Commonwealth Secretary-General
The Rt. Hon. Donald C. McKinnon
Honourable Ministers Responsible for Youth in The Commonwealth
Honourable Ministers & Members of Parliament
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Delegates and Representatives of Youth
from the Commonwealth
Young Persons from throughout the Commonwealth and from
The Bahamas
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good Evening,
The Government and people of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas are truly proud to host the Sixth Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting here in Nassau, Bahamas.
As Prime Minister, I am pleased to welcome the Secretary General, His Excellency, Don McKinnon, who I last saw in Malta in November of last year, and his team from the Commonwealth Secretariat. I welcome, heartedly, all of the distinguished Ministers and their delegations from around the Commonwealth to The Bahamas. I believe that this will be a dynamic and interactive meeting, which will focus on timely issues relative to the theme of “Youth Empowerment for the Eradication of Poverty, Crime and HIV/AIDS”.
For many of you The Bahamas might be seen as a far away place with a romantic and mystical charm.
We are a country with a remarkable story. Located as we are in the North Atlantic Ocean we share common maritime boundaries to the north-east with the United States of America and the continent of North America. To the south we have similar common maritime boundaries with the Republic of Cuba and the Island of Hispaniola on which is located the twin countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In between these boundaries The Bahamas stretches out over some 100,000 square miles of water and 700 islands and cays, as we like to claim.
For many years, until the middle of the 20th century, The Bahamas was considered the poor cousin of the mineral and agriculturally rich Americas.
Our early history was not an auspicious one, filled as it was by slavery, failed agriculture, devastating storms, colonial dominance and an economy characterized by booms and busts. We achieved independence from Britain almost thirty-three years ago on July 10, 1973. We became a fully self and peacefully governing member of the Commonwealth and a respected member of the United Nations, the Caribbean Community and the Organization of American States.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This Sixth Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting could
not be held at a more opportune and appropriate time. It is indeed an interesting
yet challenging period in the history of human civilization.
It is a period characterized by unprecedented development in technology, which has facilitated exchange of and access to information. It is a period during which we have witnessed the most dramatic expansion of democratization and adherence to the Rule of Law by many countries, a number of which were encountering political challenges.
This is a period when the process of globalization has radically changed the global, political, social, cultural and economic landscape.
But most importantly, despite extraordinary levels of poverty and despair it is, also, a period during which young people in the Commonwealth and throughout the world continue to make invaluable contributions to the development of communities and societies.
In our own Bahamas, young people have through their achievements in academia, sports, education, civics, and the arts, uplifted the character and spirit of our nation. We readily recall persons such as - Rhode Scholars, Christian Campbell and Dr. Desiree Cox, Olympians and World Champions- Tonique Williams-Darling, Pauline Davis-Thompson, and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie. We are proud of our stars from the National Basketball Association, the National Football League and Baseball Major Leagues and recipients of Grammy Musical Awards in the United States of America.
However, despite these notable achievements and milestones, there are numerous daunting challenges which confront our youth and it is timely that this gathering will give prominence to some of these issues, namely Youth in Parliament, Eradication of Poverty, Crime and the scourge of HIV/AIDS.
These are challenges that are common to all of our countries. By virtue of our diversity in the Commonwealth these challenges are of varying degrees. We face problems of varying kinds and it would be incorrect of me to say that the problems of The Bahamas are similar to the problem of Zambia, Pakistan or the Maldives or even of our neighbours closer at home in the Commonwealth Caribbean. But we all have challenges and we all need to rise to confront them for the good of our people.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
When we talk about young people who are we referring to? Is it a specific age group? Is it a particular period in one’s development? There are many definitions of youth.
In the Commonwealth Youth Programme Strategic Plan 2003-2006, youth is defined as an individual between the ages of 15-29. However, I wish to expand this definition to include the views expounded by advocates of the life cycle approach to youth development.
This definition sees youth as a period of physical, psychological,
physiological, social and economical transition, for example, a period
of movement from childhood to adulthood, from dependence to independence,
from moving from parent’s home to seek employment, forge relationships
and marriages and to become families.
This interpretation of youth magnifies the complexity
and dynamism of this sensitive period of an individual’s evolution.
Therefore, our youth development programmes must be tailored to respond
adequately to the evolving needs and aspirations of young people.
Today more than 200 million young persons are living on less than $1 per day and 512 million live on less than $2 per day. Of that amount more than 50% live in Commonwealth countries. Unemployment is growing at alarming rates. It is estimated that over 88 million young people are classified as being either unemployed or under employed. In many instances these conditions create ethnic and national tension and conflict. And, as a consequence give rise to a climate of hopelessness and despair.
For us in The Bahamas we have in pursuance of a
brighter future and an improved quality of life, moved to capitalize on
the tourism potential of our country as a means of providing jobs and a
comfortable standard of living for our people who are young.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
Another major challenge is HIV/AIDS
Over 14,000 persons per day are infected with HIV/AIDS,
of which more than 50% are young people living in Commonwealth countries,
not forgetting, that young women are three times more likely to be infected
than their male counterpart. This scourge threatens to undermine the very
viability of our nations. We believe that our collective effort in
The Bahamas to confront the challenges of HIV/Aids should be of some guidance
in determining appropriate strategies for agencies and countries.
In September 2005, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan, singled out The Bahamas as one of five countries that had turned the tide against HIV/AIDS as evidenced by decreasing incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS in The Bahamas
UNAIDS has described The Bahamas as having a mature generalized heterosexual epidemic estimated at 3% of population (15-49 years) compared to 6% in 2000.
The National AIDS Programme within our Ministry of Health is one of the oldest organized AIDS programmes in the world, having started in 1995. Our programme is an established multi-sectoral one, involving churches, religious leaders, private sector, NGO’s – AIDS Foundation, Samaritan Ministry, Red Cross, Civic Organizations, Family Planning, Banks, Corporations, Ministries of Education, Tourism and the Royal Bahamas Police and Defense Force.
Our AIDS Programme has been strong in prevention/education as well as care and support of persons infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The Bahamas introduced anti-retroviral therapy in 1995 by providing AZT for HIV positive pregnant mothers for the prevention of mother to child transmission. This programme has been highly successful, reducing transmission from mothers to babies from 30% to 10%.
In 2001 at the United Nations Special Assembly on AIDS (UNGASS) The Bahamas like other countries pledged to scale up treatment care and support as called for by the United Nations – the 3x5 initiative, i.e. UN plan to get three million people on treatment by the end of 2005. As a result, we began the provision of the cocktail of drugs (triple therapy) for all patients requiring treatment – all free of charge.
The dramatic increase in the number of persons on treatment has led to an even more impressive impact:
The Bahamas AIDS programme has been described as a model for developing countries by President Bill Clinton. “No success in the AIDS fight happens without political will” – Peter Piot, Director, UNAIDS.
The Bahamas has been fortunate to have had successive governments with the political will and commitment to the fight against AIDS. Further, visiting experts have identified leadership and commitment of the staff of the HIV/AIDS Centre, Public Health Nurses and Hospital Staff as essential elements of the success of the National Aids Programme to date.
Ladies And Gentlemen:
Another area of major concern for the Commonwealth at
large is the disproportional impact of violence and armed conflicts on
young people and their communities.
Among young people there is a growing discrepancy with
respect to order, discipline and the protection and safety of those in
our society. For various reasons, too many of our many young
people in all of our countries seem drawn to a life of crime.
We are faced with the reprehensible recruitment of young
people as child soldiers and criminal operatives by warlords in areas of
armed conflict and by the drugs and criminal enterprises in some regions,
including the Caribbean, which perpetuates the cycle of violence, fear
and some of the most heinous crimes.
It is interesting to note in a study release only a few months ago by the Commonwealth Secretariat in consultation between the Secretariat and the World Bank, the question of security and crime as it relates to young people is addressed in full.
If I may, Mr. Secretary General, I would like to steer this gathering to paragraph 76 of the report which indicates that “crime, drug trafficking and youth unemployment have become major issues in many small states.”
The report goes on to note that in addition to the high cost which small economies must meet to address public security issues the prevalence of crime leads to a decline or act as a disincentive to private investment and tourism.
Interestingly enough, the report goes on to note that persistent youth unemployment also has the potential to severely undermine social cohesion thus creating a “lost generation” which in turn becomes a permanent burden on society.
My Government, on coming into office some four years ago decided to address these issues head on at the community level.
We did so by several innovative policies which I wish, briefly, to share with this audience.
The policies in themselves, while being separate in their application, have had as their objectives an integrated and holistic solution to some of the problems affecting youths. We have done this through a programme known as the Urban Renewal Programme.
The Urban Renewal Programme in The Bahamas does not fit any textbook definition. The initiative begins with people.
Unlike Urban Renewal elsewhere in the world, the primary purpose of the programme in our nation is the renewal of the human spirit, renewal of a sense of hope and ultimately to forge a sense of possibility and connection with community.
The design of this programme has its primary focus investment in human beings not the other way around.
The programme recognizes that it is important that people in their areas – in their communities – own the ideas that are to be developed; that they find a better way to bring services to urban communities. It has as its focus community safety through community policing.
Buildings and physical infrastructure can come later after people begin to find a better connection to themselves and each other. That is what is so innovative about the initiative in our nation. People elsewhere have built buildings but still struggle to reach people.
The success of this integrated programme, The Urban Renewal Programme and Community Policing, have done a lot to reduce poverty and crime particularly in our urban settings. It is a compendium programme which includes marching bands, cultural and sporting events and other activities intended to involve the entire community. Just last night, for example, there was a news report on national television, borne out by statistics from the Planning Division of the Royal Bahamas Police, Force which claimed that as a direct consequence of these programmes there has been a reduction in the rate of crime particularly crime involving young persons.
I am fully conscious of the difference between our countries. India has a population of over 1 billion persons. Grenada our neighbour to the south has a population of around 89,000 persons. Canada has a population of some 32 million persons while The Bahamas has 310,000 population and the comparisons go on and on, but the point I wish to make is that we must learn from each other.
I believe that, our recent approach to many of our youth issues highlighted by our Urban Renewal Programme and Community Policing could serve as a useful model.
Mr. Secretary General, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen:
We cannot ignore the issue of poverty. Poverty is prevalent in some form or another in all of our countries. What do we do about it? The 2001 Bahamas Living Conditions Survey, received by my Government in 2005, has for the first time provided a factual assessment of the level of poverty in our country. My Government finds this state of affairs intolerable and unacceptable.
My Government has, therefore, designed policies to address this issue and will resolutely continue our innovative empowerment and support programmes.
With respect to youth employment, I only wish to reiterate that unless we come up with innovative methods and approaches to this problem the cycle will perpetuate itself in one “lost generation” followed by another.
In this regard, I thought that I would share with you the views expressed most recently by the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in an address to the Fourth European Union/Latin America and the Caribbean Summit of Heads of State only a few days ago in Vienna.
In his address Secretary General Annan emphasized
that the young not only have great difficulty in finding work of every
sort but they have a smaller share of decent and productive jobs.
He makes the point that even though young people have on average higher
education levels than older workers they enjoy more limited access to employment.
He goes even further in his analysis by observing that even as our economies
grow there is mounting evidence that growth alone, while crucial for employment
does not always lead to enough jobs. Job creation for young people
must become a conscious policy of Governments and not be left to chance.
He admonished policy makers as follows, and I quote.
“No country, and no single actor, can take on this challenge
alone. Governments cannot do it without with business; and business
cannot do it without trade unions and civil society at large. We
need genuine coalitions for change, in which all of us unite our efforts
behind a common purpose…Being unemployed early in life takes a heavy and
enduring toll on the individual. It can damage prospects for employment
later in life. The habit of working once is very difficult to recover.
Leading to a cycle of despair, poverty and social instability, a cycle
that’s destructive not only for their own lives but for society as a whole.”
For us in The Bahamas, with our pristine environment, our beautiful waters and year round temperate weather conditions, we have had to turn to tourism as a means of providing jobs for our young.
Many of our neighbouring Caricom countries, dependent for years on traditional agricultural economies, crops such as sugar and bananas, have found that due to world markets and conditions and other shocks to their economies have found that they had to examine other models and I have always contended that The Bahamas and some Caribbean jurisdictions are such models. Many of these countries are adjusting or have adjusted their economies so as to attract investments in tourism which, in the majority of the countries of the Caribbean, is now the primary earner of foreign exchange and, increasingly, the largest and most stable form of employment. The point here is an obvious one. We must always be prepared to adjust our economies to meet current, social and economic conditions in our respective countries.
This therefore should become a challenge for Commonwealth Governments everywhere.
Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that if the young people are not accorded the necessary support, guidance, nurturing and enabling environment, the quality of their lives and that of our society will be severely undermined and devalued.
Therefore, if there is no other, this is perhaps the single most compelling reason why we have a moral responsibility, as individual countries and the Commonwealth of Nations to create a positive and enabling climate for effective youth development.
In this regard, we also have a moral responsibility to ensure a holistic development of youth. For us to advance the prosperity of our nations, young people must be allowed to play an integral part in the socio-economic development processes. We must, therefore, do the following:
Despite economic challenges, we must be committed to make adequate investment in youth development.
In closing, I charge you that if we were squander this opportunity; we may be lost in an ocean of hopelessness and despair.
Minister and Delegates, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my distinct honour to declare this Sixth Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting, held in The Bahamas, officially open.