At this time of year with all the parties and celebrations, I found it hard to come up with a suitable topic Luckily, this just fell into my lap, literally. As you will see in this week’s edition of The Anguillian, the young people followed through with their word when at the Inaugural National Conference on Youth and Development, they promised to hand in a full report to the Government in which they would relay their concerns and solutions.

As you will see, they held a press conference at the Teacher’s Resource Centre this week in which members of the media, public, and Government were invited. The Minister of Social Development and his two permanent secretaries not only attended the meeting, but actively participated.

In my experiences in dealing with the youth and adults, I find it sad that all too often adults in general do not take children seriously, and quite commonly dismiss their ideas or notions as folly. I must say that this was not the case at this gathering as the Minister, Mr. Evans Rogers, was apparent in the pride he had in all the youth representatives. He listened to them with eyes wide opened and mouth shut. When he was asked to speak, he did it from his heart and not from a piece of paper. Moreover, the words that came out of his mouth were intensely intelligible and thought provoking. Yet, most importantly, his words were not full of mindless rhetoric to calm the waters. The discussion he had with the youth was productive and the answers he gave them were to the point.

I have never in my life seen this type of youth empowerment anywhere. In the Anguillian society today, when all you hear about are phrases such as ‘sustainable development,’ ‘human resource development,’ and ‘proper infrastructure,’ it is evident that now all the talk, in many ways, is turning into action. I will admit that in the past I have been a critic of all the talk and lack of action, but this week I am seeing results and starting to believe that proper dialogue can lead to proper action. The organizers and participants in the Nation Conference on Youth and Development have actually made a difference, and have impacted the society and its government, because they have stood together in solidarity and have chosen to speak as one. I am very impressed and hope that these young people will keep pushing forward so that they can continue to affect change.

Jason Allen

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