Anguilla’s Department of Youth and Culture, which is primarily responsible for national youth affairs, opened its Youth Week 2023 on Sunday 1st October, 2023, by attending the church service at the Kingdom Citizens Church where they were ministered to by Associate Pastor, Kimaro Smith.
The theme for National Youth Week 2023 is “Securing Our Future: Co-Creating a Financially Resilient Anguilla”.
On Monday, October 2nd and Tuesday, October 3rd the 16th National Conference on Youth and Development took place at the Teachers’ Resource Center and the Soroptimist Hall. It was deemed successful as young people gained insight from being exposed to financial tips and money matters.
At the conference, representatives from the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla, Liberty Cooperative Credit Union, Advance Caribbean, Republic Bank and Anguilla Mortgage Company shared with the young people some of their offerings to assist those who would desire to set up their own businesses. The financial institutions also gave the youth tips on saving, investment opportunities, credit cards and their usage, as well as how to avoid debt.
Among those in attendance at the Youth Conference included representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Services Commission, the Commercial Registry the Anguilla Social Security Board, and other entities in the field of finance.
Permanent Secretary of Social Development, Dr. Bonnie Richardson-Lake, told the youth in part: “In co-creating a financially resilient Anguilla, there are some key factors to consider: entrepreneurship, savings and investments, community engagement, resilience and adaptability…”
In addition, she stressed that the youth must be equipped with the skills to manage their finances wisely.
“Financial education should be an integral part of our educational curriculum, ensuring that every young Anguillian can make informed decisions about money. We will be working to make this part of our secondary school curriculum,” the Permanent Secretary added.
The theme for National Youth Week is timely, given that the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Mr. Timothy Antoine, recently announced that financial literacy was on a low among the population of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union – despite Anguilla scoring the highest.
National Youth Week was planned to coincide with the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s annual October Financial Information Month (FIM).
On Wednesday, October 4th, a planned Open Mike Forum was postponed due to inclement weather conditions. The Wednesday afternoon session, however, was held at the House of Assembly with a special sitting of the Anguilla Youth Parliament. The members engaged the Honorable Minister of Home Affairs and members of the Minimum Wage Committee on the intricacies surrounding the creation of the minimum wage. The sitting turned out to be quite insightful and productive.
The objective of the Youth Parliament sitting was to examine the impact of the approved minimum wage on Anguilla’s society and to create awareness of the likely social and economic implications of the recommended minimum wage amount.
On Friday, October 6th, the youth will participate in a round table discussion hosted by Her Excellency the Governor, Julia Crouch.
National Youth Week 2023 ends on Saturday, October 7th with a youth unwind social at the Anguilla Great House.
