PARTICIPANTS drawn from different sections of society yesterday participated in the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) Meeting on Sports for Development and Peace at the Regency Suites Hotel on Hadfield Street in Georgetown.
The purpose of the meeting was to engage Commonwealth Youth Programme stakeholders and partners based in Guyana to focus on the concept, potential, and possibilities in the area of Sports for Development and Peace (SDP).
The meeting served to raise awareness of and build capacity around SDP as mandated by Commonwealth Sport Ministers.
Additionally, it provided a forum to identify prioritisation and potential engagement with SDP in Guyana and the Caribbean region.
In delivering the keynote address, Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony boasted that Guyana is well under way in its efforts to ensure that sports serve as a tool for development.
He said such activities as the Day of Interaction, Inter-block football competition, and the GT&T 10/10 softball cricket competition assist in bringing community together and forge camaraderie.
Dr Anthony also spoke about the possibility of setting up a fund to fuel the hosting of sports development programmes across the region.
The one-day activity was conducted by Sports Adviser of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Oliver Dudfield and Glenyss James, the Officer-in-Charge of Commonwealth Youth Programme- Caribbean.
Among the topics discussed were: SDP and the Commonwealth Secretariat; SDP –  Concept and Current Picture in the Caribbean; Participants’ Engagement and Experience with SDP; SDP – Case Studies from other Regions; Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks; and SDP – Potential, Possibilities and Next Steps.