Government committed to the youth, says Stuart

ACTING Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has made it clear that his Government is committed to promoting projects that will enhance young people.Stuart gave this assurance when he officially launched the International Year Of The Youth at the Hugh Springer Auditorium, Solidarity House, Thursday night.Before an audience that included trade union boss Sir Roy Trotman and Opposition Leader Mia Mottley, Stuart noted that the private sector had a role to play in forging closer ties with the youth.“The Government recognises that it cannot on its own tackle all of the challenges of youth and, we therefore, welcome the continued support of the private sector and civil society as we seek to encourage dialogue and understanding across generations while promoting the ideal for peace, respect for human rights and freedoms and solidarity during this year of the youth.“We will continue to focus on promoting projects and programmes aimed at the development of the youth in ways that will make them productive and worthy citizens,” he said.Stuart said the youth were the future and worthy of any investment on their behalf.“During this International Year of the Youth, notwithstanding the current economic conditions, the Government of Barbados will continue to make the necessary investments in our young people, because we are of the view that the investment we make today in our young people will determine the kind of future that we leave for generations to come,” he said.Stuart said the Ministry of Youth, Family and Sports will work with the National Youth Forum and youth organisations to ensure that the objectives of International Year of the Youth are met within the context of the Barbadian reality.Mottley, whose Barbados Labour Party Government created the Division of Youth Affairs, said the youth must be captains of their own fate and masters of their own soul.She noted that Barbados had done reasonably well in minimising dislocation of its young people but each generation had to renew and redouble its efforts.“The process of renewing and redoubling those efforts is not the responsibility of Government alone, but it is the responsibility of society, families, communities, institutions (church, sporting teams), or the more informal organisations to which the young people belong.”Mottley pointed to the Barbados Workers’ Union motto: Where there is no vision, the people perish and reminded the audience, you can add a line, where there is no dialogue, the people fight. (MK)