I feel privileged to have been invited to speak at this National Conference on Youth and Development. I have a keen interest in all matters pertaining to the youth of Anguilla and I am always very pleased to share in occasions designed to promote and/or ensure the development of the youth. It is obvious to me that the development of our youth, will secure the development of our island and by extension the wellbeing of all who are privileged to call Anguilla home.
This morning my comments will be focused around the theme: “Inclusive Participatory Governance: Facilitating Youth Involvement in Decision Making.” I will seek to briefly examine the need to ensure young persons’ awareness and understanding of, and involvement in the main issues and the policy and strategy options, which should be considered when determining Anguilla’s developmental path.
Participation in governance and decision making at the national level requires consideration of several questions. For example: – Where are we in terms of our development today? Did we plan to be where we are today? Where do we want to go from here? Are there disparities in our levels of economic and social development? Which of these areas require critical examination at this time? Decision makers at all levels of national discourse must be equipped to answer questions of this nature, when grappling with developmental issues. It is clear to me that we have the resources required to research and analyse these various issues and to thereafter create the relevant policies. In this context the youths of Anguilla are clearly a significant resource. The crucial question for policy makers and citizens in general is – “Are we making optimum use of the resources (human and otherwise) available to us, to address developmental issues in Anguilla today?” We must ponder this question, particularly as it relates to the role youths are allowed to, or we might say are able to play in relation to governance issues or decision making at the national level.
Developmental decisions must contemplate the needs of generations to come. In this regard Anguilla’s strategic development can only be assured if Anguillians generally, and youths and policy makers specifically are very well informed and properly engaged with each other in relation to developmental issues. To be able to meaningfully participate in Anguilla’s development we must understand the various considerations, surrounding the issues our leaders are called upon to consider and decide upon. We can only influence their decisions in a meaningful way if we are in fact enlightened on the issues. The Government has a very key role to play in ensuring the enlightenment of us, the people. Each of us also has an individual responsibility to seek to enlighten ourselves, so as to ensure meaningful participation in our country’s development.
Strategic development requires the creation of policies, which reflect the agreed developmental path. In determining policy, attention is usually paid to where we are as a country, where we want to go and how we propose to get there. To participate meaningfully in any discussions pertaining to these matters there must be a significant level of awareness on the part of the populace. Youths make up a significant proportion of our populace and will be long affected by decisions made by governmental institutions during their youthful years.
How aware are youths of issues of national importance in Anguilla? Whose responsibility is it to ensure a high level of awareness on the part of our youth? While, as already noted, governmental institutions have some responsibility to ensure the involvement of youths in governance issues and the decision making process, youths also have a responsibility to ensure that they seize and create opportunities to participate in the decision making process. Successive governments have created occasions for members of the public to express their views on national issues. Occasions have been created for Immigration, Labour, Planning, Education and Constitutional matters to be the subject of public discourse. How many young persons have attempted to avail themselves of the opportunity to communicate their views? Admittedly there is need for these consultative exercises to be conducted in a manner which will allow all sectors of society an equal voice, but the various sectors of society must take their place in the respective halls in order to utilize offered opportunities.
Immigration, Labour, Planning, Education and Constitutional issues, are all issues our Government must grapple with. We should all, (young, old and in between) seek to make our voices count, as the issues under consideration have the potential to significantly affect our future quality of life in Anguilla. I’m sure we will all agree that any changes to our social and economic landscape should be the result of our collective desires and should result from planning on our part rather than mere chance. Where we are half a century from today should be significantly influenced by conscious decisions on our part today. The value in creating and accessing opportunities to participate in the governmental process should be obvious to us all.
We must prepare ourselves to do justice to opportunities to participate in the governmental process. In Anguilla there is sometimes evidence of a trait, which is not very helpful to the development of well thought out policies. I refer here to the willingness of some of us to rely on information, which has not been tried and tested, when formulating our views and seeking to influence decision makers. We all, especially the youth, have the right to lend our voices to national issues. We all, including the youth, have a responsibility to ensure that we formulate our views and promote certain positions only after having processed all the relevant and accurate information available to us. Clearly decisions are only as good as the information used to make such decisions. Data used to derive information in turn is only valuable if it is accurate, relevant and timely. Inaccurate, irrelevant or untimely data will be of no value to decision makers. It is also of no value to those who wish to develop informed opinions and to knowledgeably influence the decision making process. Where the general populace and decision makers are not sufficiently discerning and do not insist on accurate and relevant information bad decisions are very likely to be made. This will in turn result in the planning and implementation of inefficient and ineffective policies and programmes. Young people, I anticipate, will not wish to be associated with inefficient and ineffective policies and programmes.
It is incumbent on all of us to seek out relevant and accurate information before we form and express apparently conclusive viewpoints. Don’t guess, don’t assume. Check and recheck, demand source material and most of all don’t place total reliance on another person’s interpretation of material you have not personally seen.
We are blessed in Anguilla to have a population, which comprises of young persons, many of whom have been exposed to both secondary and tertiary level training. Our time in institutions of learning, whether at the secondary or tertiary level would, in my opinion, not have been properly or fully utilised if we are unable to comprehend and analyse and thereafter communicate our perspective on national issues. The ability to comprehend, analyse and communicate is essential to our successful participation in the decision making process. Temerity is another vital attribute. We must be prepared to prise open doors which appear to be wedged tightly closed. Collective efforts, you will quickly discover, can work wonders on these occasions.
I have spent some time making it clear that young persons have a responsibility to create, demand and access opportunities for involvement. I have also pointed out that accessing such opportunities without adequate preparation, can have disastrous consequences. Is there however scope for considering the creation of an environment that would not require, or that would diminish the need for youths to have to demand their involvement in the governmental process? Can we instead create an environment where youths will be assured that there is a place for them at the discussion table, in relation to all national issues? The Department of Youth and Culture is doing its utmost to ensure that these questions can be answered in the affirmative. To that end senior pubic officers, will tomorrow explore ways to achieve an affirmative answer to these questions. I have no doubt that the senior officials will see the value in creating this enabling environment and will express their desire to see it happen. It is very likely that obstacles to creating this enabling environment will be identified. It is my hope, however, that they will be identified for the sole purpose of determining how they can be overcome. Senior public officers are currently consumed with delivering services in circumstances where their ministries, departments and units are under resourced. In this environment it is very easy to assume a defeatist attitude and to let matters unfold rather than seeking to affect how matters unfold. Such an attitude is unhealthy and does not advance Anguilla’s development or by extension the welfare of its citizens and residents. I am happy to observe that the vast majority of public officers have not fallen prey to the malaise which tends to come with reduced resources. I have instead seen a desire to safeguard and use our limited resources to best advantage. This attitude of perseverance in the face of adversity has not been easily achieved. It has been created and is yet to be honed through the clashing of wills, the healthy discussion of diverse ideas and the timely and appropriate response to inappropriate conduct.
The successful creation of an environment, which will facilitate active youth participation in governance and decision making, is highly dependent on the willingness of senior officials to respond appropriately to initiatives designed to facilitate such participation. It is expected that senior officials in the Anguilla Public Service will, having recognised the value of youth involvement in Government, work to overcome all obstacles so as to ensure the creation and sustainability of opportunities for youth involvement in government. While youths have a responsibility to access and demand opportunities for their involvement, senior public officers do have a responsibility to ensure opportunities for participation exist.
The Department of Youth and Culture is working with Anguilla’s youth to ensure that vehicles are created to facilitate the sharing, exploration and communication of their ideas. The Department is also seeking to ensure that sustainable mechanisms are established to facilitate the incorporation of these ideas into Government’s decision making process. I commend the Department of Youth and Culture for their steady efforts in institutionalising youth involvement in the governmental machinery. I am delighted to work with you and the senior officials in the Anguilla Public Service to ensure the realisation of this initiative, which is designed to ensure collective involvement in national development.
Young people, I leave you with this closing statement. We will work to create the space for your regular involvement in governance issues. You in turn must conduct yourselves responsibly. Come to the discussion table only after having properly prepared yourselves through adequate research and analysis. Your contributions must be well thought out and the basis of a proper knowledge and understanding of the relevant facts. Failure to do this, as previously noted, can very easily result in the creation of inefficient and ineffective policies. I trust that your conduct as you participate in the decision making process will be such that blame for the implementation of poorly thought out and poorly implemented policies can never be attributed to you. Your right to be involved in the decision making process brings with it responsibilities. Assume those responsibilities.
Thank you for listening and I wish you a productive conference.
