Today marks yet another Caribbean Youth Day, offering the region the opportunity to truly celebrate our young people.

As this momentous occasion is commemorated under the theme: Embracing Technology to Promote Innovative and Sustainably Conscious Caribbean Youth, we, the CARICOM Youth Ambassador Corps, wish to encourage the region???s youth. Not only to wholeheartedly embrace technology and use it wisely, but to leverage it, expand its benefits and use them to contribute to future generations.

The celebration of Caribbean Youth Day speaks to the high regard in which our demographic is held. Therefore, the onus is on us to not only utilise technology for socialisation and entertainment purposes, but to ensure that we employ our creative capacities to be innovative with the technology we have at our disposal. With it, we can foster more sustainable development across the region and strive towards greater Caribbean integration.

As young people ourselves, we recognise how inextricably linked our generation has become with technology. It is certainly one of the main tools we, as a team, use to communicate with the masses of young people we represent. Technology is diverse and therefore presents countless opportunities for greater integration.

Illustratively, in observation of today???s theme, we have partnered with the Global Shapers Bridgetown Hub to promote throughout the Caribbean, an online course created by 29-year-old, Caribbean youth, Global Shaper and serial entrepreneur, Monique Welch. This course, called the Profit Planner, which officially launches today, focuses on the essentials of business and is delivered free of cost to any and everyone in the region.

Indeed, despite geographical constraints, youth innovation and the resource that is technology facilitated the creation of this platform to educate and economically empower our region ??? an important CARICOM Youth Development Goal.??We therefore want to challenge Caribbean youth to replicate this example and use technology to pioneer novel ideas that ultimately lead all CARICOM member states to develop sustainable economies so that collectively, we can become increasingly self- sufficient. Let us rally together and be the catalyst for the change we want to see, using technology as we make partnerships that are beneficial to our population across all sectors.

Young people, the future of our region depends on us. To deny our region our active involvement in its development and integration, would be to deny the world of the innovation, creativity and diversity that characterises Caribbean youth. Therefore, as the future leaders of this, our beautiful Caribbean Community, let us forever be conscious of our mandate to embrace technology. In doing so, we will positively impact the social, economic and political landscape of our region and create a more prosperous future for all.

Author: Caricom Youth Ambassadors??? Corps/S Pil??

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