REGIONAL Director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) Caribbean Centre, Mr. Henry Charles has said that organised movements need to step up their game, in order to gain recognition at higher levels, expressly the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). He offered the advice at the first ever Regional Student Leaders Roundtable, a three-day programme which started Wednesday in the Education Lecture Theatre (ELT) on the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus.
Participants are expected to address the dimensions of effective student youth movements, shaping the future, assessments of the youth movements’ challenges, the promotion of positive social change, forging partnerships and reorganising strategies for general improvements.
The activity, through partnership organising by the CYP Caribbean Centre and UG, has participants from 18 Commonwealth Caribbean countries, as well as Canada and Belize in Central America.
Charles acknowledged that regional and national youth movements play a significant role in the development process and said they need to not only organise themselves but identify and meet partners in their move forward, all in an effort to advance the Caribbean civilisation.
He said the CYP has a number of plans, developed along this premise, for 2011, including:
* rolling out a pilot programme for youth development at UG;
* expanding the existing internship programme to cater for one or two university graduates, who will be engaged for a year in a particular project, for example, a significant research and
* leadership exchanges, among others.                                                
Charles said the Regional Student Leaders Roundtable is a platform that allows those participating to take a step in the right direction, as they plan future moves to address current critical issues involving today’s youth.
November 17 was International Students Day and he said, in recognition of it, one must acknowledge the new pressures and challenges that face the youth of today.
The date commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi storming of the University of Prague after demonstrations against the killing of Jan Opletal and Václav Sedlá?ek, as well as the occupation of Czechoslovakia and the execution of nine student leaders, the sending of 1,200 students to concentration camps and the closure of all Czech universities and colleges.

CURRENT ISSUES
According to Charles, among the primary pressing current issues that pose a challenge for today’s youths are access to education, particularly distressing in a time where tuition fees are tripling in some places; quality of education, something which can be addressed by engaging different stakeholders, including policy makers and, generally, the enhancement of youth empowerment, which, by extension, would improve democracy.
He said each country must reach a stage where one or two persons from a household is a university graduate, if that country – or in a broader perspective – the Caribbean, is to remain competitive on the international scene.
Charles observed that several of the present day regional leaders started crafting their leadership skills in one youth organisation or the other but maintained that each has a significant role to play.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UG, Mr. Tota Mangar endorsed those views and reiterated that student leaders’ inputs are key to national development in a democracy.
He said, aside from the existing challenges, the Regional Student Leaders Roundtable is an opportunity to address, primarily, the inputs made by them in advancing change and networking to bolster effectiveness.
Director of Youth in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Carl Brandon noted that the Ministry’s aim is to create opportunities for youth, so they can realise their full potential.
He said the Ministry is working on the premise that every youth, regardless of creed, colour or religion, has the potential to make a contribution to society and advances efforts to facilitate it.
Brandon urged that the outcomes of the roundtable be taken back to each participant’s community and used to contribute to development there.
The CYP aims to empower young people to become more active and participate in   national, social, political and economic development in member countries, through the   areas of enterprise and entrepreneurship development, information and communications technology initiatives, addressing social exclusion and HIV/AIDS, among other objectives. The CYP Caribbean Centre is located in Georgetown and is one of four centres established to serve the member countries of the Commonwealth.
The Caribbean Centre responds to youth development for 17 English-speaking countries and territories of the Commonwealth Caribbean and Canada, covering 18 countries with a total population of 37.6 million people.