From 30 July – 2 August 2019, I participated in the Third Regional Meeting of Youth Leaders in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. This is the last episode of a journey that started back in 2017 when PANCAP set in motion a project to support and connect young advocates of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and Rights in the Caribbean region. Over the course of these two years, a steering committee was formed. Meetings and training activities were held. People came and went, but those who stayed during this last meeting demonstrated how strong the bond had become and how commitment and growth can happen when you support talented young people to work together. The agenda of the meeting was designed by the steering committee members with the support of the PANCAP Director, Dereck Springer and the PANCAP Knowledge for Health project. Many inspirational stories were told, there was so much to learn from experiences including using social media to raise awareness about discrimination to the monitoring of public services by key populations and so much more! In all of this, young people were leading the way. On the last day, I heard one of the older assistants say “there is a very high level of skill among these young people”.
15th August 2019