February 6, 2010 marks the 65th earth-day of the Honourble Robert Nesta Marley OM (Bob Marley).  As part of the annual celebrations the Bob Marley Foundation and Rita Marley Foundation will host a three (3) day Youth Symposium.

Similar Youth Symposiums have been held in Ethiopia, Ghana and Jamaica in prior years.

In 2010 the Symposium will be held on Thursday, February 4 - Saturday, February 6 at the Bob Marley Museum. We look forward to having one hundred (100) youth between the ages of 14-19 participate in this event. This activity would commence at 9am and end at 3pm on February 4 and February 5; on February 6 the youth will be taken to Nine Miles for a visit to the Bob Marley mausoleum and to attend the Smile Jamaica concert.

The event seeks to bring together youth from various socio-economic, cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds for the following reasons:

•    Strengthen the work and the will of our people to secure a peaceful future.
•    Explore solutions to the devastating commercialization of our culture and history.
•    Discuss and provide realistic solutions to negative events and challenges that impact the youth, their environment, countries and the world.
•    Demonstrate the universality of Bob Marley’s lyrics
•    Empower the youth through increased knowledge and experience

Since there has been an increase in anti social behaviour among the youth, we have decided upon the theme “Crime Don’t Pay- Unity Brings Prosperity” for the Symposium. The Social Development Commission (SDC) has assured us that it will select 100 youth to attend the event.

The programme will consist of presentations from Ziggy Marley and Dr. Leahcim Semaj. We are awaiting responses from a few other highly respected artistes and luminaries in Jamaica who have also been asked to participate as keynote speakers. A copy of the draft program will be sent to you when finalized.

Dr. Boafo, The Marley family and the Bob and Rita Marley Foundations so graciously request your support in making this possible. UNESCO is invited to come on board in this project by becoming a sponsor of the symposium in 2010. We would also be happy if you could sponsor delegates from various islands as in the past. This will afford you major promotional exposure. Radio and television interviews and advertisements will be arranged as we get closer to the event, and mention will be made of your organization during all interviews and advertisements.

Your logo and information on UESCO will also be added to The Bob Marley Foundation, Rita Marley Foundation, Tuff Gong Studios and Ziggy Marley’s Foundation (U.R.G.E) websites. These sites are viewed by millions of fans worldwide. We ask that you facilitate this by sending us a copy of the approved logo as soon as possible. The event will also be promoted through posters, fliers and banners. All of which will prominently bear your logo.

We also ask that you be one of our key note speakers and that you address the youth on Thursday, February 4, 2009.

We genuinely look forward to your involvement. The Marley family and the Bob and Rita Marley Foundations look forward to a positive response to this request.

We are confident that 2010 will be extremely beneficial to the participants. Once again we look forward to working with you on this event.

Please do not hesitate to contact my Personal Assistant, Rosemary, at #876-853-2489 for any further details and/ or you can e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it


Respectfully yours,
Mrs. Rita Marley OD