Arts & Culture Features Local News News Expanded UNICEF partnership to benefit Barbadian students Barbados Today12/02/20230155 views From left to right – Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith; UNICEF representative for the Eastern Caribbean Pieter Bult; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Yolande Howard; and Principle Youth Development Officer Andrea Titus pose for a photograph following the recent meeting. (F. Belgrave/BGIS) Government is seeking to scale up community level youth programmes with assistance from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith and UNICEF Representative for the Eastern Caribbean Pieter Bult met recently at the Ministry’s headquarters and discussed broadening existing programmes to extend the age range of youth engagement to children under ten years old. Bult noted: “This is a critical age group that requires special attention and support as they transition from primary to secondary education and face various challenges and opportunities in life.” Griffith indicated that the Ministry had developed a new programme that targeted a younger demographic. “We have just launched a national mentorship programme and we’re targeting mentees 13 to 17…and another to come on stream called “Moving On”, the Youth Minister stated. The two officials also discussed mobilising the youth; building a base within the adolescent demographic; empowering the disabled community; climate change; augmenting the National Summer Camps, and UNICEF’s new online programme, YOMO, a gamify, interactive learning tool. (BGIS)