By Gabriella Chapman

The Junior Chamber International (JCI) (Guyana) chapter on Tuesday celebrated their Active Citizen Day (ACD) with a clothing drive at the Guyana Red Cross Society.
President of JCI (Guyana), Kevin Cornette told this newspaper that the 11th of December is a very important date on the calendar of JCI members across the globe.

“It is a day when we, active citizens, get together to recognise and celebrate the impact of our present actions as we look towards another year of impact and achievements,” Cornette said.

He explained that Active Citizen Day was initiated on December 11, 1944 when 30 young active citizens from eight countries met in Mexico City to sign a declaration that led to the establishment of Junior Chamber International. This declaration has stood as a symbol of hope for young people working toward the creation of a more peaceful world.

Through active citizenship, he said, JCI encourages young people to take responsibility for local challenges and find targeted, sustainable solutions that benefit their communities and the world. On Active Citizens Day, JCI National and local organisations as well as partner organisations are encouraged to plan and participate in events that inspire active citizenship and create sustainable impact.

“As globally-minded young people, we all have rights, responsibilities and shared goals. We find targeted solutions to local issues benefitting our communities, our world and our future. Embracing new ideas, collaboration and diversity, we have the passion and courage to address the critical challenges of our time,” Cornette expressed.

This year, JCI (Guyana) joined the other chapters around the world to commemorate the well anticipated day, and they commemorated it by reaching out to those who are in need.
Cornette said that in keeping with the whole idea of the citizen day, their activities indulged in on this day had to be one of impact and one that brings about some sort of change in the lives of others, which will also contribute to the changing of the world.
As such, the Guyana chapter chose to bring relief in the form of handing out clothing to those who are in need.

“JCI is a global movement that challenges the status quo. Their goal is to inspire young people to recognise their responsibility to create a better world and empower them to drive change,” Cornette said.