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| Lucella Campbell, IPPF Senior Advisor delivering her remarks |
The Youth Interaction was opened by
International Planned Parenthood Federation Senior Advisor Lucella Campbell,
United Nations Population Fund Assistant Representative Patrice La Fleur,
United Nations Resident Coordinator Khadija Musa, Regional Councillor Ryan
Belgrave, on behalf of the Minister of Social Protection, Hon. Volda Lawrence,
and Technical Officer Theresa Gaime, on behalf of the Minister of Governance,
Raphael Trotman.
In her remarks, Campbell underscored
the importance of engaging the Minister of Education to incorporate
comprehensive sexually education in schools, in cultivating strong family
relationships that would facilitate the sharing of pertinent information from parent
to child and the amendment of laws to align the age of consent and the age of
access to sexual and reproductive health services for young people.
La Fleur commended both SASOD and GRPA for coordinating such a timely and important conference. She noted that we fail our young people by denying them access to accurate information and friendly health services, which in turn will support them in making informed and responsible decisions. According to La Fleur by empowering youth with the necessary information, they are better able to live a life of happiness and pleasure.
La Fleur commended both SASOD and GRPA for coordinating such a timely and important conference. She noted that we fail our young people by denying them access to accurate information and friendly health services, which in turn will support them in making informed and responsible decisions. According to La Fleur by empowering youth with the necessary information, they are better able to live a life of happiness and pleasure.
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| Khadija Musa, UN Resident Coordinator addressing the gathering |
In her remarks to the gathering, the
United Nations (UN) Khadija Musa shared the UN Secretary General’s message for
International Youth Day. She noted young people’s role as invaluable partners
in the sustainable development process and the importance of youth engagement
in transforming the world. Sharing remarks on behalf of Minister Lawrence, Ryan
Belgrave indicated that Minister Lawrence has earmarked the involvement of
youth in decision making as an important feature of her ministry’s work and
welcomes future engagements in relation to the advancement of Guyanese youth in
the areas of social protection and national development.
Representing Minister Trotman, Theresa
Gaime noted that sexual and reproductive health and rights remain a conquerable
challenge in an ever- changing world. She emphasized that the attainment of the
SDGs cannot be achieved through insularity and territorial grandstanding, but a
process of inclusivity must be embraced to improve the outcomes for sexual and reproductive
health and rights. She therefore extended a formal invitation to the organisers
of the event on behalf of the Minister of Governance for further engagements as
they seek to collaborate on initiatives that will enhance the quality of life
experienced by all Guyanese.
The aim of the blogging competition
which was launched during the closing of the Youth Interaction is to influence
critical thinking among young people; it proposes to challenge young thinkers
to submit one blog post on the topic: “Youth
Civic Engagement on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Post-2015
Development Agenda”. The blog entries should aim to address the active role
young people can play in advocating for sexual and reproductive health and
rights (SRHR) issues in the context of the Post-2015 Development Agenda,
particularly the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The competition is open to young people
between 16 – 35 years old who are active members, affiliates or volunteers of a
youth group or youth-oriented organisation. All blog entries must be between
750 – 1000 words. Submissions will be accepted both from seasoned and novice
bloggers/writers. Only one entry per person is allowed. Blog entries should aim
to inspire, and reflect the writer’s own perspectives on the topic. Bloggers
must have access to a blog account or created one for the purpose of this
competition. The writers of the three best blog posts will receive advocacy
cash awards of $100,000, $75,000 and $50,000. The top three winning entries
will be featured on the SASOD blog. The cash awards MUST be used to implement
an SRHR advocacy initiative with the winners’ youth group or youth-oriented
organisation. The YAM – GRPA and SASOD will work with the winners to execute their
initiatives. Blog posts will be judged on the following categories:
Originality, Inspiration, Critical Thinking, Accuracy and Relevance to Guyana.
To enter, bloggers must email the link
of their blog entries along with their name and contact number to
advocacy@sasod.org.gy as well as post a link to the blog on the SASOD - Guyana
Facebook fan page (https://www.facebook.com/
To increase their chances of winning,
participants are encouraged to post their blogs on Twitter and Facebook with
the hash tag #YouthSRHR2015, and encourage friends to like, favourite, comment,
re-post and share their blog posts. YAM – GRPA and SASOD members, volunteers
and affiliates are NOT eligible to win the advocacy cash grants.For more
information on the blogging competition, please visit the SASOD blog at
www.sasod.blogspot.com or contact SASOD’s Advocacy and Communications Officer,
Schemel Patrick, by email at advocacy@sasod.org,gy.
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| Youth Participants at the SRHR Youth Interaction |
The day’s activities
included plenary sessions with presentations from SASOD and YAM-GRPA
representatives and thematic roundtable discussions. The action plans from the
roundtable discussions will feed into a youth statement on sexual and
reproductive health and rights issues affecting Guyanese youth which will be
presented to key decision-makers at the national level and international
bodies.
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