Barbados inaugurates new offices for BYDC and CARICOM Youth Ambassadors

Barbados: The Government has inaugurated new offices for the operation of the Barbados Youth Development Council (BYDC) and the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors on Wednesday.

The Minister of Youth, Sports, and Community Empowerment, Charles Griffith, initiated the ribbon cutting at the ceremony held in the headquarters of the minister’s office in Haggat Hall, St Michael.

The minister handed over the new spaces to both organizations at the event. The newly inaugurated space will provide the BYDC and CARICOM Youth Ambassadors with a permanent place for their operation.

 As the new facility is housed within the Ministry of Youth, it aims to collaboratively launch operations for youth development. The acting Youth Ambassador for CARICOM, Dana Broome was also present at the event.

Broome, while excited about the new beginnings mentioned, “We have numerous meetings for young people across the country, thus I believe the room is much-needed. We also have a variety of projects to work on.”

Broome then noted the importance of the new space indicating it as a vital space to provide ambassadors across the CARICOM to plan and execute new projects effortlessly by having their personal space.

The president of the BYDC, Caleb Brathwaite also expressed her views on this inauguration and said that this new place will be influential for the organization as the organization never has had a base of their operation since its foundation in 1969.

On the other hand, Griffith emphasized this achievement as a significant milestone for the council in history. Griffith noted that “The Council celebrates its 55 years, and it is a long time that we are working with our young people on the island.”

Griffith, then went on to congratulate the two organizations for their new spaces. “I believe that the Council can only go from strength to strength, and this new space will play an influential role in their continued success,” he stated.

Griffith also noted that the government will be establishing 100 new youth groups in the coming time. These groups will be established under the guidance of BYDC and work to improve youth engagement.

Notably, the BYDC is actively involved in youth development through the launch of their new initiatives every then and now. Recently, the federation conducted a panel discussion focusing on topics related to youth, innovation, sports, and culture.

This new space allocated to the BYDC will be vital to them as it will act as a dedicated space for the organization to conduct their regular meetings and discussions with the youth.