Many Caribbean youth stay unaware of the CARICOM Single Market and Economic system (CSME) and its advantages to their lives and future prosperity. This is because of a number of points, together with the truth that the CSME just isn’t adequately included into academic curricula and restricted engagement and curiosity from youth. These limitations hinder their potential for development and development by means of regional integration.
The just lately launched CARICOM Younger Professionals Programme (CYPP) is an answer to those challenges as it’ll higher place younger folks within the Area to learn from the advances in regional integration.
Reaching Integration by means of Collective Efforts
Michele Small-Bartley, Programme Supervisor for Youth Growth on the CARICOM Secretariat believes that the CYPP can bridge gaps and create renewed curiosity in CSME amongst youth. She affirms that the CSME is a important automobile to drive financial development and foster regional cooperation within the Caribbean.
“We should prioritise academic reform, focused outreach, youth engagement, and expertise improvement to bridge the hole in consciousness and empower younger folks to actively take part in and profit from the CSME’s alternatives,” acknowledged Small-Bartley.
The CYPP is a four-month programme which goals to construct the capability of CARICOM nationals aged 24 to 35 years by offering them with the related data and expertise to advertise the implementation of the CSME regime. It should additionally give attention to serving to younger folks higher perceive and navigate the complexities of the CSME by means of complete coaching, workshops, and academic sources utilizing an experiential strategy to boost their data, expertise, and competencies.
By way of this course of, younger professionals shall be empowered to advocate for his or her pursuits and priorities inside the CSME framework, thus guaranteeing their voices are heard in coverage discussions and decision-making processes on the nationwide and regional ranges.
The initiative will facilitate platforms, boards, and networking occasions the place younger professionals can join, collaborate, and alternate concepts with friends, mentors, policymakers, and enterprise leaders throughout the Caribbean area. It additionally seeks to determine a CARICOM Younger Skilled Community, fostering a way of group and advocating for better youth involvement within the decision-making course of associated to the implementation of the CSME regime.
Small-Bartley can also be advocating for prioritising academic reform, focused outreach, youth involvement, and expertise improvement so stakeholders can bridge the hole in consciousness and empower younger folks to actively take part in and profit from the CSME’s alternatives. “The imaginative and prescient of a affluent and built-in Caribbean area can solely be realised by means of collective effort,” acknowledged Small-Bartley.
Number of the primary cohort of programme members is in progress.
