Engaging youth key in COVID-19 recovery efforts

THE need to engage youth is critical now more than ever, as Caribbean leaders in collaboration with key stakeholders across diverse sectors, including civil society, map out plans to effectively manage and rebuild from the COVID-19 crisis.

This was the message sent by Pierre Cooke Jr., Youth Voices Technical Advisor at the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), along with Kerrie Barker, Project Assistant and Danielle Walwyn, Advocacy Officer at the HCC, as they sought to amplify the voices of youth in a statement entitled “Conversations with Healthy Caribbean Coalition Youth”, in recognition of International Youth Day celebrated on August 12, 2020.

“The small island developing states of the Caribbean have been particularly vulnerable to the social and economic impacts of COVID-19, due to the presence of an ageing population, a high prevalence of non-communicable diseases and the considerable dependence on foreign imports and tourism to economies. As the region grapples with the pandemic and explores strategies to manage associated ramifications, it is imperative that we address these vulnerabilities. Once we are ready to effectively rebuild, there is a need to ensure that the legacy passed to current and future generations is a society that is stronger and more resilient than ever before, effectively not just building back, but building back better,” the youth advocates pointed out.

“In managing the pandemic now and making plans for such a society, it would be remiss of stakeholders to exclude our voices. After all, we will be carrying on the legacy of today’s leaders. The engagement of young people as advocates in the COVID-19 response, is an important part of the COVID-19 Advocacy and Communication Strategy of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition. This has been reflected in HCC’s youth-focused webinar series, ‘The Future Talks’. The most recent webinar, ‘The Future Talks: COVID-19 and NCDs in the Caribbean – The Legacy’, saw young professionals from across the region share their experiences and perspectives on the COVID-19 response and how we as Caribbean people can build back better,” they added.

“If our region’s leaders are thinking strategically about ‘building back better’, they should be visualising a sustainable society for generations to come – one which purposefully involves and engages key subpopulations including young people,” they added.

Some regional civil society organisations have commendably demonstrated how this can be done, they said, by engaging youth in addressing critical issues like childhood obesity and the prevention and management of NCDs. The advocates however pointed out that the urgency to build back and engage youth now is intensified by the fast-approaching deadline for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which states that children and young adults are ‘critical agents of change’.

“With these global deadlines looming, paired with our region’s challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change, the need for innovative ideas, concerted multi-sectoral action and the meaningful engagement and participation of youth, is critical for effective and sustainable change. Conversations about managing the realities of the pandemic today and rebuilding for the future, are conversations that affect young people of today. These young people – we – must be part of this dialogue,” the youth advocates maintained. (RSM)