With the National Youth Conference about to take place next week, the many roles the Department of Youth and Culture has taken on to empower young people in Anguilla were mentioned at a press conference. The Anguillian decided to follow up with its Director, Mr. Lenox Proctor, so that the Anguillian public could be more informed about this new department and its initiatives.

The Department of Youth and Culture (DYC) of course falls under the Ministry of Social Development. There are two heads of departments which deal with youth: Alkins Rogers heading up the sports and Lenox Proctor taking the reigns in the areas of youth and culture. The DYC deals with youth in a more panoramic capacity, as well as culture. Mr. Proctor was asked to define the cultural aspect to which he replied, “with culture, we are primarily focused on the promotion of the expressive arts, preservation of cultural heritage, traditions, language, and culinary aspects of Anguilla.”

The DYC’s main focus is to promote their new “on stream” idea in the months to follow. On stream is a mainstreaming program in which sustainable development is the eventual goal. Young people in Anguilla from ages 1-30 comprise 53% of Anguilla’s population according to the 2001 census. This, of course, is very significant. If one wants to look at the whole concept of sustainable development, when a country develops it should do so keeping in mind the benefit and welfare of the people living in the country. It is in the interest of everybody to have a youth perspective involved in development.
There are three strategies in order for the idea of mainstreaming youth into Anguilla’s social discourse can be successful. The first is the work being done with the National Youth Council. Mr. Proctor believes that the NYC is working well although in the past there has not been a real tradition of it functioning on a consistent level. The DYC is working on helping them and getting them office space so that they can operate more independently. The second strategy is to create a forum in which youth can discuss national issues in an intelligent way and come up with solutions to present to policy makers. This is of course is why the National Youth Conference was designed and there is hope that it will become a yearly event and a large part of involving young people in the major issues. The third and final strategy is to establish a Youth Ambassador Core which is a program that enables young people to become trained in public speaking, collecting of information and have them represent young people on public and private boards in Anguilla and throughout the region

So far the DYC has enjoyed many successes. When asked what the main success has been so far, Mr. Proctor replied, “The biggest success has been to create a buzz around the whole concept of youth development in Anguilla. There is certainly an energetic feeling and youth are starting to realize that they can become empowered.” When queried about the direction of the DYC in the future, he also commented: “Ideally we would like to see young people who are empowered, who are participating right across the board in the economy, decision making, recreation, sports, being recognized for the good things they are doing and not just crime and violence that some are associated with.”
Mr. Proctor also wanted to stress that they are still looking to hire a Deputy Director and a Programme Officer. He is hopeful that youth will want to make a career out of the development of young people as it is extremely recognizable the impact that youth has on an island in which 53% of its population is from the ages of 1-30.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News