‘Pull up and change ‘di riddim’, PM urges as UNCTAD youth forum opens

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has issued a challenge to young people to step up and be the change they want in a world disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

The Prime Minister made characteristic use of the vernacular as she addressed the opening of the three-day youth forum, a precursor to the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which Barbados is hosting for the first time.

She said: “This unique moment in time tells us all to pause and to reset, to pull up, to change ‘di riddim’. It may be hard to appreciate, but … there has never been a better opportunity for you to step up and to be that change.

“We should not want to build back better, we should always want to build forward differently. Differently in a way that is more equitable and capable of providing greater opportunities and greater protection for those most vulnerable, and indeed the nurturing of our environment within which we live.”

The UNCTAD Youth Forum is being held under the theme, Pull up: Change Di Riddim. The virtual event focuses on innovation, inclusion and youth empowerment for developmental transformation.

Declaring that now was the time for transformative action, Mottley urged the world’s youth to unite and use the tools at their fingertips to press for radical change to improve the wellbeing of people everywhere.

She told the young people that as they brainstormed and networked over the three days, they should think deeply on what were the greatest threats, and how they would act together to prevent them from endangering the world.

She also indicated that technology was at their disposal to spread ideas, agitate, educate and build a movement for change, and encouraged them to use it to become activists in shaping the future of national and international governments.

The Prime Minister underscored the importance of empowering young people to become global citizens.

She said: “I speak often about the need for us to empower our young people to become global citizens, with Barbadian roots. I believe that that has to be the goal of all of today’s leaders, to nurture a generation rooted in the culture and values of their nation, yet confidently global in their thinking and their outlook. That is my fervent aspiration … for all of our young people.

“Our world needs it now more than ever – that commitment to the global realities that must reflect the best of who we are; the humanising influence that will cause us not to have the kind of schisms and separations that have caused too many people either to die, or to be sealed into deprivation and poverty, and lack of opportunity.”

Acknowledging difficult times, especially for young people, Mottley encouraged the youth not to become dismayed. She suggested that their resilience, hope and passion would help the world to rise beyond this point.

She reminded all that a century ago, their ancestors went through the hardships of the First and Second World Wars, the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic and the Great Depression of the 1930s, but their resilience assisted them in overcoming the challenges.

“It is the resilience and that capacity to think positive, that will make the difference,” said Mottley.

The forum will continue during the main UNCTAD15, from October 3 to 7, where forum participants will be offered the opportunity to share their views with global leaders and present their Youth Declaration. (SD/BGIS)