CARICOM Youth Ambassador’s New Year’s Day Message

New Year’s Day Message from Chad Monerville, CARICOM Youth Ambassador – Barbados

Friends, at home and across the diaspora, I bring greetings and well wishes as we journey into the third decade of the 21^st century.

Certainly, as we reflect upon the past decade, the challenges we’ve faced as a Nation tested us to the core. Nevertheless, we can all agree that your God has been your strength and therefore, I am optimistic that 2020 will be a defining year for Barbados in which we young people have a major role to play in shaping the future of our island and our community.

As George Lamming said “the architecture of our future is not only unfinished but the scaffolding has hardly gone up”. Looking towards the future, the question is what will the future hold for work, quality of life and the range of international issues that impact us here in Barbados and across the region.

Regional & Global Co-operation

Indeed, across the region, using technology as a tool and an understanding of our common identity, let us lead the way in building bridges with our global community. And as we do, I urge you to create an image reflecting what it means to be a CARICOM citizen with navel strings in Barbados.

For it is only when we build national and regional identities can we become ideal citizens prepared for the interconnectedness of the rights and responsibilities of global citizenship. To this end, join me in committing to making contributions to world peace, global development, and creating prosperity for a beautiful future.

Addressing Violence

This beautiful future will continue to elude us, unless we as young people take stock of the violence plaguing our society and determine how we can contribute to improving conditions and thus frustrate these unfortunate expressions. We must normalize speaking to issues surrounding mental health, and removing the stigma towards persons accessing the requisite therapeutic interventions that ultimately build the capacity of our youth and create a foundation that will see us become our brother’s keeper.

Opportunities of the Future

Looking ahead, we can agree that the technological era is upon us and uncertainty is certain. How do we succeed against the backdrop of addressing the 17 goals of Agenda 2030 and not lose our sense of national and regional identity.

The rapidly changing environment is our new constant. Embracing new modalities that sit on Knowledge-Based approaches are seminal and speak to our technical skills and the cognitive ability to operate in the new era. So I urge you to get involved in science, technology, engineering and math, entrepreneurial activities and not neglect the arts as we go forward.

I wish every one of you success and through effort and training, we shall positively address the uncertainty of the unknown. To our seniors, to whom we owe much, I express gratitude, especially for your gift of giving to us; and I pray you, on behalf of all of us, health and serenity going forward.

To Barbadians- by birth, family, or choice, at home and abroad, I wish you a Happy New Year and a prosperous decade. Thank you, God Bless.