The Department of Youth and Culture (DYC), with the support of the Ministry, has completed a series of public consultations which looked at a five-year strategic framework covering the period 2014 to 2019.
The consultations began on Wednesday, February 12, at the Teachers’ Resource Centre. Mr Bren Romney, Director of Youth and Culture, said that all stakeholders in the community were invited to look at various aspects of the island’s culture and the goals and objectives being pursued by his Department over the next five years. “The stakeholders provided a lot of needed input,” he told The Anguillian. “We had everyone – from artists in various areas to persons involved in the preservation of Anguilla’s culture — and I really appreciate the contribution they made.”
Friday, February 14, was the final day of the consultations when a number of persons from Government and civil society who, in some way, impact the lives of young people, were among those in attendance. Mr Romney said they also looked at the Department’s programmes for youth development and empowerment.
“It has been a rather successful day and we have a lot of ideas,” he stated. “One of the ideas was peaceful co-existence of young people, and how we deal with the issue of violence in our society. I am very excited with the suggestions that group came up with. We have other groups looking at the involvement of young people in public policy development and implementation across the public sector. We have another group looking at sustainable livelihood; how we aid young people in terms of finding full-time employment for them, and equipping them with the skills and attitudes necessary to sustain that full-time employment over time.
“We were looking at our challenges and issues affecting youth from a variety of angles, and trying to come up with the best type of programming that can address those issues going forward. It was not that we are looking at a static situation. We are looking at a more dynamic situation. Issues will change so we need our programming to be such that it can also be flexible to address new issues when they come up. But I am very pleased with the level of input that we received, and I know the Permanent Secretary is equally pleased. We hope now, from this process, to go back internally to look at all the suggestions – and come up with a framework that would adequately respond to the challenges that we have in the areas of culture and youth development.”
Mrs Chanelle Petty Barrett, Permanent Secretary responsible for Youth and Culture, addressed the gathering on the importance of strategic planning – during the closing day of the consultations. She said in part:
“A strategic plan gives an organisation purpose and direction. Without it, organizations tend to suffer from mission drift. This means that they deviate from the original purpose for which they were formed. They no longer serve the purpose they were intended to serve. Rather than working towards shared goals, employees tend to spend their time responding to whatever demands or pressures present themselves on a daily basis. Their work then becomes reactionary rather than creative and goal-oriented. As Confucius said, this can only lead to trouble.
“Strategic planning takes a great deal of effort. From it comes fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future.
“The first step in the process is analysis or assessment of the organization. Here is where we, address the questions: where are we and what do we have to work with? In other words, we look at current operations and assess what we are doing, how well or not well we are doing it, and analyse our strengths and weaknesses. We also examine ourselves in the context of our external environment: how are we viewed by others? What value do we bring to the persons whom we serve? What is our role in national development and how is that being fulfilled?
“The next step is strategy formulation. Here we address the question: where do we want to be? It is critical at this stage to involve all those persons and entities which will have a stake in the achievement of the vision, and this is exactly why you are here today. Since this is our second strategic planning exercise, our focus will not be on formulation of the mission and vision as these already exist and remain relevant. However, we will need your assistance in the articulation of goals. Here we refer to the desired long-term conditions that we would like to achieve. Your assistance will also be required with the formulation of objectives, which are more specific in nature than goals, but which support the goals by breaking them down into more easily digestible pieces.
“Having formulated the goals and objectives, another element of the strategy formulation stage is determining how do we get there? This is where we articulate actual strategies for achieving the results we want to achieve. The various skills and expertise of all of you, our stakeholders, will be of tremendous benefit in assisting us to flesh these out. By assisting with this process, you are not only doing us a favour – but you are doing yourselves a favour because you represent a portion of the valued customers whom we serve and if you have an input, in saying how we can better serve you, then we are more likely to be able to meet your needs.
“Following today’s exercise, and after final formulation of the plan, we will move to the strategy implementation phase. Here is where the real work begins because we now have to work the plan in our day to day operations. Then we move to the final step in the process, which is the evaluation phase…, where we periodically assess our achievements and shortcomings. We may make adjustments to the plan based on data and our experiences of what works and what doesn’t.
“The process is really a continuous one, and we will need your input from time to time as we move through the various phases. As we go forward, I believe it would be useful for us to bear in mind the following words from an unknown author”
‘”Planning without action is futile. Action without planning is fatal.”‘
