The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas National Youth Council held the culminating event on Saturday in a long series of events that celebrated the achievements of young people all over the Caribbean.

Commemorating Caribbean Youth Day, which is recognised annually on September 28, the celebrations began with a Caribbean Youth National Forum and ended with a youth march on Saturday.

The march led to a festive market at Arawak Cay. Youth leaders and agencies across the region also joined the celebrations in the Bahamas. Countries including Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republican had an array of native dishes on display. There was also a Junkanoo rush out.

“This event was just to celebrate our young people because they have made significant achievements to address problems that have been plaguing our society. Culture is a very important part of this celebration as well. Bahamians have more in common than they realize with the neighbouring countries when it come to celebrating culture. With the event we wanted Bahamians to see the similarities in the ways other countries celebrate their culture and how we celebrate ours,” said Tyson McKenzie, president of the Bahamas National Youth Council.

The celebrations accomplished the BNYC’s goal of forging unity amongst Caribbean people.

“The Caribbean has often been described as a patchwork of countries with varying histories, linguistic traditions, cultures and identities. Fragmentation and separation have often characterised us more so than unity and togetherness, and divisions within local territories have often been widened by divisions across territories. Youth of the Caribbean took the opportunity to speak to the beckoning reality of integration and corporate development as a region, and are proud to reaffirm the commitment of all Caribbean youth leaders toward the formation of a regional youth entity to be known as the Regional Youth Council (RYC),” said Mr McKenzie.

The Bahamas National Youth Council is an organisation that acts as a voice for all youth in the Bahamas. It aims to achieve proper representation of youth  in the Bahamas.

Last week not only served as a time for celebrating, but was also a time to let the concerns of young people be heard  as well as come together to find solutions to problems impacting young people and the country at large.

Mr McKenzie said during his exchange with a youth leader from Jamaica, he found that issues facing young Bahamians are similar to those facing young Jamaicans.

“Dialouge with youth leaders from other countries is very important because although Jamaica is a much bigger country than the Bahamas, they have the same problems. Some of the solutions they came up with to address the issues young people are facing in Jamaica can work for us, with a little tweaking, even though we may be a much smaller country.

They may also be able to use some of the solutions we have implemented to tackle certain issues as well,” he said.

Mr McKenzie said the BNYC will do all that it can to advocate for strategic plans that can create better opportunities for youth.