Archives: Media Releases

CRN+ develops Organisational Development Strategy and Action Plan

The Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (CRN+) has been challenged to sustain its operations in an environment of reduced donor funding. To establish a foundation for sustainability and growth, the leadership of CRN+ has embarked on a multi-prong initiative which included the development of an organisational development (OD) strategy and action plan and a resource mobilisation strategy.

In light of available funding, CRN+ agreed to maintain the current organisational structure with the addition of a dedicated Finance Officer and to recruit volunteers who could support CRN+ Programmes.  The organisation will also seek to establish an independent oversight committee for governance and accountability.

Sustainability

The goal of the CRN+ Resource Mobilisation Strategy is to diversify the organisation’s resource base for sustaining the network’s response which will be guided by the CRN+ Strategic Plan and costed operational plan.

The Resource Mobilization strategy adopts a dual approach – mobilising resources for operating costs (rent, staff salaries, maintenance costs, utility bills, etc.) through fundraising activities, and mobilising programme costs from conventional donor sources. A mapping of donors and funding agencies was conducted to identify and engage with potential donors to secure resources for CRN+ to continue its advocacy for People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and key populations’ access to prevention, treatment, care and support services, and to strengthen national networks.

SCLAN advocates for access to health by Adolescents, Children and Women at 74th UNGA

In September 2019, the Spouses of CARICOM Leaders Action Network (SCLAN) hosted two side events during the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

“Ensuring Access and Equity in Adolescents, Children and Women’s Health” was attended by First Ladies as well as other guests who support innovative initiatives to ensure access and equity to health at country and global levels by adolescents, children and women.

Image: Ms Kim Simplis Barrow, First Lady of Belize and Ms Sandra Granger, First Lady of Guyana with other members of the panel

At the second event, SCLAN collaborated with New York University’s College of Global Health and HealthRight International in a panel discussion on the theme, “No health without mental health: Time to act and invest in adolescents.”

The goal was to highlight the current status of global mental adolescent health, best practices/innovations and the need for harmonised donor investment.

Image: Ms Kim Simplis Barrow, First Lady of Belize and Ms Sandra Granger, First Lady of Guyana with guests from the New York University’s College of Global Health and HealthRight International

For more information contact info@sclan.org

CRN+ Elects New Chair and Vice-Chair

Image: CRN+ Board of Directors

Mr Tyrone Ellis was installed as Chair, and Ms Renatta Langlais as Vice-Chair of the Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (CRN+) during the organisation’s Board Meeting convened at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Bridgetown, Barbados, on 26 – 27 September 2019.

Attendees included the CRN+ Board of Directors, Technical Advisory Group and Secretariat Staff. In addition to electing a new Chair and Vice-Chair, the meeting facilitated a review of the CRN+ Global Fund Grant which ended 30 September 2019. Another objective of the meeting was to further evaluate and update the organisation’s strategy to remain relevant within the Region’s changing HIV landscape.

Addressing the Board for the first time as Chair, Mr Ellis stated “the meeting was important for CRN+ to further review and update its strategic direction to remain relevant within the changing HIV landscape in the Region. CRN+ must perform better, especially with a significant reduction in funding. With the development of an organisational development strategy, CRN+ will be guided on the best way forward. We need action!”

Wild Poliovirus Type 3 has been certified as Globally Eradicated

Yesterday was World Polio Day, a global awareness-raising day on the need to complete the job of polio eradication, and here at the World Health
Organization (WHO) headquarters, it was my great honour to make a truly phenomenal announcement: that wild poliovirus type 3 has been certified as globally eradicated, by the Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication.

This is the second of the three types of wild poliovirus to have been globally eradicated. Only wild poliovirus type 1 remains in circulation, in just two countries worldwide. Africa has not detected any wild poliovirus of any type since September 2016, and the entire African Region is eligible to be certified free of all wild poliovirus next June.  Global wild poliovirus type 3 eradication is a tremendous achievement and is an important milestone on the road to eradicate all poliovirus strains. This shows us that the tactics are working, as individual family lines of the virus are being successfully knocked out.

But the job is not finished until ALL strains of poliovirus are fully eradicated – and stay eradicated. We must achieve final success or face the consequences of renewed global resurgence of this ancient scourge. We must eradicate the remaining strains of WPV1 and also address the increasing circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks, in particular in Africa.

And here too we are making strong inroads. New strategies are helping us reach the most vulnerable populations, particularly in the remaining reservoir areas.  New tools, including a brand-new vaccine, are being developed, to ensure the long-term risk of vaccine-derived polioviruses can be comprehensively addressed.  But these tools and tactics only work if they are fully funded, and fully implemented.

And so today, on the day after this tremendous announcement, I really have two messages for you.  The first is a simple and wholehearted “thank you”. Thank you for making a  world free of wild poliovirus type 3 a reality. Thank you to all countries, to all donors, to all stakeholders, partners, advisory and oversight groups, policymakers, Rotarians. Most importantly, thank you to all communities, to all parents. To all frontline health workers. They are the real heroes of this achievement.

And my second message is: please do not stop now. The Reaching the Last Mile Forum, hosted in the United Arab Emirates this November by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, will provide an opportunity for many of our stakeholders to recommit their efforts to a polio-free world. I urge all of you to stay committed and redouble determination in this final push to the finish line.

Together, the partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) – WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,  UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – stand ready to support this global effort. But it will take collective and global collaboration, from all public- and private-sector stakeholders, to ensure every last child is reached and protected from all polioviruses.

Together, let us achieve history: let us ensure that no child anywhere will ever again by paralysed by any poliovirus.

Thank you.

Image – Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Chair, GPEI Polio Oversight Board and Director-General, WHO and his team.

Ms Terez Lord,  CARICOM Youth Ambassador, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago,  Keynote Address on the occasion of the Caribbean Congress on Adolescent on Youth Health – Opening Ceremony

It is indeed a distinct honour to stand before you as CARICOM Youth Ambassador of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on this incredible occasion.

I deliver these words out of my mouth but pouring out of the hearts of young people – youths and adolescents of the entire Region.

Today we witness, and we contribute towards history. History is more than the path left by the past. It influences the present, and it can shape the future.

Today history is being made as we inaugurate the First ever Caribbean Congress on Adolescent and Youth Health!

This congress is a safe space, rich in dialogue, where international partners and practitioners can highlight and address issues/challenges circumventing good health and wellbeing of a major subset of the population and a critical human resource: the youth and adolescents; Not forgetting adolescents and youths with disabilities.

It is a catalyst for policymakers to discuss how to improve as well as how to sustain investment in our health in a manner that is deliberate, impactful, measurable and sustainable – #Agenda2030!

This Congress, the first of its kind is for youth, by youth, with youth and supported by the young at heart- the “youngish”. It is bolstered by momentum. It is action-oriented and should have a decisive follow-up.  This is not a talk-shop. We must set the basis for no less.  Health and well-being are far and wide and must be met with ambitious, future-oriented, systemic regional responses.

When I think of regional responses, I think of the Caribbean Community – the CARICOM.  Collaboration, comradery and cohesive Caribbean integration!

The dream and ideology are meaningful as my sister would say when referring to the epiphany that birthed CARICOM when it was established in 1973.

Today, this audacious, integrative move is so that future generations would have benefitted from what we as young leaders would have advocated for and what we have worked so hard to achieve.

The young people are here in this room. They are present and ready. They are ignited by passion and purpose. We are ready to contribute to the conversations that impact us – which we have been excluded, ostracized and marginalized- or on a good day- tokenized.

I say let’s do this together: inter-state, inter-organisational and inter-generational!

May God Bless you and May God Bless your nations. 

Remarks by the Secretary-General Caribbean Community Ambassador Irwin Larocque on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the Caribbean Congress on Adolescent and Youth Health

As always it is a pleasure for me to be here in Trinidad and Tobago but even more so this evening given that it is an event dedicated to our Region’s Youth.

I must congratulate Dr. Pemberton and her Planning Committee for having the vision to organise this first Caribbean Congress on Adolescent and Youth Health.

In 2001 at Nassau, our Heads of Government declared that “The Health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region”. This evening I take the liberty to amend it slightly to state that The Health and Youth of the Region are the Wealth of the Region.

I welcome the representation from across the Caribbean and I am pleased that some CARICOM Youth Ambassadors are participating in this event.

The voices and concerns of our youth must be heard and addressed as we seek to define the world in which we live today and tomorrow. Fora such as these present a suitable opportunity for discourse on issues which have a significant impact on our lives.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’.

This definition speaks to a holistic approach which I believe is well captured in the programme for the next three days.

A similar approach has been adopted by the CARICOM Secretariat, over the years, with respect to the development of programmes targeting our youth. These are being conducted through a multi-sectoral institutional framework for national policy, integrated planning, and action, through the CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan (CYDAP). This Plan is a product of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) in which the youthfully participated.

The Plan focuses on six priority areas with Health and Well-being as an important goal to be achieved. It emphasises “youth access to youth-friendly, gender-sensitive and culturally appropriate health information to maintain their physical, mental, social and emotional well-being”.

A key aspect of achieving and maintaining health and well-being is our lifestyle and the choices we make. The prevalence of lifestyle diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes so concerned our Heads of Government that they held the historic first-ever Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) right here in Port of Spain in 2007. They have held several special sessions subsequently on this topic with the latest in 2017.

It was recognised that NCDs have implications not only for our health; it also has serious social and economic repercussions. Caribbean countries are among the worst affected by NCDs in the Americas. A recent study in one of our Member States showed that the cost of dealing with NCDs is as high as five percent of GDP.

We must all be aware of the four acknowledged risk factors for NCDs. These are unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and harmful use of alcohol. That awareness must guide us towards behavior that minimises the risks.

Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, in particular, are areas of significant concern with regard to childhood obesity. In the medium-term, obesity in children represents the greatest threat to the health of future generations.
In many CARICOM Member States, the level of overweight and obesity is more than 30% in both primary and secondary school populations.

Recognising the danger posed by this phenomenon, Heads of Government have endorsed policies geared towards arresting this worrying trend. These include tax measures on beverages and other manufactured food aimed at reducing fats, sugar and salt content. Proposals have also been put forward with respect to front of package labelling.

They have also urged the promotion of physical exercise in school-age children and greater emphasis on public education programmes encouraging healthy lifestyles.

A Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) 2016 survey of chronic disease risk factors in CARICOM Member States report substantial levels of tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol.

A 2013 Report on Student Drug Use in 13 Caribbean Countries, released by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), showed a marked increase in the overall average prevalence of drug use when compared to 2010.

The Caribbean Community has, for several years, been addressing the harmful use of drugs within the context of the Regional Drug Demand Reduction Strategy.

Among the notable initiatives undertaken which have either involved youth themselves or have targeted youth as a vulnerable group are:

 adolescent treatment and prevention training to build the capacity of drug demand reduction practitioners working with adolescents and youth; and

 capacity-building among youth in the use of edutainment as a means of communicating information on drug use prevention and treatment.

Another health issue that is gaining increasing attention among our young people is that of mental health. Last year in Jamaica at my annual interaction with the youth of the region this issue was specifically put forward by the youth.

One of our young health professionals presented a paper at that forum which pointed to a WHO/PAHO (2016) report that indicated that 4% of the regional population were treated for mental illnesses across the region in 2015. The most prevalent mental disorders were schizophrenia and depression with the highest diagnosis rate in the 18-30 age category.

She identified suicide as a possible outcome of mental illness with a mortality rate of 7.3 per 100,000 in the Region.

She referred to the pressure placed on youths to succeed in examinations, the phenomenon of bullying and peer pressure which all have an adverse effect on the mental health of adolescents and youth.

This issue has been, of late, receiving a lot of attention through sensitization and realisation of the seriousness of the matter. Last Thursday, World Mental Health Day, was used by our Member States to highlight initiatives being taken to combat the problem with emphasis on the youth.

One of the multiple risk factors for mental illness is posed by the traumatic psychological effects of natural disasters. As climate change continues to increase the intensity and frequency of these disasters in our Region, the toll on the mental health of our people is also a matter of real concern.

In the aftermath of the devastating storms, such as we saw in 2017 with Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and this year with Hurricane Dorian, serious health risks will arise, both physical and mental. Vulnerable groups bear the brunt of much of the damage, destruction and despair. PAHO has been very active working with our Member States to address the challenges. The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is funding a project since 2018 on mitigating post-disaster mental challenges in CARICOM Member States.

This is one of the issues that demands that we increase our drive to create greater resilience to withstand the economic, physical and social effects of the climate phenomenon. You the youth must become involved, in helping to build our resilience as a Region.

CARICOM is also committed to improving the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and youth.

This is clearly articulated in the Integrated Strategic Framework for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy in the Caribbean, produced by CARICOM and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). There is also the Regional Plan of Action for Women, Children and Adolescent Health, which was approved by CARICOM Ministers of Health in September 2018 and the Caribbean Woman, Caribbean Child Initiative.

The work done by the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) also addresses the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents and youth.

While the Caribbean has seen a reduction in estimated adolescent fertility rates moving from 91.6 in 1980-1985 to 60.2 in 2010-2015, some of our countries have the highest estimated adolescent fertility rates. In 2018, 13 percent of all births in the Region were attributed to adolescent mothers (10-19 years of age).

I have taken note of the expectation that this Congress will strive to arrive at core principles to address the health needs of adolescents and youth in the Caribbean. I therefore look forward to receiving your recommendations.

You can be assured of my commitment to continue engaging with our adolescents and youth to address the issues related to health and well-being and to ensure your continued valuable contribution to the achievement of a viable and prosperous Caribbean Community.

I thank you.

Global Fund Donors Pledge US$14 Billion in Fight to End Epidemics

LYON, France – In an unprecedented show of global solidarity, donors at the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference pledged US$14.02 billion for the next three years – the largest amount ever raised for a multilateral health organization, and the largest amount by the Global Fund. The funds will help save 16 million lives and end the epidemics of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 2030.

President Emmanuel Macron of France electrified the conference with a stirring appeal to deliver the next generation a better and healthier world, fighting inequality and strengthening social justice. President Macron called on all partners to increase their commitments by at least 15% in order to reach the target of at least US$14 billion, and during the pledging session that followed, donors answered that urgent call to step up the fight – many making last-minute increases on top of their original pledges.

In a stunning final push to reach the US$14 billion target, President Macron joined Bill Gates to make increased commitments for the coming three-year period, announcing that they would each guarantee an additional US$60 million on top of pledges announced earlier in the day. With just US$80 million to go, President Macron, Mr Gates and Bono – pointing to the imperative of ending the epidemics by 2030 – pledged to secure at least a further US$100 million during the replenishment period to achieve a total of over US$14 billion.

“Everyone in the room today felt the power of a global community coming together to say in one voice: ‘We will end these epidemics’,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “We are tremendously grateful to President Macron for his incredible leadership over the past year. With the incredible support of partners and donors around the world, we succeeded in reaching over US$14 billion to help save 16 million lives.”

Many donors significantly increased their pledges, citing the urgency to take decisive action. The United States Congress signaled outstanding support with US$1.56 billion a year, maintaining a 33% portion of all contributions. France itself increased its contribution by 20% to €1.296 billion including the additional US$60 million announced by President Macron.

Other major donors all stepped up the fight: The United Kingdom pledged £1.4 billion for the coming three-year period, a 16% increase; Germany pledged €1 billion, a 17.6% increase; Canada pledged CAD930 million, a 16% increase, the European Union pledged €550 million, a 16% increase; Japan contributed US$840 million and other longstanding donors contributed as well. Further expanding its donor base, the Global Fund also welcomed 20 new and returning public donors.

Private donors pledged more than US$1 billion for the first time ever, an extraordinary achievement led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s pledge of US$700 million, subsequently complemented by the additional pledge of US$60 million, and (RED)’s pledge of US$150 million, alongside longstanding supporters such as Sri Dato Dr Tahir, Comic Relief and Takeda. Six new private donors also joined, including Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and 11 partners committed other resources to expand innovation and impact.

The full list of donors and pledges will be posted on the Global Fund website.

The promise to save 16 million lives in the next three years and ultimately end the epidemics by 2030 will only be achieved by leadership and increased investment in health from the countries implementing programs. An unprecedented number of implementing countries from Africa – 23 – made pledges to the Global Fund. During the conference, several heads of state committed to increase domestic resources for health and work towards universal health coverage.

In a spirit of global solidarity, the conference brought together leaders from countries all over the world, including numerous heads of state and government ministers, several Nobel Peace Prize Laureates; CEOs and leaders of private foundations; Senegalese singer and Malaria activist Youssou N’Dour; civil society leaders and people affected by the diseases.

Maurine Murenga, who was diagnosed with HIV in the early 2000s, and who serves on the Global Fund Board, thanked all partners for recognizing the need to focus investments in programs that specifically address the disproportionate effects of HIV on women and girls.

“Those of us who survived HIV are here thanks to the Global Fund, but millions are still dying unnecessarily because they cannot access these life-saving programs,” said Murenga. “Young women and girls have to be at the center of the response to HIV in Africa. It is unacceptable that young women and girls are still twice as vulnerable to HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and six times more vulnerable in the worst hit countries. We know change is possible and we have to act now.”

Addressing the conference, several heads of state and governments of African countries praised donors and partners for their global solidarity and stressed the importance of domestic financing to develop long-term sustainability of health programs.

The Global Fund partnership is a proven mechanism for maximizing impact. Health programs supported by the Global Fund have saved more than 32 million lives since its inception in 2002, and provided prevention, treatment and care services to hundreds of millions of people.

“Today’s Global Fund replenishment result is an incredible achievement,” said Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “This is a big day in the history of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – and one that no one expected two decades ago when the diseases were at their peak. Thank you to all the donors who increased their contributions. We hope others are inspired to follow their lead and support the Global Fund to continue its life-saving work.”

In a special message delivered on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed explained how vital investments by the Global Fund are to meet the health-related SDGs, as well as to address poverty and inequality. The Global Fund invests US$1 billion yearly to help build resilient and sustainable systems for health, a critical component for universal health coverage.

Peter Sands declared in concluding remarks: “This year, we promised the seven-year-olds of the world that we would end AIDS, TB and Malaria by 2030 – the time they become adults – so they don’t have to. Today’s remarkable demonstration of global solidarity shows that the world is committed to keep that promise, by working stronger, faster and together. Ending AIDS, TB and Malaria is the fight that unites, and thank you to all our many partners for stepping up the fight.

###

Contact: 

Timothy Austin
Communications Specialist
PANCAP Coordinating Unit
CARICOM Secretariat
Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana
Email:      taustin.consultant@caricom.org
Tel: (592) 222-0001-75, Ext. 3409  | Visit www.PANCAP.org

Helpful links:

  • Global AIDS Update 2018 – Miles to Go:

https://pancap.org/pancap-documents/global-aids-update-2018-miles-to-go/

  • The Global Fund Website:
          www.theglobalfund.org

Guyana Elected Vice-Chair of WHO Executive Board

Guyana’s Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence was this week elected Vice-Chair of the global World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board during the 71st Session of the Regional Committee.

Minister Lawrence headed Guyana’s delegation to the 57th Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Meeting and 71st Session of the Regional Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Americas.

The high-level meeting was held in Washington, DC, from 30 September to 4 October 2019.

Participants probed a number of wide-ranging global issues including strategies and plans to address the multitude of challenges facing the Hemisphere, including reducing heart disease by eliminating industrially-produced trans-fatty acids; making access to organ, tissue and cell transplants more equitable; and improving the quality of care in health services delivery.

The Guyana delegation which also included Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Karen Gordon-Campbell also participated in several events on the margins of the PAHO/WHO 5-day programme including discussions on ‘Response to Ageing Societies’; ‘Mental Health in the Americas’; the Launch of the ‘Report of the Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas’ and ‘Addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the Americas’.

The Guyana Public Health Minister also made a presentation on ‘Multi-sector Collaboration to prevent and respond to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Guyana’, during which she took advantage of the opportunity to highlight the Government of Guyana’s efforts to implement several measures, including the Spotlight Initiative which targets women and girls affected by GBV to help improve their overall health and well-being.

The ‘Multi-sector Collaboration to prevent and respond to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Guyana’ is part of a menu of measures by Guyana to respond to a slight increase in local domestic violence incidents.

At the 37th Meeting of the Council on Human and Social Development (COHSOD), which preceded the PAHO/WHO meetings, on September 28- 29, also held in Washington, DC, Guyana’s DCMO, Dr. Karen Gordon–Campbell was also nominated to serve as the CARICOM representative on the board of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).

Image: DCMO Dr. Karen Gordon Campbell, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence, PAHO Director Dr. Carissa Etienne and a PAHO official

PANCAP provides technical expertise to Caribbean Right Here Right Now Platform Training

The Caribbean Right Here, Right Now (C RHRN) Platform held a capacity building exercise for youth advocates from the Region, including CARICOM Youth Ambassadors on 7 October 2019 in Georgetown Guyana.

PANCAP Director Dereck Springer presented on CARICOM Governance, Oversight Bodies and Participatory Mechanisms as well as the major initiatives of PANCAP in the Region regarding Youth and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The purpose of the training was to improve the capacity of young people in navigating regional spaces of influence, especially CARICOM with the aim of fulfilling the objectives of C RHRN.

The Caribbean Right Here Right Now (C RHRN) platform was established on 19 October 2016. The platform is comprised of 12 Feminist, youth-led, and youth-oriented organizations with specializations in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), youth, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues. The hosting organization, CAFRA, operates in 13 countries in the sub-region. The 12 platform members operate in nine specific Caribbean countries including Curacao, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Suriname, St. Vincent and Grenadines and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

Member organizations have a record of success working with youth to design and execute research, conduct advocacy planning and communication, undertake capacity-building, and execute public campaign interventions focusing on comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), safe and legal abortion, and LGBT rights at local, sub-regional, regional, and international levels. These experiences link the work of the Platform members to core values of the global RHRN platform which are gender equality and a gender transformative approach, meaningful youth participation (MYP), human rights-based approach, inclusiveness and diversity, and focus on sensitive issues.

For more information, visit the C RHRN Facebook page:

Region to host First Caribbean Congress on Adolescent and Youth Health

Friday 4 October 2019 (First Caribbean Congress on Adolescent and Youth Health):  Young people[1]/have been identified as critical to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including SDG 3 – Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages. The SDGs’ agenda and the Global Strategy for the health of Women, Children and Adolescent (GSWCAH, 2016 – 2030)[2]/ bring new commitments and mandates that directly affect the positioning of young people in the global and regional health and development agenda.

According to 2015 estimates, there are 10.8 million young people (10-24 years) in the Caribbean, representing 25% of the total population, and 7.2 million adolescents (10-19 years), representing 17% of the total population. The Region continues to recognise the disparities in the burden of poverty, underemployment and unemployment, secondary school enrolment and completion rates, as well as the financial and societal barriers young people face to access health information and quality health services that respond to their needs. Additionally, there are especially vulnerable youth who face additional levels of marginalisation, such as adolescents with disabilities, HIV positive youth, migrant and socially-displaced adolescents, and those who identify along the LGBTQI spectrum.

It is against this backdrop that the Region will host the first Caribbean Congress on Adolescent and Youth Health in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on 15 – 17 October 2019.  The theme of the Congress is  “Championing our wealth: promoting the health and well-being of adolescents and youth in the Caribbean.”

Her Excellency Paula-Mae Weekes ORTT, President of Trinidad and Tobago will be the feature speaker.  Ms Kim Simplis-Barrow, First Lady of Belize and Chair, Spouses of CARICOM Leaders Action Network (SCLAN), Hon. Terrence Deyalsingh, Minister of Health, Trinidad and Tobago,
Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, CARICOM Secretary-General and Dr Carissa F. Etienne, PAHO Director are expected to deliver remarks during the opening ceremony on 14 October 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port-of-Spain.

The congress which is organised by a consortium of regional partners, including youth leaders, is expected to increase awareness on issues that are negatively affecting the health and well-being of adolescent and youth in the Caribbean. It is anticipated that the Congress will help to mobilise greater investment for the promotion and protection of the health and well-being of all adolescents and young people in the Caribbean.

Approximately two hundred participants are expected to attend including youth from around the Caribbean, CARICOM Youth Ambassadors, youth from within key populations, youth development leaders,  public health leaders, social activists, and regional civil society representatives.

The congress is structured to ensure that the voices and concerns of youth in the region are heard through their active participation as organisers of special sessions, moderators, and panellists. The congress will also encompass building the capacity of youths to advocate for issues related to adolescent and youth health at the regional and country-level through increased knowledge and awareness of current best practices, new tools and skill sets applicable to the region.

The Congress is expected to result in regional commitment from participants on a vision and core principles to address the health needs of adolescents and youth ages 10 – 24 years in the Caribbean, as well as action plans based on current and emerging priorities for adolescent and youth health.

The event will serve as an impetus for policymakers to begin the discussion on how to improve and sustain investments in the health and well-being of adolescents and youth in the Caribbean.

– ENDS –

Contact:
Timothy Austin
Communications Specialist
PANCAP Coordinating Unit
CARICOM Secretariat
Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana
Email:      taustin.consultant@caricom.org
Tel: (592) 222-0001-75, Ext. 3409  | Visit www.PANCAP.org

Helpful links:

Editor’s notes

Partners

A consortium of regional partners has collaborated to plan and support the Caribbean Congress on Adolescent and Youth Health. These include the Caribbean Association for Adolescent Health, International Association for Adolescent Health, Caribbean Institute for Health Research, Caribbean Development Bank, Caribbean Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development’s Youth Campaign, PANCAP Youth Advocacy Network, Caribbean Regional Youth Council, NCD Child, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), CARICOM Youth Department, Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), Commonwealth Youth Council, Spouses of CARICOM Leaders Action Network (SCLAN), Dance4Life Barbados, CARICOM Youth Ambassador Corps, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT), International Planned Parenthood Federation/WHR,United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC).

[1]/     Youth or being young refers to the period from childhood to adulthood. Definitions of a specific age range vary as youth is not defined chronologically. For statistical purposes, the age range used is primarily 15-24 years but countries in the Caribbean apply various ranges from 10-35 years old.
[2]/         The preparation of the Strategy was facilitated by Every Woman Every Child, a multistakeholder Strategy and Coordination Group facilitated by the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General.