Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector, Colin Jordan, signed off on the Third Study Session and Training Project being organised by the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The signing ceremony was held today in the conference room of the Ministry of Labour, Third Floor, Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael. It was also attended by UNDP Resident Representative Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Limya Eltayeb and Executive Coordinator, CYEN, Reginald Burke.
Noting that Third Sector organisations, such as CYEN, are integral to country development, Minister Jordan stressed that no government in any country could do all that is required to build capacity in people, train them or provide services for all of the population.
Emphasising that it was for this reason Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and Government identified a portfolio with responsibility for the Third Sector, Minister Jordan initialled the document that will assist with training for students and youth organisation leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Expressing pleasure on behalf of his Ministry, Mr. Jordan said: “We wish CYEN continued success as they use these funds, approximately US $25,000. We hope that these funds are used to further the cause, to fight the battles that need to be fought, to sensitise young people and for young people to sensitise the world, to prick the consciences of those of us who are the contributors and those others who are contributors to the negative that is taking place, and we really wish them well.”
It was disclosed that the project had the potential to cause the world to take cognizance of the fact that small island developing states are vulnerable and need the world to understand this, as well as facilitate their resilience to the impacts of the change through adaptation and mitigation.
While Minister Jordan pointed out that the focus on the environment in the training was important, he stressed the fact that the youth were leading this fight was “even more significant for us”.
While the partnership was given the assurance that there would be continued assistance, the Labour Minister stressed this would also be extended to all third sector organisations involved in country development.
Adding that the UN system had been good to Barbados, he praised the UNDP “for continuing to recognise that small states like ours are good partners” and said he looked forward to continued partnerships.
UNDP Representative, Ms. Eltayeb, in commending the collaborative effort, remarked: “It signifies South-South cooperation. It signifies the collaboration across continents and across nations [where we] put our hands together and really fight the climate issue, but also spread the opportunities of trade and economic development. And who are better advocates and champions to start that collaboration than youth.
“We used to say in the past, the youth are the future. The youth are not the future; the youth are the present. They are the now. They are the ones that we have to co-create and co-design the solutions with. They are the ones that will take the burden in the future, of our generations having not acted, and they’re the ones that have the innovative approaches needed to come up with new ways of solving these complex crises and complexities that we face today.”
To CYEN, she said: “I’m really proud that the collaboration is with your network in particular, because you span the Caribbean. So it is Barbados; it is the Caribbean; it is the totality of this sub region. But also in this initiative, you are bringing other youth from other continents from Africa, from South America, and that in itself is one of the strengths of this collaboration. We really wish you the best. We know that you are building leaders, and that the training and workshops and discussions will prepare them to deal with these issues.”