 Technical Team summerises National Consultations outcomes. Citizenship, social structure and the whole process of regional integration and how youths can be better prepared to play a greater role, also featured during the consultations.
A technical Team tasked with summerising the just concluded National Consultations on the Competency Standards in Youth Development Work being spearheaded by the Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Centre (CYPCC), met in Guyana on July 4 and 5. At the meeting were CYPCC Regional Director, Mr. Henry Charles; Programme Manager, Youth Work Education and Training, Ms Glenyss James; Programme Manager, Youth Development, Ms Dwynette D. Eversley; Chief Youth Development Officer of Dominica, Mr. Jules Pascal; Regional Youth Caucus Representative of the British Virgin Islands, Mr. Jason Rubaine; Coordinator of Heart Trust/National Training Agency of Jamaica, Mr. Leolyn Gordon; and Ms Patricia McPherson and Mr. Sherwin Bridgewater both of the CARICOM Secretariat. Ms James in some remarks said that the National Consultations, which were held in all but two CYPCC Member Countries, were vibrant and participants focused intently on interrogating the units.
According to Ms James, the Directors of Youth of the region will have to approve the final draft to ensure that it contains what they actually want.
"Stakeholders tried to determine what it is they want to get out of the standards and how they are linked not only to youth development work but also to national development generally," she added.
Re-emphasising the link between youth development work and national development, the Programme Manager said that issues such as project planning, management, self-worth and self-esteem were among key topics being introduced to the standards.
 Part of the Technical Team reviewing the youth work competency standards.
One point of note was that Grenada had suggested that youth workers should have the competency to deal with youths after natural disasters with special lessons from Hurricane Ivan. There was also a call for competencies in the area of parental training since it was felt that this should be reintroduced to training programmes in the region.
CYPCC Regional Director, Mr. Henry Charles in brief remarks, continued his campaign for a rights-based approached to youth development in the Caribbean and reiterated a call for governments and other "movers and shakers" to understand the importance of youth mainstreaming in development planning.
According to him, there is a strong nexus between youth development and national development and all stakeholders should take this into consideration.
Mr. Leolyn Gordon provided an overview of the consultative process and commented on the consultations held in Montserrat, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica. He also led the discussions on the profiles of qualification levels one to five.
Meanwhile, Ms Mc Pherson, from the Education Programme of the CARICOM Secretariat, and an educator herself, provided useful input in helping participants to understand which units should be placed at the various levels.
Sherwin Bridgewater, a member of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development, tried to marry recommendations that came out of the consultations with some of his own views in an effort to give a perspective on the views of a cross-section of Caribbean youth.
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