BEGINNING today, a week of activities geared at promoting the country’s youth and fostering their development will be initiated. It is expected that scores of youth everywhere will be empowered to fulfill the critical role they play in the development of Guyana.

A list of activities for the week was published online and I will admit my delight at the geographical reach of the activities. A Youth Forum to discuss policies and youth issues will be held in Region 10 on Monday, May 21; there will be a Career Knowledge Fair at the Mahaicony Technical Institute on May 22 in Region Five; the Youth Business Summit will be held at the Pegasus Hotel on May 24 and 25; and finally, an Exhibition and Display will be held on May 27 in Region Three.

While the week of activities does not span all 10 administrative regions, it has stretched its arms and if my involvement last year has shown me anything, it is that youth from the outlying regions will not be left out. Last year, they were connected to the forums through the e-Governance platform. It was pretty cool stuff.

My focus, however, is on the Youth Business Summit. From what I’ve garnered, the summit is designed to foster community development and employment opportunities throughout Guyana and to achieve this, it has called for young people to submit their business proposals.

The summit also stresses the incorporation of Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Architecture, Archeology, Anthropology, the Arts, Mathematics and/or Spirituality (STEAMS), a concept birthed last year at the launch of Youth Week. STEAMS formed the substructure for the Youth Innovation Projects where youth identified challenges or issues affecting them in their respective communities and formulated innovative ideas to combat these challenges while fostering a “green” economy. The projects which were judged were later funded with $50M through the Youth Innovation Fund (YIF) which was introduced in the 2017 National Budget.

This time around, a different approach is being taken. While the tenets of youth involvement and innovation in response to community issues are still in place, it seems as though the focus has been extended to address the pervasive issue of youth unemployment in Guyana. This time, the youth are being asked to create their business proposals- to turn their solutions to local issues into possibly lucrative ventures.

This points to a governmental intervention of creating jobs by stimulating micro and small enterprises. What this further translates to, is a step towards sustainable opportunities for development instead of a good-natured attempt to eradicate an issue without preventing or at least hindering its recurrence.

With youth at the grassroots level experiencing the issues firsthand, they are better-suited to advance just how they are affected and just what solutions they know will be better. By embedding an entrepreneurial mindset and a drive for innovation aimed at tackling these issues, the youth are now enabled to participate in the workings of their communities.

Another feature that is important to me is that while entrepreneurial drive and innovation in response to local issues are spurring job opportunities, youth are also being able to see just how instrumental they are in transforming the country.

This business summit is a practical way of showing them that in a participatory democracy, the state is not the only body responsible for eradicating the societal ills or is not solely responsible for creating avenues for development. It is the role of all citizens- with the state as the overarching body.

And finally, my last bit of enthusiasm about this summit is centred on the exhibition. With the young people having their proposals and projects on display for others to see, this undoubtedly creates a forum where other youth can be inspired to develop similar proposals and projects to tackle issues in their own communities. Further, ways of improving the projects can be garnered and avenues for collaboration can be established.

All in all, the summit provides a skillful way for youth to become empowered to function effectively in society. It provides a pragmatic approach of letting them participate in making Guyana a better place for themselves and for other citizens. And perhaps, at the week’s end, many more youth would become similarly empowered and conscious of the role they play.