of visioning exercises, ranking techniques, interactive knowledge-building exercises and British parliamentary-style debating to engage the participants and move them towards meaningful and sustained action.
A community toolkit for climate change along with other forum materials and gifts will be presented to participants. The range of activities and presentations will culminate in the preparation of a youth statement on climate change, which will serve as the basis for a Caribbean Youth Declaration on Climate Change, with emphasis on the post-2015 climate change agenda. A VYBZING Exhibit called “Recycle, Reuse” will be mounted at the Convention Centre during the week of the CDB annual meeting. This exhibit will feature the work of young people that have creatively used waste materials to produce useful products.
