The event, on Wednesday and Thursday, was convened by the Department of Youth and Culture in collaboration with the Anguilla National Youth Council and was held in the Conference Room at La Vue Boutique. The summit attracted thirty-five youth leaders from throughout Anguilla.
The Department’s Senior Programme Officer, Mrs Hyacinth Bradley, who chaired the opening ceremony, said the agenda included a number of interactive sessions. “Every organisation will be given the opportunity to share their experiences and ideas and, of course, we will be learning from each other,” she explained. “The summit is yet another tangible demonstration of our commitment to creating the enabling environment to promote, build and strengthen partnerships and networks.”
Mrs Bradley called on youth repesentatives to siege the opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to serve as leaders and as strategic partners in development.
President of the Anguilla National Youth Council, Michali Rey, speaking about the theme of the summit, “Promoting Partnerships, Strengthening Networks”, said it embraced the functioning and development of all youth organisations on the island, making up the National Youth Council. He urged the representatives of the various organisations to work with the Council’s executive to broaden their networks and strengthen their linkages.
Mr Bren Romney, Director of Youth and Culture, was pleased with the large turnout of youth representatives. “It is evident, with the ongoing work of the Department of Youth and Culture, and the work that your organisations do on a daily basis, that the youth agenda in Anguilla is taking centre place,” he told the gathering.
Mr Romney disclosed that, following the summit, the Executive Council would be meeting on Monday, June 30, in special session dedicated to: youth development; the anti-violence strategy; the Anguilla Youth Entrepreneur Programme; the Get Set Programme; and the creation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee. The objective is to better coordinate the development and implementation of youth policies across government agencies and improve the allocation of resources in the area of youth development.
The feature address was delivered by Mrs Shermina Powell-Richardson, Director of Youth Affairs with the Government of St Martin. In considering the theme of the summit, she said: “I can conclude that youth organisation networks already exist here in Anguilla and that you have taken inventory of them, and that there is a need for strengthening them. I have also noted that you deemed it necessary to place emphasis on the promoting of these partnerships in every sense of the word.” She offered her best wishes for the success of the partnerships.
The presenters at the summit were Ms Farah Mukhida, Executive Director of the Anguilla National Trust; Ms Melinda Goddard, Clien Tell Consulting LLC; and Dr Leroy Hill of the Anguilla Community College.
